Brownia withdraws case against Shykh Seraj

Television programme presenter Farzana Brownia has withdrawn a case filed in a Dhaka court against the head of news at private TV channel “Channel i” Shykh Seraj and four others on charges of fraud.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Saifuzzaman ordered the disposal of the case on Tuesday (November 12) following the plaintiff’s decision to withdraw it.

The other accused of the case are- Jahir Uddin Mahmud Mamun, Mukit Majumder Babu, Abdur Rashid Majumder Parvez and Riaz Ahmed Khan.

On October 2, TV presenter Farzana Brownia applied to withdraw the case, according to court sources.

She appeared in court on an unscheduled date to testify that the matter had been resolved amicably.

The judge recorded her statement and scheduled the dismissal order for Tuesday, granting approval to withdraw and close the case.

On September 25, Brownia filed a case against five individuals, including Shykh Seraj on charges of fraud.

After recording plaintiff’s statement, the court ordered the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to investigate the case and submit a report in this regard.

According to the case statement, Brownia had been employed as the Marketing Manager at Channel i, with a monthly salary of Tk1 lakh. She also served as the presenter and director of the show “Swarnakishori” (Golden Youth).

The dispute arose in 2018 during the quota reform movement, when she publicly supported students involved in the protests.

On 11 October 2018, she was abruptly banned from the television channel without formal notice. When she verbally protested, the accused informed her that she would continue receiving her salary until she was officially dismissed in writing.

Based on this understanding, Brownia claims she is owed Tk79 lakh in unpaid wages, covering the period from October 2018 to September 2024.

Despite sending a legal notice through her lawyer, the accused did not respond and instead allegedly threatened her, demanding Tk50 crore as extortion.