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A Dhaka court has sent Mujtaba Ali, chairman of the e-commerce platform Dhamaka Shopping, to jail following his detention by people who claimed to be victims of “fraud”.
Metropolitan Magistrate Rakibul Hasan issued the order on Sunday.
Bhatara Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Mostafa Hossain said police had presented him before the court and requested to show him arrested under Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code, along with an appeal to send him into their custody.
The application said some victims, who were cheated through Dhamaka Shopping e-commerce, detained Mujtaba around 8:15pm on Saturday and handed him over to police.
A review of the Crime Data Management Search (CDMS) revealed information about a six-month sentence against him in a cheque forgery case in Lakshmipur.
“There are more cases filed against him. After his detention, the information was widely shared on social media.
“‘Extreme tension’ is prevalent in areas surrounding the police station over the incident. In such a situation, it is necessary to place him in jail custody. Necessary legal action will be taken, subject to further investigation.”
Four years ago, when information about e-commerce fraud came to light one after another, customers and product suppliers also accused the e-commerce platform of acquiring billions of taka through deception.
At that time, the victim customers filed multiple cases against the company’s chairman and staff members.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police earlier said in a statement on Jun 26, “Properties worth about Tk 620 million in the names of individuals and organisations associated with Dhamaka Shopping have been seized.
“In view of an application, a senior special judge ordered the seizure of these properties on Jun 16.
“The order was issued on charges of embezzlement and money laundering of approximately Tk 1.16 billion in a breach of trust with customers.