Sohel Rana, former inspector of Dhaka’s Banani Police Station and a key suspect in the E-Orange fraud cases, has been confined to an Albanian jail for the past nine months while pursuing political asylum in the southeastern European nation.
Albanian authorities informed Bangladesh that Rana has introduced himself as a relative of former Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He is reportedly arguing that he escaped Bangladesh due to political persecution and that returning home could put his life at risk, including the possibility of a death sentence.
Assistant Inspector General AHM Shahadat Hossain, spokesperson of Police Headquarters, confirmed the matter. “He is in custody in Albania. We have officially asked Albania multiple times to hand him over. However, we have yet to receive any formal response,”
Rana left Bangladesh on 2 September 2021 when fraud lawsuits linked to the E-Orange platform were filed. The following day, India’s Border Security Force (BSF) picked him up from Cooch Behar while he was reportedly trying to enter Nepal illegally.
An Indian court later convicted him on charges of illegal entry and sentenced him to two years in prison along with a fine of 40,000 rupees. After securing bail from the Calcutta High Court in January last year citing medical grounds, he went missing once again.
Bangladesh Police had tried to have him returned from India, exchanging several official letters, but the efforts failed.
Later, authorities managed to trace Rana’s movements—first to Portugal and then to Albania. He was arrested there on 1 February this year and subsequently jailed. This update reached Dhaka through Albania.
The government of Bangladesh is continuing its attempts to bring him back to stand trial over the large-scale fraud allegations surrounding E-Orange customers’ money.
