Television presenter Farzana Brownia filed a case on Wednesday, 25 September, accusing five individuals, including Channel i’s head of news, Shykh Seraj, of fraud and extortion.
The case was lodged at the court of Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Hasibul Haque, who accepted Brownia’s statement and directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate. The CID has until 12 November to submit their report.
The other accused are Zahir Uddin Mahmud Mamun, Mukit Majumdar Babu, Abdur Rashid Majumdar Parvez, and Riaz Ahmed Khan. Brownia’s complaint also mentions that all five are involved in Awami League politics.
According to the case, Brownia was employed as the Marketing Manager at Channel i with a monthly salary of Tk1 lakh and also hosted and directed the show “Swarnakishori” (Golden Youth). The conflict began in 2018 during the quota reform movement when she supported the protesting students.
On 11 October 2018, she was suddenly banned from the channel without formal notice. When she protested, she was told she would continue to receive her salary until officially dismissed in writing. Brownia claims she is owed Tk79 lakh in unpaid wages from October 2018 to September 2024.
Despite sending a legal notice, the accused did not respond and allegedly threatened her, demanding Tk50 crore as extortion.
