A Dhaka metropolitan magistrate court on Monday granted bail to model Meghna Alam, also the chairperson of Miss Bangladesh Foundation, in a fraud and extortion case filed with the Dhanmondi police station.
Dhaka additional chief metropolitan magistrate Md Sanaullah granted the bail to Meghna, court inspector Md Asaduzzaman said.
On April 24, Meghna was denied bail in the same case in which she was shown arrested on April 17.
Meghna on April 17 before a Dhaka court claimed that she had a relationship only with Saudi Arabia鈥檚 ambassador to Bangladesh Essa Yousef Essa Alduhailan.
On April 15, Dhanmondi model police station inspector Mohammad Abdul Alim filed the case, accusing Meghna, Samir Dewan, and two to three unidentified persons of extortion and fraud.
According to the case statement, Meghna, Samir, and two to three others were allegedly active members of an organised fraud gang.
They allegedly used women to lure diplomats and representatives of foreign missions in Bangladesh, as well as wealthy local businessmen, into romantic and illicit relationships, and then used various illegal tactics to extort money by threatening to tarnish their reputation, the case statement said.
The case statement also said that a meeting was held at a restaurant at Dhanmondi in the capital on March 29, where Meghna, Samir, and others allegedly conspired to demand and extort $5 million from a diplomat through blackmail.
The name of the diplomat, however, was not mentioned in the case statement.
Earlier, on April 9, the Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police detained Meghna from her residence in the Bashundhara residential area.
The next day, a Dhaka court ordered that Meghna be kept in jail for 30 days under the Special Powers Act 1974.
On April 13, the High Court issued a rule asking relevant government authorities to explain in two weeks why Meghna鈥檚 arrest under the Special Powers Act should not be declared illegal.
