Civil Aviation official Hiron, wife jailed over concealing asset information

Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 pronounced the verdict

A Dhaka court on Tuesday sentenced Hiron Mia, a former security operator of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh, to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and his wife Runa Laila to one year’s rigorous imprisonment in a case filed over concealing information in their asset statements.

Judge Mohammad Abdullah Al Mamun of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-5 pronounced the verdict, said court stenographer Sohanur Rahman.

The court also fined Hiron Tk1 lakh, in default of which he will have to serve six months’ simple imprisonment, while Runa Laila was fined Tk50,000, in default of which she will have to serve six months’ simple imprisonment.

According to court sources, Hiron was present during the pronouncement of the verdict and was later sent to jail. The court also issued an arrest warrant against Runa Laila as she is absconding.

According to the case documents, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) served a notice on the couple in 2017 asking them to submit statements of their assets.

Hiron, in his statement, allegedly concealed assets worth Tk23.02 lakh. He also allegedly acquired Tk57.45 lakh in assets beyond his known sources of income out of total assets worth Tk2.91 crore.

Runa Laila allegedly concealed assets worth Tk21.48 lakh in her statement of assets. She also allegedly acquired Tk1.15 crore in assets beyond her known sources of income out of total assets worth Tk2.77 crore.

Then ACC Deputy Director Nasir Uddin filed the case with the ACC’s integrated district office on 27 November 2020, and Deputy Director Jahangir Alam submitted the charge sheet before the court on 31 July 2023. The court framed charges against the accused on 19 May the following year and commenced the trial.

Duing the trial, the court recorded the statements of 21 out of 24 prosecution witnesses.