Assam police seeks to send back Sylhet businessman Ragib Ali

The government in India's northeastern state of Assam is seeking to send back Ragib Ali, a Sylhet businessman, after nabbing him for illegal overstay as his visa has expired.

Ragib Ali had entered Assam through the Karimganj check post on Aug 11 with his son, daughter, son-in-law and two others after a court in Sylhet had found guilty in a case of grabbing Hindu land by forging documents and issued warrant of arrest against him.

Police in Karimganj said his visa for stay in India has expired and he will be send back to Bangladesh.

"We hear he is wanted in a case in Bangladesh. So his visa will not be renewed and he will be sent back soon," said a Karimganj district police official.

But he was not willing to be named because he was not authorised to speak to media.

Sylhet Additional SP Sugyan Chakma has told bdnews24.com’s Sylhet correspondent that Indian authorities informed them of Ragib's arrest and that he would be sent back to Bangladesh.

Ragib Ali had a valid multiple entry Indian visa, no VK 1778506, issued against his Bangladesh passport, no 5037629, for one month that expired on Sept 27.

Since then, Ragib Ali has twice managed to secure extension of his visa, first for 30 days and then for 40 days, by producing medical documents to back his claim that he was under treatment in India, first in Silchar Medical College and then in NEIGRIHMS, a specialty hospital in Shillong.

Ragib Ali

Assam police officials cleared his visa extension on compassionate grounds, not knowing that he was trying to evade arrest in Bangladesh. But after he sought a third time visa extension on medical grounds in November, the superintendent of police of Karimganj district opposed it.

The SP wrote to Assam police headquarters on Nov 18 ( letter no U/O no CB.KXJ/B/2016/2836-A)  with a copy to India's Intelligence Bureau saying he was against granting any further extension of visa to Ragib Ali.

The letter said that Karimganj police had learnt that Ragib Ali was "possibly wanted" in Bangladesh in connection with some “serious criminal cases”.

Where the letter went wrong was when it suggested that Ragib Ali was possibly a 'war criminal' -- but that is because the Karimganj district police had not interacted with anybody in Bangladesh and was basing its report on some local sources.

Subsequently, Assam police has checked with Bangladesh diplomats in India informally and found out details about Ragib Ali.

"We now want to send Ragib back because he is wanted in Bangladesh. We are grateful to Bangladesh for handing over those wanted in India, including ULFA leaders, and we don’t want to extend the visa for Ragib," said a top Assam police official, but on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Since his visa will not be extended, Ragib appears to be a fit case for a push back.

Industrialist Ragib Ali and his family fled to India hours after a court issued arrest warrants for him, his son, daughter, son-in-law and two others in two cases over the grabbing of a Hindu land by resorting to forgery.

Sylhet Additional Superintendent of Police Sugyan Chakma had told media persons at that time that Ragib, his son Abdul Hye, Hye’s wife and two other members of the family crossed into Karimganj before police received the copies of the court order.

Presumably, he had lined up Indian visas well in advance.

But it is somewhat surprising why the Bangladesh government did not make an official request to India in the last three months to send back Ragib.

Sylhet’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Saifuzzaman Hero had issued arrest warrant ordering the arrest of Ragib and his son in a case over forging land ministry documents to grab the temporality of Tarapur Tea Estate.

Later, the Magistrate later ordered confiscation of Ragib Ali's properties unless he surrendered to face trial.

The tea estate’s Sebayet Pankaj Kumar Gupta, Ragib’s daughter Rujina Kadir, son-in-law Abdul Kadir, and relative Dewan Mostak Majid faced arrest along with Ragib and Hye in the other case over fraud.

According to case details, a Hindu man donated the tea estate and all other properties to Sri Sri Radha Krishna Jeu in 1915.

Pankaj became the Sebayet of the estate in 1971 and later left for India, making Majid the Sebayet of the temporality.

Questions were raised over a Muslim becoming a Sebayet of a Hindu temporality. An investigation was launched later.

The investigator found that Majid had forged a land ministry official’s signature to lease the estate to Hye for 99 years.

Ragib sold the estate dividing it into 337 plots.

An annual publication, British Bangladeshi Who's Who, describes North South University Trust’s Founder Life Member Ragib as a philanthropist.

The UK-Bangladeshi businessman is also associated with bank, stock exchanges, insurance companies, and many other business houses, the publication says.

According to the publication, he is also the managing director of Kohinoor Industries Ltd and has served as chairman of South-East Bank Limited.