Ragib jailed for tea estate land grabbing

A Sylhet court yesterday sentenced industrialist Ragib Ali to four concurrent jail terms, the highest six years, in a case filed for grabbing the endowed property of Tarapur Tea Estate by forging title deeds.

Moreover, four others -- his son, daughter and son-in-law and a relative -- will each be serving seven years, the maximum of four terms they have been handed down.

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Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Saifuzzaman Hiru also fined each Tk 10,000, in default, they would serve another three months in jail.

Ragib, his son Abdul Hye and relative Dewan Mostaque Majid were present in court while his daughter Rozina Kadir and son-in-law Abdul Kadir are absconding.

The court acquitted the estate's legal Shebayet (caretaker), Pankaj Kumar Gupta.

Defence lawyer Abdul Mukit Api told journalists that they would challenge the verdict at the High Court.

Ragib got six years' imprisonment under section 467 of the Penal Code, which is the charge of "forgery of a valuable security, will or authority to make or transfer any valuable security, or to receive any money, etc".

Another six years were under section 468, which is the charge of "forgery for the purpose of cheating".

He got one year under section 420, which deals with "cheating and thereby dishonestly inducing delivery of property, or the making, alteration or destruction of a valuable security".

Another year was handed down under section 471, which is the charge of using a forged document knowingly.

Similarly, the other four got seven years under each of the first two sections and one year under each of the remaining two.

Tarapur Tea Estate has been an endowment property since 1915.

The caretaker had earlier alleged that Ragib started grabbing the estate's land in 1990 after forcing him to leave the country.

After grabbing 422.96 acres, Ragib built a medical college, sold 337 plots and established some other structures on the land.

The grabbing case is one of two filed by SM Abdul Kadir, the then assistant commissioner (Land) of Sylhet Sadar, against Ragib with Sylhet Kotwali Police Station in 2005.

The grabbing case was filed on November 2 while the other, over the forgery of legal documents, was filed on September 25.

Ragib was sent to jail on November 24 last year after Indian police arrested him in Karimganj district of Assam and handed him over to Bangladesh Police.

His son was arrested by Zakiganj immigration police on November 12 while trying to enter Bangladesh.

The relative, Dewan, surrendered to a court on October 10 and has been on bail since December 18.

On February 2 this year, Ragib and his son each got six years' imprisonment, the maximum of four concurrent terms handed down in the forgery case.

The court also fined them Tk 10,000 each, in default, they would serve another three months in jail.

The sentences will be served separately for the two cases with the count beginning from the day the respective verdicts were announced, Additional Public Prosecutor Mahfuzur Rahman told The Daily Star.