Former State Minister for Posts and Telecommunications, Zunaid Ahmed Palak, faced sharp criticism from Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib during a court hearing. Addressing Palak in the courtroom, the judge remarked, “You have left the judiciary in an analog state. Why didn’t you implement digital courts during your tenure as ICT Minister? Otherwise, you could have appeared for hearings from prison instead of attending in person.”
In response, Palak stated, “We initiated it during the pandemic. There were many limitations, and I tried, but we couldn’t progress further.”
On Monday, January 6, the police presented Palak and Shafi Modasser Khan Jyoti, son of former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, in court as part of a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Investigating officer Al Amin, Assistant Director of the ACC, submitted an application to show Palak as arrested in the case. The judge granted the application, marking Palak’s first arrest in a money laundering case filed by the ACC.
The application stated that Palak is already detained in jail in connection with a separate case filed at Jatrabari Police Station. He is an accused in the case under investigation by the ACC’s Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1. The court deemed it necessary to show him as arrested in the current case.
Similarly, the ACC Assistant Director, Md. Abul Kalam Azad, submitted an application to show Shafi Modasser Khan Jyoti as arrested. The application alleged that Jyoti, in collusion with his father, former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, unlawfully acquired assets worth BDT 19.89 crore and conducted suspicious transactions totaling BDT 84.77 crore through personal and business accounts.
It is noteworthy that on December 12, the ACC filed a case against Zunaid Ahmed and his wife, Arifa Jesmin, accusing them of amassing approximately BDT 19 crore in illegal assets. According to case documents, Zunaid Ahmed’s 24 bank accounts received deposits amounting to BDT 32.04 crore from bribes, corruption, and money laundering between 2008 and 2024, out of which BDT 29.84 crore was withdrawn.
