Photo: Collected
Mutual Trust Bank has sent a legal notice to film actor and industrialist Ananta Jalil and his wife to recover Tk 226 crore 75 lakh 10 thousand owed by AB Apparels Limited. The industrial units he owns are now in crisis under the weight of bank loans. Because the debts cannot be repaid, his factories are closing one after another, leaving more than 10,000 workers without work. Ananta Jalil found no partner to keep the business running, and no tenant to operate the factories either.
M A Jalil started out with a small venture in the readymade garment industry. Over the past two and a half decades he went on to build one industrial unit after another. After founding AJI Group, he rose to become one of the country’s leading readymade garment businessmen.
After entering films in 2010, he married actress Afiea Nusrat Barsha. The businessman came into the spotlight after acting alongside Barsha in the film “Khoj – The Search.” Later, he set up another company, AB Apparels Limited, with Barsha as its managing director.
But amid various crises, his industrial units gradually began closing down one by one. Ananta Jalil became weighed down by huge loans, which also put the banks that financed him in a difficult position.
Ananta Jalil himself confirmed that the bank had sent the legal notice. He said that during Covid he took loans of around Tk 200 crore and used the money to keep paying workers’ salaries and allowances even though there was no work for them. With interest added, those loans have now grown into a huge debt.
An investigation found that Mutual Trust Bank sent the legal notice to Ananta Jalil and his first wife, Khadija Parvin, after they failed to repay the bank’s dues. The notice is based on the allegation that a cheque for Tk 226 crore 75 lakh 10 thousand bounced.
According to the notice, AB Apparels Limited applied to reschedule its loan. In response, on August 28, 2024, the bank’s head office rescheduled a term loan of Tk 267 crore 21 lakh 90 thousand. The company’s chairman, M A Jalil Ananta, later promised to repay part of the loan. On October 18, 2026, he gave the bank a cheque for Tk 226 crore 75 lakh 10 thousand. When the cheque was deposited on November 2, the account did not have enough funds, and the cheque bounced.
The notice also says the conditions of the loan rescheduling were breached. The borrowers have been given 30 days from receiving the notice to pay the dues. If the amount written on the cheque is not paid, legal action will be taken against Ananta Jalil and Khadija Parvin, and a case will be filed against them in the appropriate court.
The notice also cites Sections 138 and 140 of the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.
The bank’s lawyer, Md Zahidul Islam Bachchu, said the bank had sent the legal notice. According to him, a term loan of Tk 267 crore 21 lakh 90 thousand was rescheduled on August 28, 2024, after AB Apparels Limited applied for it. The notice states that the rescheduling conditions were later breached.
Ananta Jalil’s companies carry loans and liabilities, and a cheque for a huge amount has now bounced. Other banks that financed his companies are worried as a result. There is also uncertainty over whether these banks will ever get their money back.
That raises a question: is Ananta Jalil’s business empire heading towards bankruptcy?
Ananta Jalil was once known as a big investor in the readymade garment industry as well as a figure in the film world. Suppliers, service providers and various financing organisations are also concerned about the current state of his companies. Even after loans worth hundreds of crores of taka were rescheduled, the terms were breached and a cheque for a huge amount bounced. That has raised particular questions about his company’s financial capacity.
According to relevant sources, if Ananta Jalil fails to pay the bank’s dues within the set time, the bank may first file a cheque dishonour case and then a case in the Money Loan Court.
Sources close to Ananta Jalil say he tried in various ways to revive his businesses but could not find any investor or partner. Talks with several Chinese businesspeople and entrepreneurs also failed to bring the response he had hoped for.
Meanwhile, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company has cut AJI Group’s gas connection over unpaid gas bills and allegations of gas theft. Speaking about the disconnection, AB Apparels Limited chairman M A Jalil Ananta said it would be difficult to recover from such a situation without the bank’s support.
Ananta Jalil did not directly answer whether his business empire collapsed because he was giving his time to films. He said he has ended up in this position because of the Covid pandemic, the Ukraine war and various other circumstances.
Source: NTV
Background
This is not the first time AJI Group’s gas supply has been cut. Ittefaq reported on October 20, 2025, that Titas had cut the company’s connection then over unpaid bills and alleged gas theft through meter tampering. Titas’s vigilance wing said two meters were seized during that drive. According to Titas’s Savar office, about Tk 1 crore 56 lakh in bills was outstanding on two of AJI Group’s three gas connections. Ittefaq reported this in the same story.
At the time, Ananta Jalil denied the allegation. He said he had rented the factory to a man named Jewel Islam and was not responsible for the meter tampering. Titas, however, said Ananta Jalil himself had signed all the agreements as the customer. Ittefaq reported both statements.
At a glance
Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881: According to the law firm TRW Law Firm, a person whose cheque bounces can seek remedy under Section 138 of this special law. Remedy is also available under Sections 406 and 420 of the Penal Code. The description of a book on the law, listed on Rokomari, says Chapter 17 of the Act was replaced in 1994. That change added new provisions and penalties for cheque dishonour in Sections 138 to 141, and the chapter was amended again in 2000.
Sources
Original report: The Daily Ittefaq (source: NTV), November 9, 2026 — https://www.ittefaq.com.bd/819941/
Background sources: The Daily Ittefaq, October 20, 2025 — https://www.ittefaq.com.bd/757813/; TRW Law Firm — https://tahmidurrahman.com/?p=373272; Rokomari (description of a book on the Negotiable Instruments Act) — https://www.rokomari.com/book/153922
