Dhaka: The High Court (HC) on Tuesday granted 4-week anticipatory bail to 13 accused, including former Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan and his wife, in a case filed on charge of misappropriating Tk 383 crore of AB Bank.

A two-member HC bench comprising Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice Krishna Debnath passed the order after the hearing of three separate petitions filed by the accused.

The court also ordered the accused to surrender to the lower court before expiry of bail period.

Shah Manjurul Hoque, Arshed Rouf and Bahar Uddin stood for the petitioners during the hearing while Khurshid Alam Khan argued for the Anti- Corruption Commission (ACC).

On June 28, the ACC filed the case against 16 people, including Morshed Khan, his wife Nasrin Khan, Citycell managing director Mehbub Chowdhury and current and former MDs of AB Bank, on charge of taking a loan of Tk 383 crore in the name of private mobile phone operator Citycell and embezzled the money.

On July 1, the ACC arrested Mehbub Chowdhury from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. He secured bail from a Dhaka court the following day.