Court orders arrest of Bashundhara chairman
A Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrants for Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan Shah Alam and four others for misappropriating Tk 3.93 crore from a businessman.
Earlier on April 25 and June 21 this year, arrest warrants were issued against Shah Alam in connection with two separate cases.
Habibur Rahman Shawkat, the plaintiff's lawyer, told The Daily Star that Shah Alam had already obtained bail from the High Court in one of those cases, for which arrest warrant was issued on April 25.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Farhana Ferdous yesterday passed the order after Tejgaon police submitted an investigation report before it stating that the charges brought against the accused were true.
The four other accused include: Sadat Sobhan, Shah Alam's son and a director of East West Properties Development Ltd, Mahbub Morshed Hasan, its vice-chairman, Towhidul Islam, its deputy managing director and MA Hassan, its assistant general manager.
Selim Ahmed, director of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, filed the case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka on December 27, 2011.
On that very day, the court directed the officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station to submit a report after conducting an investigation.
In the case statement, the plaintiff said he had bought three plots measuring five kathas each, from the company's Baridhara project in 2007 at the company-fixed price of Tk 3 crore. He had paid Tk 3.93 crore, including registration fees and erected walls around the plots after the registration.
Meanwhile, Shah Alam went into hiding after the caretaker government assumed power in January of the same year. After his return in 2008, he demanded another Tk 3 crore from the plaintiff.
On October 30, 2011, the company refused to hand over the plots or return the money saying that the complainant could get the plots only by paying the additional Tk 3 crore, Selim claimed, according to the case statement.
Shah Alam is also the chairman and managing director of East West Properties Development Ltd, a sister concern of Bashundhara Group.
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