Evaly CEO Rassel: No relief from jail despite bail in DSA case

The High Court (HC) on Tuesday granted bail to controversial e-commerce platform Evaly’s Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Md Rassel in a case filed under Digital Security Act.

A joint bench of HC comprising Justice Mostafa Zaman Islam and Justice Md Aminul Islam passed the order after hearing a bail petition.

The court also announced the rule issued regarding the bail as appropriate.

Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi who stood for the state in the court said they will submit a petition seeking a stay order against the bail.

Defendant counsel Ahsanul Karim said though the HC granted bail to his client Rassel in the DSA case on Tuesday; he won’t be able to walk out of jail due to having more cases.

On September 16, 2021, Rassel and His wife Shamima Nasrin were arrested in a raid from their home in the capital’s Mohammadpur area.

The owners of Evaly were allegedly involved in embezzlement of several hundred crores of taka. They were arrested after a victim filed a case against them. Although Nasrin is now out on bail, Rassel has been in jail since his arrest.

The online platform’s customer Mohammad Alamgir Hossain filed a case against the couple and unidentified 15 to 20 individuals bringing the allegation of deception under the DSA on September 30, 2021.

According to the case statement, the plaintiff paid Tk 28 lakh to Evaly through bKash and Nagad for buying electronic appliances from January 1 to September in 2020.

Though it was supposed to deliver the products within 45 days of order, no produce was handed over to the customer despite elapsing seven months.

The case’s investigation officer Prodip Kumar Das, also a CID official, submitted the chargesheet against them on September 16 the past year.

On March 2 this year, Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge AM Zulfiqar Hayat ordered to begin the trial of the case through forming the charges.