The ongoing feud among the family members of Transcom Group have deepened with filing of a murder case against the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Simeen Rahman and 10 others of the business group.
Eight top Transcom officials, including the chairman and the CEO are already facing cases over misappropriation of money, possession of property and illegal transfer of shares.
Shahzreh Haque, daughter of late chairman of Transcom Group, on Thursday filed a murder case against her sister and CEO Simeen Rahman and 10 others of killing their brother Arshad Waliur Rahman.
Amid the fight in the family over who take the helm of Transcom Group, Transcom Director Shahzreh Haque earlier filed four cases against the family members and officials of the business entity.
Earlier in February, Shahzreh filed three cases of misappropriation of money, possession of property and illegal transfer of shares against eight persons including her mother, sister and nephew.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Gulshan police station Mazharul Islam mentioned that Shahzreh Haque filed the murder case on Thursday night. In the case, she alleged that her brother Arshad Waliur Rahman was not ill and that he was killed by the accused through a conspiracy.
Other accused in the case are Simeen Rahman’s son and Transcom Ltd Head of Transformation Zaraif Ayaat Hossain, 29, Executive Director of Corporate Affairs (Law) Fakhruzzaman Bhuiyan, 60, Director of Corporate Finance Kamrul Hasan, 61, Manager of
Corporate Affairs Selina Sultana, 45, Manager of Corporate Affairs KH Md Shahadat Hossain, 50, Manager (Medical Affairs) of SKF Pharmaceuticals Dr Murad, 50, Executive Director (Marketing and Sales) Dr Md Mujahidul Islam, 55, Md Zahid Hossain, 55, chef Rafiq, 55, and personal driver Mirazul, 40.
Shahzreh said in the case statement that following the death of their father Latifur Rahman, former CEO of Transcom Group, Simeen Rahman and her son Zaraif Ayaat Hossain, also Transcom Ltd’s head of transformation, allegedly started hatching a conspiracy to grab all the wealth that was to be distributed among all the heirs.
Shahzreh alleged that a lot of documents were forged to ensure that she and her brother Arshad Waliur Rahman, who was a divorcee with no children, did not get a share of the wealth.
“My brother and I decided to take legal action against them for this offence. On 8 June 2023, Arshad gave me the power of attorney,” she said.
A power of attorney gave Shahzreh legal authorization to act on behalf of an individual referred to as the principal.
“Simeen got angry with my brother for giving me the power of attorney. At this time, he expressed fear of attack on his life and our close relatives,” Shahzreh said.
Eight days later at around 11:15am on 16 June, Shahzreh received a call from a former domestic worker Moslem Howladar, who was employed by her father.
He told her that her brother Arshad had died.
“Within 10 minutes, I rushed to his home and found him dead in his bedroom,” Shahzreh said.
She said all the 11 accused were present in his house at the time, but she claimed that no one had informed her of the death.
“My brother was not suffering from any chronic diseases. I had been trying to contact him for the past four days, but I couldn’t,” Shahzreh said.
She recalled seeing an ambulance parked outside her brother’s rented house at Gulshan, where he lived alone.
One day at the house, Shahzren saw Manager (Medical Affairs) of Eskayef Pharmaceuticals Dr Murad Hossain, 50, and Marketing and Sales Department Executive Director Dr Md Mujahidul Islam, 55, speaking to Simeen.
“Simeen was instructing them to get the death certificate as soon as possible,” she claimed.
“The remaining others were also asked to complete the burial of Arshad by the afternoon on that day.”
According to Shahzreh, the body was then taken to the hospital by Dr Murad. Some unidentified employees of Eskayef Pharmaceuticals were present at that time.
“The on-duty doctor then said that Arshad died some time ago. He asked why there was so much delay in bringing the dead body,” she said.
He (the on-duty doctor) also asked about Arshad’s physical condition to know whether he had any chronic diseases and how he died.
“In reply, Dr Murad claimed to be Arshad’s family doctor and he had all the information. He said that a police report was not necessary.”
Shahzreh said after all the formalities at the hospital, Dr Murad and other Eskayef officials wanted to take the body from the hospital, but they were told that the body could not be released without a signature from a relative.
“My husband Arshad Haque signed the release form,” Shahzreh said.
She claimed that Dr Murad, at the instruction of Simeen, took the death certificate and other medical documents from the hospital to give those to Simeen through Dr Mujahidul.
Being suspicious of not carrying out post-mortem or toxicology, her husband, Haque, took a photo of the death certificate with his phone.
“He said the reason for death was stated as ‘unknown’,” Shahzreh said.
Haque has shown the photo of the death certificate to their other relatives, Shahzreh said in her statement.
Shahzren said the namaz-e-janaza was held hurriedly at the Banani graveyard in the capital.
“Even though there were four empty burial spots at the family graveyard, Waliur was laid to rest at the same grave as their younger sister Shazneen.”
Shazneen Tasnim Rahman was raped and murdered in their home in Gulshan, Dhaka on 23 April 1998. She was stabbed 20 times.
Her body was discovered by domestic help Moslem Hawlader, the same person who allegedly called Shahzreh to inform her of her brother’s passing.
In the case statement, Shahzreh said, “Simeen made all the decisions on her own that day, including how the burial would take place and when.”
Shahzreh, in the statement, reiterated that her brother was not sick and there was no evidence of anything wrong with his health. He had not discussed the matter of any illness with any relatives either.
Shahzreh mentioned that one of Arshad’s close friends, Latifur Rahman Khan Ruskin, asked Simeen that day about the lack of a post-mortem and toxicology report.
“He also asked Simeen why Arshad’s driver [Mirazul] and chef [Rafiq] were not questioned by police over the death,” Shahzreh said. Simeen, allegedly, evaded the questions.
Both Mirazul and Rafiq have been named as accused in the murder case.
“All of the accused planned the murder through either strangulation or poisoning that day,” Shahzreh alleged citing their demeanour.
She further claimed that since Arshad’s death, all his property, including car, home and other assets were usurped by those accused in the case at Simeen’s directive.
“Mirazul and Rafiq are still employed by Transcom Ltd as decided by Simeen,” Shahzreh said.
On February 22, Shahzreh filed three cases with the police station on charges of fraud and breach of trust regarding the company’s shares and properties.
In the three cases, eight top officials, including the chairman and CEO of Transcom Group, were accused.
According to lawyers, Transcom Group Chairman Shahnaz Rahman, CEO Simeen, and its Head of Strategy and Transformation Zaraif Ayaat Hossain, have been out of the country before the filing of the cases.
Under these circumstances, a writ petition was filed with the High Court, seeking protection so that the three could return to the country and participate in the legal proceedings.
On March 20, the High Court issued an order along with a rule in response to the writ petition.
Subsequently, Shahzreh appealed against the order with the chamber judge of the Appellate Division.
On March 21, the chamber judge gave an order after a hearing on the appeal. It granted the three top executives of Transcom Group a 72-hour protection upon their return from abroad and until their surrender before a lower court in connection with the cases filed over property disputes.