Court orders to takeover OC Pradeep, wife’s properties

A Chattogram court on Tuesday ordered authorities to undertake measures for bringing all properties of suspended officer-in-charge (OC) Pradeep Kumar Das of Teknaf police station, and his wife Chumki Khan, under state supervision.

The court directed the deputy commissioners of Chattogram and Cox's Bazar to appoint a receiver to take over all the movable and immovable properties of Chumki, and Pradeep, who is accused in the murder case of retired army major, Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan.

The court of Chattogram Metropolitan Senior Special Sessions Judge Sheikh Ashfaqur Rahman passed the order.

The order was issued in response to an application by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Monday, according to Emran Hossain, court inspector, ACC.

"The ACC filed a case against Pradeep and his wife in August last year for reportedly acquiring illegal assets worth around Tk4 crore through bribery and corruption. The property in their name has already been seized by the court," Emran told The Business Standard.

He said ACC Chattogram Assistant Director Riaz Uddin, on Monday, applied to the court for the appointment of a receiver under state supervision to take over Pradeep and his wife's properties.  

The couple's assets include a six-storey building in Patharghata of Chattogram city, a house in Sholashahar, a car, a microbus, and a flat in Cox's Bazar.

On 23 August last year, Riaz Uddin filed a case against Pradeep and his wife for amassing Tk4 crore worth of illegal wealth.

Their bank accounts were seized last year upon instruction of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit soon after the murder of retired army major, Sinha.

Sinha was shot dead by police at the Baharchhara checkpost in Teknaf on 31 July 2020.

His sister Sharmin Shahria Ferdous filed a case for his murder with the Cox's Bazar Judicial Magistrate's Court, against Pradeep and nine others. Soon after, Pradeep took leave from his duty as OC of Teknaf police station saying he was ill. For a few days, he lived in hiding in Chattogram. Later, on 6 August he surrendered to a court in Cox's Bazar. Pradeep has been in jail since then. A Cox's Bazar court on Sunday framed charges against 15 accused, including Pradeep, in the Sinha murder case.