Bidisha Siddique denied bail in flat fraud case

A Dhaka court has rejected the bail petition of Bidisha Siddique, second wife of former president Hussain Muhammad Ershad, who is serving a two-year sentence in a case filed over an alleged fraud involving the sale of a flat.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Shahjahan Kabir rejected the bail application after a hearing on Wednesday (September 2).

A team of lawyers, including Dhaka Bar Association President Anwar Zahid Bhuiyan, appeared for Bidisha and sought her release on bail pending an appeal against the conviction.

Advocate Hemayet Uddin Khan Hiron opposed the petition on behalf of the complainant.

Bidisha’s lawyer Moniruzzaman Sabuj said the defence had sought bail on the condition of filing an appeal against the verdict. As the lower court rejected the petition, the defence is now preparing to move the High Court, he said.

On May 20, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jamshed Alam sentenced Bidisha to two years in prison and fined her Tk 10,000, with an additional month in jail in default, in the fraud case.

As Bidisha was absconding at the time, the court also issued a warrant for her arrest and ordered her to be taken into custody to serve the sentence.

Police arrested her from a restaurant in Gulshan at around 8:30pm on August 25. She was produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court the following day, where her lawyers sought bail pending an appeal. The court rejected the plea and sent her to jail.

The case was filed in 2008 by businessman Mosharraf Hossain Sikder with Gulshan Police Station over an alleged fraud involving a flat at President Park in Baridhara.

According to the case statement, Bidisha showed Mosharraf the flat on July 1, 2001 and offered to sell it to him. The two later agreed on a sale price of Tk 80 lakh.

On July 10 that year, Bidisha allegedly asked Mosharraf to issue a Tk 75 lakh pay order in the name of her nominee and friend Abdul Razzaq. Mosharraf subsequently made the payment through Standard Chartered Bank’s Kawran Bazar branch, following which the two parties executed an agreement for sale.

Under the agreement, the remaining amount was to be paid and the flat registered after obtaining approval from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK). Bidisha also allegedly promised to hand over possession of the flat by July 10, 2002.

The complainant alleged that the deadline passed without the flat being handed over. When he pressed for possession, Bidisha allegedly promised to return the money instead.

On February 9, 2005, she allegedly issued Mosharraf a cheque for Tk 72 lakh. The cheque was later dishonoured because of insufficient funds in the account, according to the complaint.

Mosharraf alleged that Bidisha continued to delay repayment on various grounds and ultimately failed to provide either the flat or the money. The complaint also alleged that he was threatened with death by hired criminals.

Bidisha has continued her legal battle following her conviction. After being denied bail by the lower court, her lawyers said they would now seek relief from the High Court.