Diamond World MD Dilip Agarwala remanded

A court has put Dilip Kumar Agarwala, managing director of Diamond World, on one-day remand in a money laundering case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ariful Islam passed the order on Tuesday.

Muhammad Shamsuddoha Sumon, a lawyer for the prosecution, confirmed the development.

He said the case's investigating officer, Sub-Inspector Mohammad Ashraful Hasan of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), sought a three-day remand for Agarwala. After a hearing, the court granted one day.

The remand application said the case was under investigation and that Agarwala needed to be questioned to verify allegations of money laundering and collect and examine evidence related to the case.

During the hearing, the prosecution argued in favour of remand. Lawyers for the accused, however, sought the cancellation of the remand plea and his release on bail. They claimed that gold had been legally imported from abroad and that they had provided investigators with the necessary documents, including registers recording gold and diamond transactions. They also described the allegations in the case as false.

Earlier, on Monday, the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested Agarwala from a residence in the capital’s Banani area.

According to the case documents, smuggling and money laundering allegedly took place at Diamond World’s showroom and office on Gulshan Avenue between 6 September 2006 and 8 February 2024.