Shahjahan Khan summoned in defamation case by Ilias Kanchan

A Dhaka court has summoned former shipping minister Shajahan Khan in a Tk100 crore defamation and compensation case filed by famed actor and Nirapad Sarak Chai founder Ilias Kanchan.

Dhaka's First Joint District Judge Utpal Bhattacharjee issued the warrant after hearing the case today.

Ilias Kanchan filed the case yesterday as Shajahan Khan allegedly made derogatory comments on him during a ceremony on December 5 last year.

The actor gave Shajahan a 24-hours ultimatum to withdraw the statement he had made, but the former shipping minister did not comply.

According to the case statement, Ilias Kanchan said, people are getting killed in road accidents every day. However, there are no initiatives to implement the new road safety act and reduce accidents. When Nirapad Sarak Chai announced a protest in this regard, Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van Owners and Workers Oikko Parishad in response called an indefinite protest on November 19 last year.

During the protest, they put a garland of shoes around Kanchan's effigy and burned it.

A case was later filed against Shajahan, president of an association of owners and workers of trucks and covered vans, over the incident.