ACC sues dismissed Colonel Shahid, family over illegal wealth  

Shahid Uddin Khan is currently living in self-exile in the UK

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against dismissed Bangladesh Army Colonel Shahid Uddin Khan, his wife and two daughters on charges of accumulating illegal wealth worth around Tk40 crore.

Jalal Uddin Ahmed, deputy director of the ACC’s Dhaka integrated district office-1, lodged the case on Thursday, confirmed sources at the anti-graft watchdog.

The accused are – Shahid Uddin Khan, his wife Farzana Anjum Khan, their two daughters Shewtaz Munasi Khan and Barisha Pinaj Khan.

According to the case statement, the ACC has found evidence against Shahid Uddin Khan and his family for acquiring around Tk39.73 crore wealth beyond known income sources. The illegal assets include a flat in Dhaka’s Baridhara, Tk26 crore fixed deposit with FAS Finance and Investment Limited, Tk5 crore deposit with Eastern Bank and shares of different companies.

After finding initial evidence of illegal assets, the ACC said it had issued a notice to Shahid Uddin Khan seeking details of his assets. But no report was submitted to the ACC on behalf of Shahid Uddin Khan.

On 15 January 2019, police raided Shahid Uddin Khan’s house in Dhaka’s Cantonment area and recovered two pistols, six bullets, two shotguns and counterfeit money worth Tk3 lakh.

On 17 January that year, police’s counter terrorism unit filed a case under the Special Powers Act against five people, including Shahid Uddin Khan, in connection to the counterfeit currency. In addition, another lawsuit was filed in connection to possessing illegal arms.

The arms case alleges that the accused conspired with a banned militant group to threaten the sovereignty of the government and the state and to disrupt public safety.

Earlier on 10 November 2020, four individuals including Shahid Uddin Khan and his wife Farzana Anjum Khan were sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in the arms case.

On 20 December 2020, a Dhaka court sentenced Shahid Uddin to 9 years in prison in a tax evasion case.