A Sylhet court on Thursday issued arrest warrants against Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir, and four others in connection with a cheque fraud case.

Judge of Sylhet Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid passed the order after hearing an appeal.

The case was filed by Ahmed Noor, former Sylhet bureau chief of Kaler Kantho newspaper and currently the editor of local daily Sylhet Mirror.

Confirming the court order, plaintiff’s lawyer Emad Ullah Shahidul Islam said the warrants were issued after the accused ignored previous summons issued by the court.

The other accused include Kaler Kantho publisher Moynal Hossain Chowdhury, current editor Hasan Hafiz, former editor and cheque signatory Shahed Muhammad Ali, and former Bangladesh Pratidin editor Naem Nizam.

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Kaler Kantho newspaper has also been named as an institutional defendant.

Court sources said the case was initially filed on December 5 last year. On that day, the court had ordered the six accused to appear before it.

According to the case statement, the plaintiff served as Sylhet bureau chief of Kaler Kantho, a publication of Bashundhara’s East West Media Group, from its inception until September 2021.

He alleged that the management delayed payment of his service benefits under the Wage Board.

Although partial payment was made and 10 post-dated cheques were issued, eight of them—worth Tk 601,824—were dishonoured.

Despite a legal notice and assurances from the accused's lawyer, the dues remained unpaid, prompting the filing of two cheque dishonour cases. The arrest warrants were issued in the first case on Thursday.