Morshed Khan jailed for 13 years

DHAKA, Bangladesh, Aug 6 (BSS) - A special court here today sentenced former foreign minister of Bangladesh Morshed Khan to 13 years' rigorous imprisonment for acquiring wealth beyond his known sources of income and concealing information in his wealth statement.

Judge of the court M Sirajul Islam handed down the verdict after examining the witnesses and relevant documents in absentia of the accused.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lodged the case on December 10 last year with Gulshan thana here, accusing Morshed Khan for amassing assets beyond his known sources of income and hiding information about his actual property in the wealth statement submitted to the ACC.

Khan was awarded 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for acquiring property disproportionate to his known sources of income and another three years for submitting untrue statement to the ACC.

The court also fined him Taka 10 lakh, in default, to suffer one year more in jail. It also ordered confiscation of his assets worth Taka 82 lakh, acquired illegally, in favour of the state.

The punishment will be executed from the day he surrenders to the court or is arrested.