Home ›› 21 Mar 2023 ›› Governance
A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced five people including businessperson-turned-politician Helena Jahangir to two years imprisonment in a fraud case.
Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md Tofazzal Hossain handed down the verdict in presence of three out of five accused in the case.
The three accused are — Joyjatra Television’s coordinator Sanaullah Nuri, and its chief news editor Qamruzzaman Arif, and staff reporter Mahfuzur Rahman.
Two accused— Helena Jahangir, also chairman of IPTV ‘Joyjatra Television’ and Hazera Khatun, general manager of the television — were absent during pronouncement of the verdict. The court issued an arrest warrant against them.
Helena submitted a time petition through her lawyer on grounds that her diabetes level is very high. But the court rejected it.
The court also fined them Tk 2,000 each, in default of which they will have to serve two more months in jail.
Earlier, the court recorded statements of 13 prosecution witnesses, including the complainant in the case filed with Pallabi Police Station in the capital.
On April 18 last year, the court started the trial through framing charges against Helena and four others in the case.
On November 21 of 2021, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted a charge sheet against Helena and four others to the court in the case.
Joyjatra Television’s Bhola district correspondent Abdur Rahman Tuhin filed the fraud case on August 2, 2021.
