Human chain demanding release of Evaly's Rassel, Shamima
A human chain was held in the capital today demanding immediate release of Evaly's CEO Mohammad Rassel and Chairperson Shamima Nasrin.
A group of Evaly customers took to the streets near Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court area and continued their protest for one hour till 11am.
At the time, protesters were seen chanting slogans with pictures of Rassel and his wife Shamima while demanding their release.
The group demanded to give a chance to Rassel and Shamima of Evaly to run their business so that the duo can be able to pay the money owed to the customers, which is only possible if they get a chance to do the business.
The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Mohammad Rassel and Shamima Nasrin during a raid at their Mohammadpur residence in the capital on 16 September in a case filed with Gulshan police station over allegations of embezzling customers' money.
Later, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Atiqul Islam sent the couple on three days remand on 18 September.
On 14 September, the commerce ministry decided to request the home ministry to take legal actions against Evaly for violations of laws and deceiving customers.
"Evaly violated many provisions of the Penal Code 1860, Digital Security Act and Consumer Rights Protection Act," said Hafizur Rahman, additional secretary of the commerce ministry, in a press briefing on the day.
Earlier, in two different submissions to the Commerce Ministry, Evaly informed that they owe Tk311 crore to customers and Tk206 crore to the merchants.
Evaly got the money in advance payments by luring people with heavy discounts on products on its site and promising delivery in 7-45 days. Buyers, however, are yet to receive the items they ordered.
The refund cheques given to customers bounced because of an insufficient fund in Evaly's bank account.
Meanwhile, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) wrote to several government organisations seeking related documents on Evaly.
