DHAKA: A court here Thursday issued arrest warrants against Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee and party leader Mir Kashem Ali in separate tax-dodging cases.

Senior special judge of the district court Ismail Hossain passed the arrest orders shortly after the two were sued.

Sayedee is already in jail, facing war-crime trial along with four other top leaders of the Islamic party for their role during the country’s liberation war way back in 1971.   

Two Deputy Tax Commissioners of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) --Moniruzzaman and Masuma Khatun-- filed the cases with the court.

According to the case statements, Sayedee evaded the payment of tax worth Tk 56,46,812 against an income of Tk 2,27,40,120 earned from 2005-06 to 2008-09 fiscal years.

Moniruzzaman filed the case against Mir Kashem for evading Tk 890,061 through concealing his income of Tk 34,85,886 during 2004-05 to 2005-06 fiscals.

The court also asked the police station concerned to submit a report on the arrest of the accused on September 16.

Sayedee, along with Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and Secretary-General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed were arrested on June 29 on charges of hurting religious sentiments of Muslims through their perceived blasphemous comments.

Thereafter, they and two other top leaders—Kamruzzaman and Kader Mollah-- are facing trial on war-crime charges in a specially formed tribunal under the International Crimes Tribunal Act.   

BDST: 1510 HRS, AUG 19, 2010