Sylhet: A Sylhet court handed down 14 years of imprisonment to industrialist Ragib Ali in a case filed over grabbing endowment property of Tarapur Tea Estate. The court also awarded his son Abdul Hye and three others with 16 years of imprisonment in the same case.

The Sylhet Chief Magistrate Court Judge Saifuzzaman Hero announced the verdict on Thursday.

Earlier, on 26 February, the court deferred the verdict till 6 April in the case against Ragib Ali and five others.

On 23 February, the court fixed 26 February for delivering the verdict after concluding arguments.

On February 15, the CMM court fixed February 23 (today) for presenting arguments after closing recording of testimony of 22 witnesses.

On February 2, the same court sentenced Ragib and his son Abdul Hye to 14 years’ rigorous imprisonment in a case filed for grabbing the endowment property of Tarapur Tea Estate through forgery.

On 25 August, 1999, the then parliamentary watchdog on land affairs found that the Tarapur Tea Estate grabbed a vast area of an endowment property and set up several establishments on the land illegally.

Later, the subcommittee of the parliamentary watchdog recommended taking legal action against the illegal occupants.

SM Abdul Hye, the land commissioner of Sylhet Sadar, filed two cases against six people, including Ragib Ali, with Sylhet Kotwali Police Station on 27 September, 2005.

The cases were filed one for grabbing endowment property of Tarapur Tea Estate after fabricating document of the Ministry of Land against Ragib and his son Hye and another for misappropriating Tk 1,000 crore of the government.

The other accused are Pankaj Kumar Gupta, current caretaker of Tarapur Tea Estate, Ragib’s son Abdul Hye, his son-in-law Abdul Quadir and daughter Rozina Qaudir and Dewan Moshtaque Majid.

On 19 January, 2016, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court asked the authorities concerned to reclaim Tarapur Tea Estate. The SC also ordered reinvestigation into the cases although police submitted a final report disposing of the case.

Following the SC order, Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate court ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the cases again. On July 10, the PBI submitted a report accusing Ragib Ali and his son Hye.

Ragib Ali and his family members fled to India hours after the arrest warrants were issued against them after police submitted the chargesheets in the two cases to Sylhet Metropolitan Magistrate Court on 10 July, 2016.

On 10 August, a court in Sylhet issued warrants for the arrest of six people in the two cases.

Indian immigration police arrested him from Karimganj district of Assam for illegal stay on 24 November and a court sent him to jail while Abdu Hye was arrested from Jakiganj on 12 November.