Court Reporter:

A suspended additional superintendent of police (ASP), Shahabuddin Ahmed, was sent to jail on Monday after a court rejected his bail petition in a case filed over allegedly forging the signature of a former Home Adviser.

Shahabuddin surrendered before Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain’s court through his lawyer and sought bail. After hearing, the court rejected the plea and ordered him to jail.

According to the case documents, businessman Alauddin Robin of Cox’s Bazar sought government approval to resume cattle imports from Myanmar through the Shah Porir Dwip corridor in Teknaf, where such imports had stopped in 2019.

Khorshed Alam, a private bank official and brother of a joint secretary, allegedly assured Robin that he could arrange the approval through his government connections. A fake approval letter allowing the import of five lakh cattle was later issued bearing the then Home Adviser’s forged signature and recommendation.

Robin later went to the Home Ministry to verify the approval and found that no such application had been received. A case was subsequently filed with Pallabi Police Station and the Detective Branch investigated it.

The CID later submitted a charge sheet against five people. Although Shahabuddin was not named in the original case, the CID investigation allegedly found his involvement in preparing and circulating forged government documents through WhatsApp.

Investigators said a fake application and later a forged order bearing the seal and signature of a deputy secretary were sent from a WhatsApp number used by Shahabuddin. The number was registered in the name of Hazrat Ali, who has several fraud cases against him, according to the investigation.

The CID said the accused exchanged forged approval letters, applications and agreements in an attempt to defraud Robin. The signatures purportedly belonging to the Home Adviser and a deputy secretary were also found to be forged.

The charges against Zafar Iqbal alias Ranga, Md Abdullah Javed, Khorshed Alam, Shahabuddin Ahmed and Md Hazrat Ali were found prima facie established under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 109 of the Penal Code.