Inspector Sohel Rana, ‘patron’ of E-orange, detained by BSF in India
India's Border Security Force (BSF) detained Banani Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Sheikh Sohel Rana, the so-called patron of e-commerce platform E-orange, from Changrabandha border area in Cooch Behar district in India.
From the official twitter account of BSF Frontier Headquarters North Bengal, at 5:18pm, BSF posted Sohel's blurred picture and wrote that based on specific information, troops of BSF Frontier North Bengal apprehended an inspector of Dhaka Metropolitan Police while he was trying to cross the Indian border illegally.
Border Guard Bangladesh Director (Operations) Lt Col Faizur Rahman told The Daily Star that he heard Sohel has been detained by the BSF at the Indian border. BSF didn't yet make any official communication in this regard, he said. They may communicate with the Police Headquarters (PHQ) about the arrest of the police officer, he said.
Contacted, Md Sohel Rana, assistant inspector general (media) of PHQ, told The Daily Star that he has heard about the arrest through some unofficial sources.
Publishing a photo of the inspector, surrounded by BSF officers, an Indian news site 'Uttarbanga Sambad' reported that BSF on Friday detained a Bangladeshi named Sohel Rana from the Changrabandha border in India's Cooch Behar district on charges of entering the country illegally. It added that the arrestee worked at Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Passports, multiple mobile phones and ATM cards were seized from him.
Banani Police Station Officer-in-charge Nur-e-Azam Mia said that Sohel Rana left office on Thursday night and did not come to the police station over the last two days. He learnt from the media that Sohel had been detained by BSF, the OC said.
Police officers working in Gulshan Division said the man arrested by the BSF is Inspector Sohel Rana.
Sohel is the patron of e-commerce platform 'E-orange' which made headlines for reportedly embezzling crores of Taka by not delivering customers' products. His sister and brother-in-law used to run the e-commerce company.
On August 17, customers filed a case against owners and staff of E-orange for reportedly embezzling around Tk 1,100 crore by not delivering their products.
Md Abu Taher, a resident of Azampur in Dhaka, filed the case on behalf of 37 customers with Gulshan Police Station against the owners and staff of the platform, mentioning five names. The accused are Sohel Rana's sister Sonia Mehjabin, her husband Masukur Rahman, Chief Operating Officer Amanullah Chowdhury, Bithi Akter, Kausar and all other owners of E-orange.
Sonia, Masukur, Amanullah and former COO Nazmul Alam Russel are behind bars now.
From the beginning, Sohel has been denying allegations of his involvement with E-orange. However, his name as the director can be seen in the TIN certificate used to open the company called Orange Bangladesh. E-orange and Orange Bangladesh are at the same location. There are allegations against him that he has withdrawn Tk 2.5 crore from the company at different times.
Aminul Islam, inspector (investigation) of Gulshan Police Station, said when they asked Sonia about it, she told the investigators that Sohel withdrew the money on her request.
The official said, the ownership of the company has recently been transferred to Bithi Akter from Sonia.
Earlier, the VAT intelligence filed another case against E-orange on allegation of evasion of value-added tax (VAT).