Chattogram: A court here today sentenced a Myanmar citizen to life imprisonment for trading Yaba under Bakalia Police Station. The Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge, Begum Sirajam Munira, delivered the verdict alongside a fine of TK 50,000 on the convict, with an additional six months of imprisonment in default.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the convict, Md. Yusuf, aged 35, is the son of Salamat Ullah from Myanmar and resided in the Kutupalong Old Rohingya Camp in Ukhia Upazila of Cox's Bazar. The prosecution detailed that a RAB-7 team, acting on information, conducted a raid in front of Karnaphuli City Garden on the Bakalia Shah Amanat Bridge connection road on August 13, 2021. During the operation, Yusuf was arrested, and authorities seized 49,280 pieces of Yaba tablets and 40 grams of broken Yaba powder from him.
A case was promptly filed at Bakalia Thana on the same day as the arrest. Police submitted the charge-sheet on September 21, 2021, and the court framed charges on March 31, 2022. After examining eight out of eleven prosecution witnesses, the court passed the verdict in absence of the accused.
In a related development, another accused in the case, Md. Selim Hossain, was acquitted as the charges against him were not proven.