Bangladesh
'Fraud gang leader' held in Dhaka
In a joint operation by the National Security Intelligence (NSI) Agency and RAB, the mastermind of a fraud gang and his aid were arrested from the capital's Banani on Monday.
Shri Haridas Chandra Taranidas, 34, son of Shri Gopinath of Bogura's Shibganj and Md Imran Mehdi Hasan, 38, son of Md Saiful Islam of Mymensingh's Trishal.
Shri Haridas Chandra is a converted Muslim and he changed his name to Tawhid Islam after converting to Islam.
Also read: 26 members of new militant group ‘Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya' held so far: Rab
The law enforcers also seized 4 mobile sets and various documents used in fraudulence from their possession.
Tipped off, a team of NSI and Rab-3 conducted a joint drive in the area and arrested the accused, said a media statement of RAB.
During primary interrogation, the arrestees confessed to their involvement in fraudulent activities for a long time. The nature of the alleged crimes has not been explained.
Legal action is underway against the arrestees, RAB said.
Rohingya man shot dead in Cox’s Bazar
A Rohingya man was shot dead by some unidentified miscreants at Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazar on Monday night.
The deceased was identified as Mohammad Salam, 26, from Musni refugee camp in Teknaf, said Abdul Halim, Officer-in-Charge of Teknaf police station.
Read more: Rohingya leaders shot dead in Cox’s Bazar
Three unidentified men took wounded Salam to Kutopalong Hospital at Ukhiya where doctors announced him dead on arrival, said the OC.
The men who took Salam to the hospital fled the hospital, he said.
Salam was sued in two cases for drug peddling and murder, said the OC.
Bangladesh broadens its sources for energy supply; no shortage of dollars: FM
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said the government broadened its network of sources for energy supply through successful discussion with a number of friendly countries.
“We had limited sources before. Now, we have widened the sources of the network. We have made it very successfully,” he told reporters after attending a prize giving ceremony at Buet playground.
Read more: Dhaka, Moscow discuss energy cooperation
Momen said the energy crisis is now a global crisis as there is a disruption in the supply chain and financial transaction due to the war in Ukraine.
He mentioned his successful discussion with the ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where there is plenty of oil stock.
Momen said the countries like Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia are also willing to supply energy to Bangladesh.
“Even, China is willing to supply energy if Bangladesh faces a crisis. You see more nations are coming,” he said.
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Momen said Bangladesh will soon manage the situation and there will be availability of energy. “We will do whatever is needed for the welfare of the country.”
Responding to a question, the foreign minister said there is no dollar crisis in the country. After paying $1.35 billion to Asian Clearing Union (ACU) as an import bill for September-October and $131 million spent to meet LC liabilities, the forex reserves stood at $34.3 billion at the end of November 7.
Momen said the forex reserves fluctuated from US$ 3 billion to US$ 3.5 billion during the period of 2001-2006.
“There is no shortage of foreign currency. It's plenty of money for a few months of import,” said the foreign minister.
Momen said there is no reason to stop issuance of LC (letter of credit), rather the government is taking action to check over invoicing. “This is good. They should examine or reexamine all the documents. This is not bad at all.”
Record number of Bangladesh workers left for S Korea Tuesday
A total of 248 Bangladesh expatriate workers left for South Korea from Bangladesh through a chartered flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday.
It is the biggest number of the workers left for South Korea in a day so far, said the Embassy in a media release.
South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun said as many as 5,200 Bangladesh workers are expected to have gone to Korea by the end of this year.
Until November 1 this year, 3,986 Bangladesh expatriate workers were admitted to Korea which is the largest number since the start of Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS) in 2008 through which the Korean Government recruits low and medium-skilled foreign workers.
Also read: Over five lakh Bangladeshi expats lost jobs during Covid-19 pandemic: Minister
Among the departed workers today, a female worker Champa, who would work at a manufacturing factory in Gyeonggi Province for the next four years and ten months, said she does not expect difficulties in Korea as the company would provide food and shelter. Her mother will raise her 10-month-old daughter while she works in Korea.
Ban on tourism in 3 Bandarban upazilas extended till Nov 12, lifted from Alikadam
Bandarban district administration has further extended the temporary ban on tourism in Ruma, Rowangchhari, and Thanchi upazilas till November 12 as part of high security measure while lifted it from Alikadam upazila.
A public notice regarding the extension and withdrawal of the ban was issued from Bandarban Deputy Commissioner’s office on Tuesday evening following a letter from Bandarban Cantonment.
Due to the improvement in security situation the restriction has been lifted from Alikadam upazila, said the notice signed by Yasmin Parvin Tibriji, Bandarban Deputy Commissioner.
Read more: Ban on tourism in Bandarban extended till Nov 8
Meanwhile, the travel ban on domestic and foreign tourists has been extended in the three upazilas as the law enforcement agencies will continue intelligence activities against suspected militants, said the notice.
The administration imposed the temporary restriction on visitors in Ruma and Rowangchhari upazilas on October 18.
Later on October 23, the local administration discouraged tourists from traveling to Thanchi and Alikadam upazilas due to the same reason.
The restriction was extended on October 19 and November 4.
Read more: 230 ethnic minority families to get ‘Machang Ghar’ in Bandarban under Ashrayan scheme
From October 10, law enforcement agencies started a joint drive against the underground extremists and criminals in the district.
So far, seven militants and three local criminals have been arrested with local arms from forested hills of Bandarban and Rangamati during the operations.
6 get death sentence for raping teenage girl in Khulna
A tribunal in Khulna on Tuesday sentenced six men to death for raping a teenage girl in Sonadanga upazila in 2019.
