Staff Correspondent:

A Dhaka court on Wednesday acquitted BNP Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie in a case filed over amassing wealth of Tk 3.75 crore and concealing wealth statement of Tk 1.76 crore to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Judge Md Zakaria Hossain of Dhaka Special Judge Court-6 passed the order in presence of Annie at the courtroom.

In his verdict, the judge said the prosecution failed to prove the charges brought against Annie and so he was acquitted from the charges of the case, said advocate Mohi Uddin Chowdhury.

Earlier, the prosecution and the defence completed their arguments, and the court recorded statements of nine prosecution witnesses, including complainant of the case.

The same court framed charges against Annie on May 24, 2016.

On October 9, 2014, ACC Deputy Director Manzur Morshed filed the case with Ramna Police Station stating that Annie amassed more than Tk 1.4 crore illegally as he failed to show the sources of income.

The case statement also said the former lawmaker concealed information of more than Tk 13.13 lakh in the wealth statement he submitted to the commission.

According to the income tax return submitted on June 30, 2013, Annie had property worth Tk 1.76 crore, while according to the wealth statement submitted to the ACC on April 15, 2014, he had property worth Tk 3.25 crore.

Within a span of only 10 months, the BNP leader amassed Tk 1.48 crore, the case statement said, adding, he could not provide necessary documents to substantiate how he amassed the huge amount only in 10 months.