Dhaka:A former Bangladeshi minister, who is on the run, was sentenced to 13 years in jail today as part of a government crackdown on corruption, a court official said.


Anwar Hossain Manju, who was tried and sentenced in absentia, was also fined USD 14,500,police court inspector Sulaiman Ali Dewan told AFP.

"The anti-corruption court handed down a 10-year sentence for amassing more than 21 million taka (USD 307,000) illegally and another three years for concealing wealth-related information," he said.

Manju, who was communications minister from 1996 to 2001,would begin the sentence when captured, Dewan said.

More than a dozen former ministers, lawmakers and family members have been sentenced to jail by fast-track graft courts set up by the military-backed government.

Bangladesh has been under emergency rule since January 2007,when elections were cancelled after months of violence over claims of vote-rigging.

The government has pledged to clean up the country s politics before fresh elections in late 2008.
Source : PTI