The board of directors of the non-government organisation at a recent meeting has decided to sell its stake in the Rtv, sources said. Jubok holds around 40 per cent share in the TV channel.

The sources said Jubok is now trying to mobilise funds so that it can comply with the Bangladesh Bank's directive to return deposit money, collected through illegal banking, within December 31 this year.

Jubok needs around Tk 100 crore to comply with the central bank's directive.

After detailed investigations, the central bank on July 6 directed Jubok to immediately stop taking from people deposits in any form and to return the collected deposits.

"We need a huge amount of money to implement the central bank's directive. Besides, presently Rtv is one of our several losing projects and it is also another reason for selling off the shares in the Rtv," said a Jubok official on condition of anonymity.

Jubok is negotiating with some local corporate houses, the official said, adding that it may reach a deal within a very short time.

Stock market sources said Jubok has already offloaded a bulk amount of its shares in the International Finance, Investment and Commerce (IFIC) Bank Ltd. Around two lakh shares worth Tk 18.27 crore changed hands on the block market of Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) on Sunday at Tk 900 each while 1.98 lakh shares worth Tk 17.87 crore changed hands yesterday. Jubok purchased each share at Tk 750 five months back.

Latif Securities Limited sold all the shares to AB Bank foundation through 14 and six deals respectively, market sources said, adding that Jubok holds some eight lakh shares of IFIC Bank.

Jubok, which is involved with businesses in telecommunications, housing and real estate development, tourism, health, ceramic, sea foods, IT, hatchery and nursery, agro-biotech industry and capital management, is also planning to sell off lands from its housing and real estate development project to collect funds.

If there is a shortage of fund following the initiatives, Jubok will take loan from banks to return the deposits to its members, Jubok sources said.

Executive Director of Jubok Hossain Al Masum could not be contacted for comments despite repeated attempts.