Staff Correspondent:

A Dhaka court has granted a two-day remand for noted economist and former Janata Bank chairman Professor Abul Barkat in connection with a case accusing him of embezzling Tk297 crore from Enontex Group.

Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Zakir Hossain passed the order following a hearing held on Wednesday afternoon (July 23).

Earlier on 11 July, ACC Assistant Director Mohammad Shahjahan Miraj, also the investigation officer in the case, produced the accused before the court with a three-day remand plea.

The ACC said Barkat might go into hiding or influence witnesses and disrupt the investigation if granted bail.

Defence lawyers argued in favour of bail, while the prosecution opposed it. After hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail petition and ordered the accused to be sent to jail.

Abul Barkat was arrested around 11:30pm last night (10 July) from Dhanmondi Road 3 in the capital by the Detective Branch (DB) of police.

On 20 February this year, the ACC filed a case against 23 individuals — including former Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman and Abul Barkat— over allegations of embezzlement.

The case was lodged by ACC Deputy Director Md Nazmul Hossain.

According to the case statement, the accused conspired to misappropriate Tk297.38 crore through fraud, forgery, and money laundering, using the involvement of Janata Bank officials.

While serving as central bank governor, Atiur Rahman, along with Barkat and others, allegedly facilitated the disbursement of large loans to 22 companies under the Anontex Group.

The ACC alleges that those funds were later embezzled through unethical practices.

Other notable accused in the case include – Former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank Abu Hena Mohammad Razi Hasan, former assistant director Mosammat Ismat Ara Begum, former Janata Bank Director Jamal Uddin Ahmed, Md Imdadul Haque, Nagibul Islam Dipu, RM Debnath, Md Abu Naser, Sangeeta Ahmed, former Janata Bank director Nitai Chandra Nath, former MD and CEO of Janata Bank Abdus Salam Azad, former deputy general manager Azmul Haque, former AGM Ajay Kumar Ghosh, among others.

Abul Barkat is a former chairman of the Economics Department at Dhaka University and the honorary chief adviser of the Human Development Research Centre (HDRC).