Maulana Subhan and three others were sued for misappropriating government relief materials in Pabna while Taher, his brother and 33 other Jamaat leaders and activists for attacking and looting a saw-mill and abducting the owner of the saw-mill in Comilla.

Pabna police filed the case against Subhan yesterday afternoon after 160 corrugated iron (CI) sheets of Relief and Rehabilitation Department were seized from Al-Amana Hospital in Pathertala in Pabna town Wednesday night. Subhan, elected in 2001 from Pabna-5 constituency, is the president of Al-Amana Foundation which owns the hospital.

Vice-president of the foundation Alhaj Abul Kashem, Secretary Moslem Uddin and Director of Al-Amana Hospital Nurul Islam were also accused in the case.

Sub-inspector Kamruzzaman, the complainant of the case, alleged that the accused misappropriated CI sheets meant for government relief only. The four people embezzled government assets, he said.

A police team of Pabna Police Station led by Officer-in-charge Iqbal Shafi raided Al-Amana Hospital around 11:00pm Wednesday following a tip off. They arrested Nurul Islam in this connection at the hospital.

Al-Amana Hospital is a concern of Al-Amana Foundation, which was established in 2000. The foundation is run entirely by Jamaat men, sources said. The former lawmaker's house is just 200-300 metres from the hospital.

The lawmaker allegedly had the CI sheets sanctioned in favour of the foundation for building a bus terminal.

“The CI sheets should have been used for which it was sanctioned. If somebody keeps them for other purposes, it is a violation of the law. Also the CI sheets should have been sanctioned following the rules of Ministry of Relief and Rehabilitation," said Upazila Nirbahi Officer of Pabna Abdul Hakim.

CASE AGAINST TAHER
A criminal case was filed against former Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, his brother Syed Ekramul Huq and 33 other Jamaat leaders and activists on Wednesday night, UNB reports.

Police said Abdul Khaleq, a sawmill owner of Sharshadi in Chouddagram upazila of Comilla, filed the case with Chouddagram Police Station.

Chouddagram upazila Jamaat Ameer M Shahjahan, General Secretary Shahabuddin are also among the 35 accused.

In his complaint, Khaleq said Ekramul Huq at the behest of Taher, came to his sawmill along with his accomplices and demanded Tk 5 lakh from him.

As Khaleq refused to pay the money, Ekramul and his accomplices attacked the sawmill and looted Tk 25,000 in cash, three motorcycles, valuable timbers and furniture on June 18, 2001.

The complainant further stated that the Jamaat men abducted him at gunpoint and took him to Taher's house where they threatened him not to file any case against them.

The former Jamaat lawmaker is now in jail on charges of corruption.