Former Dhaka Club president remanded for four days

Dhaka, Jan 11 (bdprem.com) – The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court for Dhaka Friday sent Md Selim Bhuiyan, an executive member of Bangladesh Cricket Board, to a four-day remand for interrogation in the Niko graft case. The court asked the Anticorruption Commission to be careful during interrogating Bhuiyan, also former president of Dhaka Club, and take necessary steps for his medical treatment. An anticorruption taskforce arrested him on the 11th floor of Landmark Building in Gulshan, a police officer said Thursday night. Selim was handed over to Gulshan Police Station around 9pm Thursday, officer-in-charge Obaidul Haque told bdprem.com by phone. He was arrested with alleged links to the Niko corruption case. The ACC filed separate cases against former prime ministers Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina and 10 others over the scam. The name of Selim surfaced after the investigations opened into the cases. ACC assistant director Sahidur Rahman filed a general diary with Gulshan Police Station, naming Selim as an arrestee with links to controversial Niko gas deals. Metropolitan magistrate Muhammad Shahin Uddin approved four days to interrogate Bhuiyan after Sahidur, also investigating officer in the Niko case, appealed for a seven-day remand. Sahidur told the court that Bhuiyan admitted his link with the Niko scam. Advocates Muhammad Shahidullah and Fazilatunnesa Bappi, defending Selim in court, said their client was not involved with the case. They also told the court Bhuiyan was a diabetic, and has been suffering from heart disease. On Dec 9, 2007, the ACC filed two graft cases against Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia and many others with Tejgaon Police Station on charges of abusing power to hand over three gas fields to Canadian gas and oil company Niko.