E-Orange owner, her husband sent to jail
A case has been filed with Gulshan police accusing them of Tk1,100 crore embezzlement
A Dhaka court sent e-commerce platform Eorange's owner Sonia Mehjabin and her husband Masukur Rahman to jail on Tuesday.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique passed the order, rejecting their bail pleas.
On Tuesday afternoon, the couple surrendered to the court after Eorange customers had filed a case against them.
Meanwhile, the commerce ministry issued a show-cause notice to the online platform over harassment of customers.
It said it had learnt from several customers and the media that Eorange did not deliver products on time even after receiving payment from its customers, which was a violation of Customer Rights Protection Act 2009 and Penal Code 1860.
The ministry asked Eorange to explain in seven days upon receiving the notice as to why legal actions should not be taken against it.
The online platform also has to inform the ministry within the time of how many customers are yet to get their orders delivered after making payments until 31 July and how much money was collected from them, according to the notice.
The ministry also sought information about the assets and liabilities of the digital marketplace and its capital until 31 July 2021.
On behalf of the aggrieved customers, Md Taherul Islam filed the case against five people, including the owners, with Gulshan Police Station accusing them of embezzling around Tk1,100 crore.
The case was filed on Monday night following a protest of hundreds of Eorange customers in front of Gulshan Police Station.
The complainant said he had paid in advance to Eorange on 21 April but was yet to get the product. He did not get any refund either.
The Eorange authorities were supposed to publish a product list outlining the pending orders and the stipulated delivery time.
But instead of publishing the list, it sought up to 45 to 60 days, which infuriated customers.
On 12 August, Eorange posted on their Facebook page that though their office was reportedly vandalised, they promised to deliver products on 16 August.
Around 50 customers staged a sit-in protest in front of the office on 11 August.
