Former army
chief General (retd) Moeen U Ahmed, who wielded immense power backing up the
immediate-past interim regime, was Sunday sued by an ex-minister in a Tk
100-crore defamation case.
Taking cognizance of the
complaint, a district court of Dhaka issued a show-cause notice asking General
Moeen to explain within next three weeks why his property situated at house no.
106 in northern road of Baridhara DOHS in Dhaka "should not be
attached".
In the meantime, the
immediate-past army chief, seen as the architect of the 1/11 changeover in 2007
amid a political crisis over election issues, is now on a visit to the United
States, according to immigration sources.
In a further
order the court imposed injunctions on sale and handover of Moeen's property at
the DOHS during the intervening period.
Upon a petition filed by the
plaintiff, former state minister for Power Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Judge SM
Saiful Islam of the Third Joint District Judge's Court passed the order in the
afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Tuku filed
the defamation suit, claiming Tk 100 crore in damages, against the former army
chief.
Former law minister and BNP
leader Barrister Moudud Ahmed moved the case in the court on behalf of the
plaintiff in the morning for "derogatory comments" made against Tuku
by Gen Moeen in March 2007. The plaintiff alleged that the former army chief
had said that Tk 20,000 crore was misappropriated or smuggled abroad from the
power sector during the BNP-led four-party alliance government.
He said that Gen Moeen had made
the remark at a reception for the freedom fighters at the National Parade
Square on March 27, 2007, when crackdown on the political arena was on stream
and many high-profile persons, including top politicians, were being rounded
up.
