Helena Jahangir gets two years jail in fraud case

A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced five people including, Helena Jahangir, expelled leader of an Awami League sub-committee, to two years imprisonment in a fraud case filed with Pallabi Police Station.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Tofazzal Hossain handed down the judgment. The court also fined them Tk 2000 each, in default, to suffer two months more imprisonment.

The four other convicts are-- Hazera Khatun, general manager of Helena Jahangir's IPTV Joyjatra television, its coordinator Sanaullah Nuri, chief news editor Quamruzzaman Arif and staff reporter Mahfuz Shahrier.

The court also issued warrants for the arrest of Helena and Hazera for not to appear before the court during the hearing.

On March 14, the court fixed March 20 for delivering the judgment in the case after concluding the law-point arguments from both the defense and state counsel sides.

Abdur Rahman Tuhin, Bhola district correspondent of Joyjatra television, filed the case against Helena and four others with Pallabi Police Station on August 2, 2021.

According to the prosecution, Helena Jahangir took Tk 54,000 from Tuhin for appointing him as a district correspondent of the television. After joining the television, he did not get any remuneration for several months. On the other hand, the television authorities used to take Tk 3,000 from him every month.

On November 21, 2021, inspector Shahinur Islam of Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted chargesheet against Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court.

On July 29, 2021, members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Helena Jahangir, 49, from her residence in the city’s Gulshan-2 area.

The elite force members "seized foreign liquor, illegal walkie-talkie sets, casino equipment and deer skins" from her possession. Four separate cases were filed against Helena.