The death-row convicts are Morshedul Islam Shanto alias Shanto Biswas, Sheikh Shahadat Hossain, Md Rabbi Hasan Parash, Md Mahmud Hasan Akash, Kazi Ariful Islam Pritam and Md Mim Hossain. Among them, Shanto, Shahadat and Pritam were tried in absentia.
Khulna Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-3 Judge Abdus Salam Khan delivered the judgment.
Read more: Unspeakable: Parents tied up before daughter gang-raped by vandals in Subarnachar
The court fined the convicts Tk 20,000 each.
The court also sentenced four adolescents to eight years imprisonment each. One of them was sentenced to three more years more jail under the Anti-Pornography Act.
According to the case, Shanto raped the sixth grader girl after taking her to a rented house of another convict on June 29 in 2019. The others convicts videoed the crime and raped the girl in terms.
Read more: Sunamganj: 5 get life in prison in attempted rape, rape cases
On the following day, a case was filed against nine people at Sonadanga police station.
On November 13 of the same year, the investigation officer of the case and Sonadanga police station officer-in-charge (OC) Momtazul Hoque submitted a chargesheet against 10 convicts.
ACC moves to sign deals with 8 nations to bring laundered money back
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday initiated a process for signing agreement with eight countries for mutual legal assistance to bring back money laundered abroad, said ACC Secretary Md. Mahbub Hossain.
As part of the initiative, a committee has already been formed under the leadership of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) consisting of officials from various related organisations. The committee will submit the draft agreement to the Financial Institutions Department within the next three weeks, he said.
Read: HC cancels 2014 acquittal of accused trio in Tk 12cr Sonali Bank graft case
He said that the countries with which ACC wants to sign agreements are Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand.
Dengue death toll in Bangladesh reaches 182, surpassing previous record
With five more deaths reported in 24 hours till Tuesday morning this year’s fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease Dengue reached 182, exceeding all previous records in Bangladesh.
Earlier the country recorded the highest 179 deaths from Dengue in a year in 2019.
In the first week of November, already 41 people died from Dengue while 6,778 were hospitalised.
During last 24 hours, 820 patients were hospitalised with the viral fever, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read more: Govt fixes cost of dengue test
The gradual increase in dengue infections has created panic among the residents of Dhaka city.
Hospitals are failing to cope with the pressure of dengue patients despite setting up new wards.
Doctors and health experts say that measures taken by the city corporations and other authorities are not proving to be effective. The publicity and drives carried out by the authorities to destroy larvae of Aedes mosquito, the carrier of the dengue virus, are appearing to be inadequate.
All the latest deaths were reported from Dhaka raising the death toll in the division to 109
Of the new patients, 450 were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka and 370 outside it, according to the DGHS.
A total of 3,223 dengue patients, including 1,947 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
The directorate has recorded 44,802 dengue cases and 41, 397 recoveries so far this year.
Read more: No respite from Dengue: Death toll rises to 177
On Thursday, the country reported nine dengue deaths, the highest death toll from dengue in a day this year.
Dengue outbreaks in Bangladesh exceeded all previous records in 2019, mostly in the capital city of Dhaka. A total of 101,354 dengue cases with 179 dengue-related deaths were officially recorded
Former state minister Jafrul Islam dies in Chattogram
Jafrul Islam Chowdhury, former state minister for environment and forest and ex-president of Chattogram south district BNP, died on Tuesday at a hospital in the port city. He was 72.
Chowdhury, who had long been suffering from kidney and some other diseases, breathed his last around 2:15pm at Evercare Hospital, said Chattogram South District BNP convener Abu Sufian.
He is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, and a host of relatives and well-wishers to mourn his death.
Read more: BNP chairperson’s advisor Sabih Uddin dies
Chowdhury’s first Namaz-e-janaza will be held at Jamiatul Falah Mosque in the city at 10am on Wednesday.
He will be buried in his family graveyard after the second janaza in Banskhali Adarsha High School field at 2pm and the third one in Banskhali Degree College field at 3 pm.
Born on October 14, 1950, in Banskhali Upazila of Chittagong, Chowdhury completed his graduation in commerce. He was the President of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the 1996-97 tenure.
Read more: Journalist Raihan M Chowdhury dies
He was elected MP from Chattogram-15 seat and served as the state minister for forest and environment during the BNP’s government from 2001-2006.
Meanwhile, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, and standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury expressed deep concern over Jafrul Islam’s death.
In separate messages, they also prayed for the salvation of the departed soul of Chowdhury and conveyed their sympathy to the bereaved family members.
Man gets 5-yr jail for spreading ‘human head’ rumour about Padma Bridge construction
A Rajshahi court on Tuesday sentenced man to five-year imprisonment in a case over spreading rumour about using human head to construct Padma Bridge in 2011 through Facebook.
Rajshahi divisional Cyber Crime Tribunal Judge Ziaur Rahman pronounced the judgment.
The convict is Razib Hossain,30, son of Abdur Razzaq of Durgapur upazila in Rajshahi.
In October, 2011, Razib posted a status from his Facebook profile that said, ”The Padma Bridge construction in Bangladesh has been obstructed as it will need more than 1 lakh human heads. As per the directive of the Prime Minister, 41 teams are out on the streets, playgrounds, markets with sharp weapons and gas spray to collect those heads,” said Public Prosecutor Ismat Ara.
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He also said the main target of these teams are women and children and they are doing this heinous crime even entering people’s houses so he posted it to create awareness, she said.
Razib was sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment under section 25(2) of the Digital Security Act, 2018, with fine of Tk two lakh. In case of failure to pay the fine, he will have to serve another six months’ imprisonment.
Also read: Attack on Ghoraghat UNO: One gets 13 years jail
Under section 31(2) of the same act, he was sentenced to three years imprisonment with Tk 3 lakh in fine. In case of failure to pay the fine he will have to serve six months more imprisonment.