Online casino kingpin Salim jailed for 8 years
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Police produce online casino kingpin Salim Pradhan in Dhaka Special Judge Court-8 that sentenced him to eight years in jail on Sunday in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission. — New Age photo
The Dhaka Special Judge Court-8 on Sunday sentenced online casino kingpin Salim Pradhan to eight years of imprisonment—four years each on charges of acquiring Tk 57.79 crore as illegal wealth and laundering about Tk 22 crore—in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
This is the second of 57 casino-scam-related cases that have seen trials completed and the accused convicted, said ACC lawyer Mosharraf Hossain Kajol.
Judge Badrul Alam also fined Salim Tk 11 lakh, or seven months in jail, in default.
Salim’s lawyer, Shahinur Islam, said that the two sentences would run concurrently, meaning Salim would have to serve only five more months in jail since he had been in jail for over three and a half years.
The court also ordered the authorities concerned to confiscate his property.
The court sentenced Salim to four years imprisonment and fined him Tk 10 lakh or six months in jail under the Money Laundering Act and four years imprisonment and Tk 1 lakh in fine or one month in jail on the charge of acquiring illegal wealth.
The judge observed in the verdict that it was not possible to eliminate corruption from society only through judgement. Corrupt people should be boycotted by society, he observed.
The court also suggested no marital relations with corrupt people’s families.
Do not accept invitations from corrupt people. Attending programmes hosted by corrupt people, despite having knowledge of their corruption, means taking an anti-state stance, the observation added.
Salim was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion in September 2019, during an anti-casino operation.
On October 27, 2019, ACC deputy director Gulshan Anwar filed a case against Salim. In this case, he was initially accused of acquiring illegal wealth worth Tk 12 crore.
On February 4, 2021, Gulshan, also the case’s investigation officer, submitted the charge sheet against Salim, and the court framed a charge against him on October 30, 2021.
The ACC charge sheet found Salim acquired Tk 57.79 crore illegally through corruption and casino gambling. He was also charged with laundering Tk 21.99 crore to Thailand and the United States.
Salim’s lawyer, Shahinur, said that they would move the High Court against the verdict.
Earlier, the trial of a money laundering case filed against 11 people, including expelled Awami League leaders Enamul Haque Bhuiyan Enu and Rupon Bhuiyan, was completed on April 25, 2022, by sentencing them to seven years in jail.
The RAB started anti-casino raids on September 18, 2019, beginning at the Fakirerpool Young Men’s Club. More than 50 raids were conducted in different parts of the country and 275 were arrested.
