A Dhaka court has approved a four-day remand for Bangladeshi-origin United States (US) citizen Enayet Karim Chowdhury , who was arrested on charges of conspiring to overthrow the interim government in connection with a money laundering case involving the family of former police inspector general (IGP) Benazir Ahmed.
The order was issued on Sunday around 12:15 pm by the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sabbir Faiz.
On the same day, the investigating officer, Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Mohammad Hafizul Islam, applied for a five-day remand. After hearing the case, the judge granted a four-day remand.
Minutes after the verdict, Enayet Chowdhury became unwell in the dock and was subsequently escorted to jail custody by police officers.
According to the ACC, on February 20 of this year, the ACC’s Coordinated District Office, Dhaka-1, filed a case against former police IGP Benazir Ahmed, his wife Mrs Zeeshan Mirza, eldest daughter Farhin Rishta bint Benazir, and middle daughter Tahseen Raisa bint Benazir. They were accused of laundering Tk 113.45 million abroad through suspicious transactions. During the investigation, the ACC found evidence linking Enayet Karim Chowdhury to Benazir’s money laundering activities.
On 17 September, a Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court granted a five-day remand for Enayet Karim Chowdhury (55) and his chief associate Golam Mostafa Azad (49) under the Anti-Terrorism Act, accusing them of acting as ‘foreign agents’ to overthrow the interim government.
In the same case, the court had approved a two-day remand for Enayet on September 15. He was arrested on 13 September from Minto Road in Dhaka and subsequently sent to jail.
According to the police case filed at Ramna Police Station under the Anti-Terrorism Act, Enayet was spotted moving suspiciously in a Prado vehicle at around 10:30am on 13 September in the Muntipara area of Minto Road, Dhaka.
His vehicle was stopped, and upon questioning, he failed to provide a satisfactory explanation. He was then taken into police custody. Two iPhones were seized from him. Preliminary investigations revealed that his mobile phone contained significant information related to a conspiracy against the current government.
During interrogation, Enayet claimed to be an agent of a foreign intelligence agency. He admitted that he came to Bangladesh from New York on September 6 with a secret mission to overthrow the interim government.
