Actress Tanjin Tisha caught in two sari cases: CID ordered to investigate further in one, threat allegation in another

Small-screen actress Tanjin Tisha is facing legal proceedings in two separate cases centred on saris. In one case, after a naraji petition against a Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) report, a court has assigned further investigation to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). In the other, a fresh case alleges she threatened the complainant to withdraw the earlier case.

Tanjin Tisha has said her entry into show business was sudden. She said her coming into showbiz was completely sudden and she did not even know she would work here. Dance was something she loved very much as a child, and that is how she came here. Then modelling, then acting. She said she did not even realise how so many years passed.

She has also said the early part of her career was not easy. Tisha said when she started working here, she did not even know she would act. At one point she heard that Tanjin Tisha cannot act. That struggle to survive was not easy for her, and in that sense she did not get anyone's help. Even so, she kept working in her own way. In a career of more than a decade she has acted in many dramas and telefilms.

The sari dispute began in October last year. Bilkis Wazir, owner of online clothing seller Aponia, alleges that a Jamdani sari priced at Tk 28,800 was given to Tisha on condition of promotion, but she did not promote it as promised and did not pay for the sari either.

Tanjin Tisha has denied this allegation from the start. Her claim is that the sari was given to her as a gift. The legal process in the fraud and breach-of-trust case filed over the incident is ongoing.

Separately, woman entrepreneur and fashion designer Sanaya Anam Wafikah Chowdhury has filed a case against Tisha over another sari priced at Tk 75,000. She alleges that on 13 December 2024 Tisha took the sari from her to wear at an event and, although it was to be returned the next day, it was not returned.

Sanaya Chowdhury's complaint further alleges that when she asked for the sari back, she was abused and threatened with death. In that case, the PBI completed its investigation and recommended exonerating Tisha, stating that the allegation was not found to be true.

However, the complainant filed a naraji petition against that PBI report. On 25 October, the court then assigned further investigation of the case to the CID. The court directed that the investigation report be submitted by 31 December.

One day later, on 26 October, Sanaya Chowdhury filed another case against Tanjin Tisha alleging threats to withdraw the previous case. The complainant alleges she was intimidated through unidentified persons and was also threatened that she would not be allowed to stay in Bangladesh if she did not withdraw the case.

After the threat case was filed, Tanjin Tisha posted on Facebook. In the post she alleged that a recording of one of her statements had been cut to suit others, changing the meaning of what she originally said. She claimed it was then presented differently and spread on social media in an attempt to damage her reputation.

In that post Tisha raised a series of questions, asking why such a big plan existed, why there was such an attempt to destroy a person's years of honour, career and achievements, and who was behind it. According to the report, despite being in trouble over the saris, she respects the law and expects all the complications to be resolved legally.