More than two and a half years after his arrest by India’s Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case, Bangladeshi businessman Prashanta Kumar Halder, knowns as PK Halder, walked out of jail after a special court in Kolkata granted him bail.
Apart from PK Halder, two of his associates, Swapan Mistry and Uttam Mistry, were also granted bail by the special judge, Prashanta Mukherjee, on Friday.
While PK Halder was required to submit a bail bond of Rs 1 million, Swapan and Uttam were ordered to provide a Rs 5 lakh bond each, according to the court order, a copy of which is with The Daily Star.
The bail bond was submitted by the petitioners on Monday evening, and PK Halder walked out of Presidency Jail last evening.
In his order, the judge said that since the three petitioners had already undergone detention for a period extending up to one-third of the maximum sentence for the offence of money laundering, “this court is one of the considered view that in the absence of any admissible document or information with respect to first offence or judgment of conviction, the benefit of doubt should invariably go in favour of them.”
Consequently, the petitioners were entitled to bail. “Hence, I allow the prayer for bail,” the judge added.
The court imposed several conditions with the bail order for PK Halder and his two associates.
It said that they cannot leave India without prior permission from the court and must attend trial on every date as directed. Additionally, the accused are required not to commit any further offence while on bail, tamper with evidence in the case, or threaten, induce, or promise witnesses to dissuade them from disclosing true facts to the court. They must provide their contact number, email, and proof of residence (both present and permanent) to the court and surrender their passports if not already seized or impounded by another authority.
PK Halder, along with five others, was arrested in May 2022 from Ashoknagar in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district. The arrest followed raids on 11 premises linked to PK Halder, who is reported to have purchased properties in and around Kolkata.
PK Halder has been accused of siphoning off nearly Tk 300 crore from four financial institutions in Bangladesh before fleeing to India. He was arrested by the ED from a house in Ashoknagar near the border of Petrapole-Benapole.
PK Halder declined to speak to reporters outside Presidency Jail, saying, “I will first consult my lawyer before saying anything.”
Daily Star