Ex-deputy governor SK Sur sent to jail in ACC case

 
Sitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury, popularly known as SK Sur, former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, has been sent to jail after his arrest in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Zakir Hossain Galib issued the order on Tuesday following a petition from the ACC.

ACC Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir told bdnews24.com that the commission found evidence of "illegally" acquired assets against SK Sur.

When summoned by the ACC, he failed to appear, leading to a case being filed under Section 26(2) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, for not submitting his asset statement.

"SK Sur was produced in court following his arrest, after which the judge ordered him to be sent to jail," Jahangir added. ACC Deputy Director Akhtarul Islam said SK Sur was arrested by an ACC team from Dhaka's Segunbagicha on Tuesday.

In the petition seeking to keep SK Sur in custody, ACC Deputy Director Nazmul Hossain said allegations had been raised against Sur for acquiring "illegal" assets. An order was issued for him to submit a detailed account of all movable and immovable assets, liabilities, sources of income, and the means of acquisition in the names of himself and his dependents, reports bdnews24.com. On Oct 27, 2024, SK Sur personally received the order and the asset statement form.

However, he failed to submit the asset statement within the stipulated 21 working days, leading to the filing of the case under Section 26(2) of the ACC Act, 2004, which is currently under investigation. Following a change in power, the ACC filed the case against SK Sur on Dec 23, 2024, over allegations of "financial irregularities."

On Aug 28, the court ordered the seizure of income tax documents belonging to Sur, his wife Suparna Sur Chowdhury, and their daughter Nandita Sur Chowdhury.

The ACC began investigating Sur in 2022 after his name emerged in the financial scandal involving Prashanta Kumar Halder, also known as PK Halder.

In March of that year, Sur was summoned for questioning.

In August 2024, the ACC sent letters to banks and financial institutions requesting information on the bank transactions of Sur and his family.

Sur retired from his position as deputy governor in January 2018 and later served as an advisor to Bangladesh Bank. He is currently retired.

Allegations suggest that during his tenure as deputy governor, SK Sur "assisted" and "benefited" from the loan scandal involving PK Halder, the former managing director of NRB Global Bank.

In July 2021, the National Board of Revenue, or NBR, ordered the freezing of the bank accounts of Sur and his wife after he was linked to PK Halder's financial scandal.

On Mar 15 of that year, the High Court questioned why Sur had not been arrested.

However, after appearing for ACC interrogation on Mar 29, 2022, Sur has not been seen in public.

PK Halder allegedly opened numerous companies under various names and bought significant shares from the stock market, later taking control of four non-bank financial institutions by placing relatives, friends, and former colleagues on their boards.

Investigators claim that PK Halder embezzled large sums of money from these companies under the guise of loans and laundered it abroad, allegedly with the collusion of some Bangladesh Bank officials.

Several cases have been filed against PK Halder by the ACC.

PK Halder was arrested in India two years after fleeing Bangladesh.

He was granted bail last week by a court in West Bengal in a money laundering case.