Inspector Sohel Rana enters India illegally

Banani Police Inspector Sheikh Sohel Rana, who was recently detained by law enforcers in India, paid a broker Tk 10,000 to illegally cross the India-Bangladesh border from Lalmonirhat’sPatgram.

Rana also gave Indian law enforcers a description of how he made his way from Dhaka to India, which they passed on to law enforcers in Bangladesh, according to Bangladesh Police Headquarters.

Rana said he boarded a bus from Dhaka to Lalmonirhat’s Patgram on Wednesday and crossed the India-Bangladesh border at 12:30 am, by paying a Bangladeshi broker named ‘ShimantoBabu’ Tk 10,000.

At the time of his detention, Rana had four debit cards, two mobile phones, €15,000 and $20,000 on his person.

Indian media outlets first reported the arrest of Rana.

Rana joined the police as a sub-inspector in 2003. That same year he and 20 others were dismissed from the force, but he was again reinstated in 2008.

After his detention, Rana said that he had crossed into India illegally in order to travel to Nepal.

Rana had not come to the office on Friday or Saturday and had not taken the days off either, Asaduzzaman, the deputy commissioner of Gulshan Division police, said

Rana is the brother of Sonia Mehjabin, the Eorange owner accused of embezzling Tk 11 billion from customers on the online platform.

The primary suspects in the case – Sonia, her husband Masukur Rahman and Eorange Chief Operating Officer Amanullah – have been arrested and are currently in jail.

Though Rana has no official ownership or shares in Eorange, he has been accused alongside nine others in a case filed at the Gulshan Police Station over embezzlement.

Though Rana was detained early on Thursday morning, the police headquarters was not officially informed of it by the Indian counterpart, said MdMohiul Islam, assistant inspector general of the Interpol National Central Bureau.

Police will continue their efforts to bring the man back, MdShafiqul Islam, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner,said.

Bringing Sohel back from India uncertain 

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner Shafiqul Islam on Sunday said that it was not certain whether the arrested inspector SohelRana could be brought back to Bangladesh from India since he was prosecuted in another country.

The commissioner said that they used to deal with such cases through the ministry; but he was not sure if it would be possible in this particular case. ‘We are trying to bring him back,’ he added.