Evaly: The trial of the owner couple begins

The trial of the chief executive officer (CEO) of the e-commerce company Evaly Mohammad Russell and the company's chairman Shamima Nasreen has started in the case filed at the Gulshan police station in the capital. On Wednesday (December 28), Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mehedi Hasan's court started the formal trial of the case by filing charges against them. Meanwhile, the court fixed February 18 as the date for taking testimony in the case. When the trial started, the accused Russell was brought to the court in the morning. However, the accused Shamima Nasreen, who is on bail, did not appear and applied for time through the lawyer. The court rejected the application and issued an arrest warrant against her. At the same time, in the presence of the accused Russell, the court formed a complaint against them. The accused in the case, Moinul Haque, another officer of Evaly, was acquitted from the case as no evidence was found to frame the charges. Arif Baker, a resident of Rupganj, Narayanganj filed this case at Gulshan police station on September 15 last year. In the statement of the case, he complained that he did not receive the product within the stipulated time despite ordering the product worth Tk. 3 lakh 10 thousand 597. After the investigation of this case, the investigating officer CID Deputy Police Inspector (SI) Rafiqul Islam submitted the charge sheet against the accused in the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court of Dhaka on August 29. A few years ago, at the beginning of the boom of e-commerce business, Evaly came to the attention of customers by selling various products including cars, motorcycles, household furniture, smart TVs, refrigerators, ACs, washing machines at half price. Many people ordered products by paying huge sums of money in advance 'attracted' by their lucrative offers, but many of them did not receive the products even after waiting for months; Evaly also did not return the money taken as advance. Amid widespread discussion and criticism, customers protested against Evaly and several other e-commerce companies since mid-2021, accusing them of fraud and money embezzlement. Then there were several cases. RAB arrested Russell and his wife Shamima Nasreen from Mohammadpur of the capital on September 16 last year in a case filed by one such customer. They were also questioned on remand. Since then, one case after another is being filed against this couple. Shamima, the former chairman of Evaly, was released from prison on April 6 after getting bail in all cases after eight months of imprisonment. But her husband, Evaly founder Russell, is still in prison.