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A Dhaka court has granted one day of remand for questioning Dilip Kumar Agarwala, managing director of Diamond World, in a money laundering case involving alleged illegal gold and diamond transactions worth Tk 6.78 billion through smuggling.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Ariful Islam passed the order on Tuesday, October 20. Shamshuddoha Sumon, additional public prosecutor at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court, confirmed the development.
Earlier, CID Sub-Inspector Mohammad Ashraful Hasan, the investigation officer in the case, sought three days of remand for Agarwala. The defence counsel sought cancellation of the remand plea and bail. After hearing both sides, the court granted one day of remand.
Agarwala was arrested by the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police in Banani on Monday evening.
According to the case statement, the alleged offences took place at Diamond World’s showroom and office on Gulshan Avenue between September 6, 2006, and February 8, 2024.
In November last year, CID Financial Crime Inspector Mohammad Asaduzzaman filed the case with Gulshan Police Station under Sections 4(2) and 4(4) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012, as amended in 2015.
The case statement says the CID’s investigation, based on bank accounts, documents and interrogation, found that Diamond World legally imported gold bars, gold jewellery and diamonds worth Tk 384.75 million from abroad through letters of credit (LCs).
However, the investigation found that the company had purchased, exchanged or converted gold and diamonds worth Tk 6.78 billion from the local market during the same period.
The company allegedly failed to provide valid documents identifying the sources of the gold and diamonds or their sellers.
According to the CID’s preliminary findings, Agarwala allegedly used Diamond World and Diamond World Limited to trade in smuggled gold and diamonds, generating Tk 6.78 billion through the transactions.
Agarwala was previously arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on September 3, 2024, and was later shown arrested in several murder cases. He was released from prison on October 1, 2025, after securing bail in those cases.
