Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW
Vol. 5 Num 1077 Tue. June 12, 2007  
   
Front Page


Is my son such a thief that he has to flee?
Yelled Khaleda


Former premier and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia went berserk and yelled at the top of her lungs asking whether her son was such a thief that he would have to flee the country, said former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar during questioning by the Task Force for Interrogation (TFI).

Babar was recalling his experience in planning Tarique Rahman's supposed departure from the country to avoid the incarceration he is currently in.

"Before Tarique Rahman was arrested, we used to get information from different sources that he might get caught. So I, Mannan Bhuiyan, Falu and Qamrul held a secret meeting in Mannan's residence and decided that Tarique would be sent abroad for two or three years," Babar told the TFI.

He said they planned that Tarique would be brought back home with a hero's welcome if BNP would come back to power again.

"As everything got finalised Falu narrated the matter to Khaleda Zia using my name before he took her to Hawa Bhaban in the same evening. Listening to the plan, madam went ballistic and began shouting at the top of her lungs in her residence," Babar said.

"Arriving at Hawa Bhaban, she started yelling again asking where are the conspirators Mannan Bhuiyan and Babar? Is my son such a big thief that he will have to flee the country?" Babar quoted Khaleda as yelling.

Babar also told the interrogators that about a year or so ago Khaleda Zia called him in and told him that she had Tk 20 crore in different places which she wanted to keep with one Kamal. She also told him that the money would later be used during elections.

Sources claimed that Babar told the investigators that Khaleda wanted to know from him whether he knew any trustworthy people with whom the money could be kept safely for a year, and in reply Babar told her that finding such people would be a very tough task for him.

Babar also told the interrogators that when Khaleda raised the issue again on the next day when he went to meet her, he asked his brother to keep the money. His brother then got angry with him telling him not to get involved in such matters warning him that those kinds of activities would come back to haunt him one day. Babar said a day later he asked his brother whether he could help him as his 'madam' had given him the task trusting him.

According to the sources, Babar told the interrogators that some days before he asked Khaleda for an approval to open up a bank and then he sat with some people to work out a plan. However, they told Babar that banks require a big amount of investment and the money would be collected in the name of BNP, a portion of which would be given to Babar as his share.

Babar also said he whitened a large amount of money through his brother in the name of a company after his meeting with the aspiring bank owners. The former home ministry boss also said later he brought the matter to Khaleda's attention who introduced him to a man who later turned out to be the person who had arranged to hundi Tk 20 crore, a portion of which Babar used to invest in the banking business he was trying to embark on.

Babar said suddenly he came to know that the Tk 20 crore was part of the money that had been taken from Warid Telecom as a bribe.