The Appellate Division on Tuesday cancelled the bail granted by the High Court to Dhaka Wanderers Club general secretary Joy Gopal Sarker in four cases filed for his alleged involvement in illegal casino business.
A five-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain passed the order and directed to settle the cases within a year.
During the hearing, the Appellate Division said there is no scope to consider money laundering lightly as money laundering is increasing nowadays.
Advocate Md Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) while Additional Attorney General Sheikh Mohammad Morshed and Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state.
On the other hand, Advocate Momtaz Uddin Fakir appeared for Joy Gopal.
On August 19, High Court Bench of Justice Md Najrul Islam Talukdar and SM Mojibur Rahman granted bail to the accused.
On August 23, the Appellate Division stayed for six weeks the bail granted by the High Court.
On July 14, 2019 Joy Gopal was arrested during a drive against casino business.
He was shown arrested in four separate cases filed with Gendaria, Sutrapur and Wari police stations later.
On July 22, 2020, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted the charge sheet of these cases.
According to the charge sheet, after his retirement as a footballer of the Wanderer’s Club, Joy Gopal became a member of the board of directors and later the cashier.
In 2014, he joined hands with AL leaders Enu, Rupom and became the general secretary of the club, getting involved in directing the casino club, said the charge sheet.
On September 18, 2019, a Rab-3 team conducted a drive at a casino inside Dhaka Wanderer’s Club where illegal drugs, fake currency, huge money and gambling materials were seized.
Source: United News of Bangladesh