Bera mayor: From a fugitive in plain sight for 33 months to a free man
Police did not arrest Pabna's Bera municipality mayor SM Asif Shams for over two and a half years, even though he had an arrest warrant against him for his company's failure to pay Tk 191.63 crore it owed the state.
All the while, Asif, also the son of Deputy Speaker of Jatiya Sangsad Md Shamsul Haque Tuku, continued his mayoral activities in public and even took part in campaigns of others running for local government offices.
Yesterday, the General Certificate Officer's Court of Dhaka recalled the arrest warrant issued against Asif, also the president of Bera upazila Awami League, after he showed up in court and submitted some documents.
On May 23, 2022, a copy of the arrest warrant was sent to the officer-in-charge of Bera Model Police Station.
"His father is the incumbent lawmaker and the deputy speaker in parliament.... How do I dare to arrest him?"
Md Rashidul Islam, OC of Bera Model Police Station, told The Daily Star on Wednesday, "After joining this station [on December 9, 2023], I learnt about the arrest warrant against him and informed my senior officials. Then I verbally told him to pay the government dues.
"His father is the incumbent lawmaker and the deputy speaker in parliament. He is the incumbent municipality mayor and also the president of the upazila Awami League. How do I dare to arrest him? I only told him verbally, several times."
In January 2014, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) filed the case against the International Gateway (IGW) operator Vision Tel Ltd chairman Asif; managing directors Ayrin Islam and Shariful Islam; director Rashel Mirza; and shareholder Ziaur Rahman to recover due licence fees and revenue share.
BTRC took the decision to file the case against in the 161th Commission meeting. It also decided to send a letter to the ministry concerned for cancellation of its licence, documents show.
The court issued arrest warrants against Asif, Ayrin, Shariful, and Rashel between September 23, 2021, and November 30, 2021.
Since then, the four have been fugitives, according to the case records.
Locals said Asif has regularly attended various political and government programmes, and election campaigns between May 2022 and June 23 this year.
A Facebook page named "Adv Asif Shams Ronjon" shows Asif was live at least on 120 occasions in Bera between the time the arrest warrant was issued and yesterday.
According to locals, a rally led by Asif Shams paraded Bera streets, marking the AL founding anniversary on June 23. He also sought votes for candidates in the Bera upazila parishad polls on May 6.
He took part in his father's campaign for the 12th national elections.
According to BTRC documents, Vision Tel Ltd got its licence on April 12, 2012.
A BTRC official said the case was filed to recover the dues arisen from revenue sharing and annual licence fees, which has now become over Tk 235 crore with interest.
The last hearing on the case was on June 26, said a court staffer, adding that since there were no developments regarding arrests, the court set August 25 for the next hearing.
Contacted, Asif yesterday said, "I have severed links with Vision Tel Ltd in 2013 with the BTRC's permission. The case was filed against the company.
"I was not informed about the court's notices and the arrest warrant earlier," he told The Daily Star by phone.
"Today [yesterday], I appeared before the court and the problem has been solved. I will return to Bera soon," he said, adding that he reached Dhaka from Bera a few days ago.
Vision Tel Ltd's licence was cancelled on June 16, 2015.
Recently, some media outlets reported that Asif went abroad, fearing that he would be arrested.
However, The Daily Star has a video clip in which Asif was seen inside a car in the capital's Ramna on Wednesday.
His personal assistant told this newspaper that the mayor last worked at his Bera office on June 28.
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