Dhaka: During a midnight hunt on Thursday, the Detective Branch (DB) of Bangladesh Police detained the country's well-known economist Abul Barkat on corruption accusations, according to a DB official on Friday.
Abul Barkat has been detained as a suspect in an ACC (Anti-Corruption Commission) case, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DB) Joint Commissioner Nasirul Islam told ANI over the phone.
He stated that we would hand over him to ACC without providing any details.
Abul Barkat served as the chairman of the state-owned Janata Bank during Sheikh Hasina's administration.
During the Awami League administration, 30 people, including Abul Barkat, were charged with embezzling crores of taka via loan scam using a business called Anontex, according to local media.
Last night, 20 to 25 individuals pretending to be DB police entered my father's bedroom and removed him. They did not present a copy of the warrant. Aruni Barkat, Abul Barkat's daughter, told ANI that we are prepared to contest the case brought against him in court.
We may learn about the situation through media coverage. No one informed us about the situation. No one came to investigate. If they had come to inquire, we would have definitely cooperated, she said.
My father worked as a professor at Dhaka University for 40 years. He was a freedom fighter. My mother was a teacher as well. I saw my father only do good things for others. Aruni Barkat, a Dhaka University instructor, expressed her disappointment that he was detained without any inquiry.
"We will cooperate with any investigation by ACC," she said.
Meanwhile, earlier on June 28, the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council, Minority Unity Front, and Bangladesh Puja Celebration Council held a demonstration in front of the Dhaka Press Club and around the country.
The speakers emphasised that an inclusive, secular Bangladesh was established in 1971 during the Liberation War.
They did, however, mention that coordinated groups, both native and foreign, are currently utilizing the interim administration as a cover to attack religious and ethnic minorities. This involves robbing their residences, desecrating places of worship, assaulting them on phony religious grounds, and suing minority leaders nationwide. They referred to it as a significant challenge to communal harmony and urged all forward-thinking, noncommunal social, political, and cultural groups to join together against these powers.
