Helena Jahangir remanded for 14 days in four cases

Police have been granted six more days to grill in custody Helena Jahangir, a businesswoman who was recently sacked from an Awami League subcommittee, in two separate cases under the digital security and anti-narcotics law.

Court Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 August 2021, 02:47 PM
Updated : 3 August 2021, 02:47 PM

Dhaka's Metropolitan Magistrate Nivana Khair Jesi placed her on a three-day remand in each case following a petition by investigating officer Sheikh Shahanur Rahman on Tuesday.

Earlier, Metropolitan Magistrate Shahinur Rahman remanded Helena in custody for eight days in two other cases, one involving charges of extortion and another under the Telecommunication Act.

Helena was produced in court at the end of a three-day remand in the case under the Digital Security Act.

Police sought 10 days to interrogate her in connection with the case. The law-enforcing agency also applied for a five-day remand order on Saturday to question her on the drug-related charges.

Shafiqul Islam, the defence counsel, opposed the remand petition while seeking bail for Helena.

He told the court that Helena was being framed in the case as part of a harassment campaign. The lawyer cited her health problems, particularly her high diabetes level, in support of the bail plea.

Public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu and Additional Public Prosecutor Taposh Kumar Pal represented the state/

The extortion case was started by Bhola-native Abdur Rahman Tuhin with Pallabi Police on Monday.

According to the case, the authorities of Joyjatra IP TV, owned by Helena, took a large sum of money from Tuhin to secure his position as the channel's Bhola representative.

Apart from Helena, Joyjatra's Managing Director Hajera Khatun and Editor-in-Chief Kamruzzaman Arif are also named in the case.

The accused allegedly took Tk 3,000 from Tuhin every month for about 32 months while threatening to sack him if he failed to pay up, according to Pallabi Police OC Parvez Islam.

A director of the apex trade body FBCCI and chairperson of Joyjatra TV, Helena also identifies herself as the president of the IP TV Owners Association of Bangladesh. She was arrested from her Gulshan residence on Jul 29.

The Awami League’s subcommittee on women’s affairs fired her as a member recently after her name came up on social media as the president of ‘Bangladesh Awami Chakrijibi League’, a group with no official links to the ruling party.

She also lost her post as an advisor to the Cumilla District Unit of the party after a ‘Chakrijibi League’ post seeking members went viral on social media, putting the Awami League in a difficult position.