A Narayanganj court yesterday sent cultural activist Rafiur Rabbi to jail in a case filed over Tk70 lakh cheque forgery.
The court of Narayanganj’s First Additional District and Sessions Judge Miazi Mohammad Shahidul Alam Chowdhury passed the order yesterday morning rejecting his bail plea.
Rabbi, convener of Twoki Mancha – a platform formed in 2013 to demand justice for the murder of his slain son, was jailed for one year and fined Tk2.10 crore in the case last year. Of the amount, he was asked to pay Tk1.4 crore to the plaintiff and Tk70 lakh to the government exchequer.
Later, Rabbi filed an appeal with the High Court against the verdict and submitted Tk35 lakh. The court rejected his plea on February 15 and sent all the relevant documents to the district court.
After the documents reached the court on March 13, it asked Rabbi to surrender.
Rabbi’s lawyer could not be contacted yesterday despite repeated attempts. However, his friends claim that Rabbi is a victim of conspiracy by local ruling party lawmaker Shamim Osman. Rabbi earlier claimed that his son Tanvir Mohammad Twoki was abducted and killed by Azmeri Osman, a nephew of the lawmaker.
The cheque forgery case was filed by Jalal Uddin Ahmed, uncle-in-law of Shamim Osman, on February 8, 2012.
Rabbi’s lawyer said that one Shamim Quadri had bought 30 decimals of land from Rabbi and later sold it to Jalal. Later, a meeting decided that Jalal would return the land to Rabbi in exchange for Tk70 lakh.
Rabbi gave two blank cheques to Jalal’s lawyer who was present at the meeting. But the cheques bounced.
A Narayanganj court sentenced Rabbi to one-year imprisonment in June last year. The court also fined Rabbi, the district unit convener of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, Tk2.10 crore.