A Dhaka court on Wednesday, August 26, rejected the bail petition of Bidisha Siddique and ordered her sent to jail in a fraud case filed at Gulshan police station. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Aminul Islam Junaid issued the order after a hearing. Siddique, a former wife of former president Hussein Muhammad Ershad, had already been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in the case.

Her lawyer, Atikur Rahman, sought bail pending appeal on the same day, while assistant public prosecutor Syed Golam Murtuza Ibn Islam opposed the request and sought her detention. On May 20, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Jamshed Alam sentenced Siddique to two years in prison and fined her Tk10,000. Failure to pay the fine would bring an additional month of simple imprisonment.

Police arrested Siddique at about 8:30pm on Tuesday, August 25, from the Arabica restaurant in Gulshan-2 under a warrant. The case was filed in February 2008 by businessman Mosharraf Hossain over an alleged flat-sale agreement. He alleged that he paid Tk75 lakh but neither received the flat nor recovered the money after a Tk72 lakh cheque was dishonoured. Her lawyer is expected to pursue further legal action through an appeal.