Two Sentenced to Life in Prison for Counterfeit Currency Case in Chattogram

A tribunal in Chattogram has sentenced two men to life in prison for possessing counterfeit currency in a case filed with Bayezid Bostami Police Station.

Judge Afroza Jesmin Koli of Chattogram Metropolitan Special Tribunal-8 delivered the verdict on Thursday, Aug. 20.

The convicts are Rajib Dhar, 48, son of Manoranjan Dhar of Digarpalkhali in Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar, and Mohammad Jasim, 36, son of the late Ahmad Nabi of Dakshin Kholain Amandar Master’s House in Patiya.

According to court bench assistant Naim Hossain, the tribunal convicted the two men after considering testimony from nine witnesses and other evidence.

The court also fined each defendant Tk 10,000. They will face an additional three months of simple imprisonment if they fail to pay the fines.

Neither defendant was present when the verdict was announced. The court issued arrest warrants to enforce the sentences.

According to case records, police arrested Rajib Dhar on May 28, 2016, during a raid at Azmir Hotel and Restaurant opposite the main gate of Amin Jute Mill in the Bayezid Bostami area.

Police searched a shopping bag in his possession and recovered counterfeit notes worth Tk 650,000 in denominations of Tk 1,000 and Tk 500. Jasim Uddin was also arrested as his alleged accomplice.

The case records state that the two men had been involved in counterfeit currency trading for an extended period.

They were charged under the Special Powers Act of 1974 with possessing counterfeit notes while knowing they were fake and allegedly intending to use them as genuine currency.

The trial began on March 1, 2017, after charges were formally framed.