Former Prosecutor Saimum Reza, Accused of Demanding a Tk 1 Crore Bribe, Left Secretly for Italy: Chief Prosecutor

Md Saimum Reza Talukdar, a former prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, has left the country. He faces an allegation of demanding a bribe of Tk 1 crore from the family of an accused in return for a promise to get the accused released on bail. He left the country secretly for Italy on 31 October.

The chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, Md Aminul Islam, gave this information to journalists on Tuesday (3 November).

The chief prosecutor said the prosecutor had been dismissed over the allegation of demanding a bribe of Tk 1 crore. He left the country for Italy on 31 October. But there was no ban on his foreign travel. For that reason, the chief prosecutor’s office had nothing it could do about where he was going.

It has been learned that former member of parliament ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury was arrested in a case over crimes against humanity committed in Chattogram city during the July mass uprising. Saimum Reza Talukdar, who was a prosecutor at the time, had demanded Tk 1 crore from his family with a promise to get him released on bail.

Saimum Reza resigned over the incident on 9 March. The next day, 10 March, a report on the matter was published in a national daily.

On the same day, the chief prosecutor’s office formed a five-member fact-finding committee to investigate the allegation. Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam was made head of the committee.

Aminul Islam said the fact-finding committee’s investigation is at its final stage. They are now waiting for the committee’s report.