Tarana Halim sues fellow cultural activist for forging her signature

Bangabandhu Sanskritik Jote (BSJ) President Tarana Halim has sued the organisation’s General Secretary Arun Sarkar Rana for ‘forgery and extortion’.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Jan 2016, 08:54 AM
Updated : 25 Jan 2016, 10:06 AM

Tarana’s Personal Secretary Joydev Nondee filed the case on behalf of the state minister for posts and telecommunications at Shahbagh Police Station on Sunday night.

Shahbagh police OC Abu Bakar Siddique said that Rana was accused of raising funds for BSJ through sponsorship and advertisement in 2013-14 by using forged signature of Tarana and her official designation on the organisation's letterhead.

Siddique said they would arrest the accused if the allegations against him were proved.

When reached for comment, Tarana Halim told bdnews24.com: “Arun Sarkar Rana has forged my signature on the organisation letterhead several times to seek sponsorship from different institutions for organisation’s programmes.

He also forged my signature to ask Teletalk for sponsorship.

“I’ve filed the case when I came to know about this.”

A frustrated Tarana said, “I can’t stand corruption. I don’t hesitate to take action against anyone from my organisation if he/she is corrupt. I haven’t compromised with crime, and will never do.”

The minister said she was also planning to recommend Rana’s expulsion from the BSJ.

However, Arun Sarkar Rana refuted the allegations against him, claiming he had no idea of the forgery.

“The accusations levelled against me are not true. My signature was also forged along with the state minister’s signature on the organisation’s pad,” he said.

“A company has taken an advertisement from Teletalk by forging Apa’s (sister’s) and my signatures. I also conveyed this to Joydev Nondee when he called me over phone the day before yesterday.”

Rana said, “I think this is a ploy to remove me from my post (in BSJ).”