Khaleda Zia, 7 others acquitted in Niko graft case

A court here today acquitted BNP Chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia and seven others in the Niko graft case, as the state failed to prove all the charges against them.

Judge of Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 Rabiul Alam pronounced the verdict, acquitting all of them, Khaleda Zia’s lawyer Zia Uddin Zia confirmed.

Other than Khaleda Zia, the others acquittals are- the then Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Kamal Uddin Siddiqui, former Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources Khandaker Shahidul Islam, former Senior Assistant Secretary CM Yusuf Hossain, former General Manager of Bapex Mir Mainul Haque, businessman Gias Uddin Al Mamun, Chairman of International Travel Corporation Selim Bhuiyan and Vice President of South Asia Affairs of Niko Kashem Sharif.

On December 9, 2007, the then Assistant Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Muhammad Mahbubul Alam filed the case against Khaleda Zia and five others with Tejgaon Police Station on charges of rendering financial loss of the state through an agreement with Canadian company Niko.

Then, on May 5, 2018, a charge sheet was filed in the court against Khaleda Zia and 11 others. They were accused of causing financial losses of about Taka 13,777 crore of the state. On March 19, 2023, Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of Dhaka’s 9th (Temporary) Special Judge’s Court located at the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj framed the charges against the accused.

However, BNP Standing Committee Member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, former State Minister for Energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain and former Secretary of Bapex Md. Shafiur Rahman were discharged from the case due to their death.

During the trial of this case, 39 out of 68 witnesses testified.