Bangladesh
Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi was people's advocate: DSCC Mayor
Deputy Speaker Md Fazle Rabbi Miah was the people’s advocate, said Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Monday.
He was the pioneer of the country’s law field, Taposh said after attending Fazle Rabbi’s Namaz-e-Janaza at the National Eidgah premises this morning, according to a DSCC press release.
“It is difficult to find people-friendly lawyers and politicians like Fazle Rabbi. No one uttered a single word against him during his long career as lawyer.”
“And so he became a seven times lawmaker from Gaibandha-5,” he added.
Expressing sorrow at the death of Fazle Rabbi, the mayor also prayed for the eternal salvation of the departed soul and expressed sympathy to the bereaved family.
The mortal remains of Deputy Speaker Md Fazle Rabbi Miah arrived in Dhaka on Monday.
Read: Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi laid to rest in Gaibandha
The Deputy Speaker will be buried beside his two sons’ graves at the family graveyard in his village following a guard of honour by the government around 5pm, according to the Parliament Secretariat.
Advocate Fazle Rabbi breathed his last on July 22 at 3.55pm (NY Time) at Mt Sinai Hospital in New York. He was 76.
Local people to stage demo protesting frequent load shedding
Local people on Monday staged demonstrations on Monday in different parts of the city protesting frequent load shedding.
Several hundred people thronged at Mira Bazar area around 11 am and staged sit-in in front of the power office for an hour.
Later, they withdrew their programme after getting assurance from the authorities concerned of the power office.
When speaking, local people said they have been experiencing frequent load shedding for the past one week and the power development authorities did not follow the schedule set by the government, which disrupts their business and damaged electrical equipment’s.
Read: Parts of Sylhet city to experience 13-hour load shedding per day
They are not getting pure water for household work and they are going through immense suffering.
They also demanded load shedding as per schedule announced by the Prime Minister.
The residents of Mirabazar and Darjipara also staged demonstration for same demand.
SUST student stabbed dead by mugger on campus
A student of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) was stabbed to death by a mugger on the campus on Monday evening.
The deceased is Bulbul Ahmed, a third year student of the Public Administration Department.
Eyewitnesses said Bulbul along with his friends went to the New Zealand area, adjacent to the Shaheed Minar on the campus in the afternoon. At one stage, his friends rescued him, as he sustained stab injuries by a mugger.
Bulbul was first rushed to the university medical centre and later shifted to Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital where on duty doctor Kaniz Fatema declared him dead around 7:45pm.
Read: SUST closed till June 25 amid flooding
SUST proctor Israt Ibne Ismail said police force has been sent to the spot to detain the mugger.
Hearing the news, SUST vice-chancellor, student’s welfare advisor, among others, visited the deceased student.
Gulshan cafe attack: Quader pays tributes to Japanese mass transit experts
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has paid tribute to seven Japanese mass rapid transit experts killed in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in Dhaka's Gulshan.
The attack, the deadliest night of terror in Bangladesh's history, saw 22 civilians killed, the majority of them foreigners residing in or visiting the capital's diplomatic quarter around Gulshan-Baridhara.
The Japanese nationals were part of a survey team of the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project.
Quader, also Awami League general secretary, Monday placed wreaths at the newly-built monument at the metro rail depot in Diabari, Uttara.
Read: 'BNP desperate to grab power': Obaidul Quader
The world lost seven mass rapid transit experts with the death of the Japanese nationals, he said.
Condemning all terrorist acts the minister said the Bangladesh government has stuck to its policy of zero tolerance against terrorism.
Japan International Cooperation Agency President Tanaka Akihiko, Honda Taro, parliamentary vice-minister for foreign affairs of Japan, Kishida Fumio, on behalf of the prime minister of Japan, Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Ito Naoki, and Metrorail Project Managing Director MAN Siddique also spoke on the occasion.
Only ‘Swapno’ remains alive of Dinajpur triplets named after Padma Bridge
Of the triplets named after the country's largest communication structure Padma Bridge in DInajpur, ‘Padma’, and ‘Setu’, died leaving their sister ‘Swapno’ alone.
After six days of birth, on Saturday evening Padma died of sickness and Setu followed the same fate the next night.
On June 18, the triplet sisters were born to their parents Sadina Begum and Jahidul Islam from Krishtabati village in Birampur upazila of Dinajpur
“After their birth doctors said all three of them were in good health and expert physicians conducted medical tests on them, “said devastated Jahidul to UNB.
The triplets were born through normal delivery at a community hospital in Birampur municipality.
Read: Now triplets named after Padma Bridge in Dinajpur
After the triplets in two other districts, Jahidul and Sadina, two garment factory workers from Gazipur named their daughters after the bridge to show love to the much-hyped Padma Bridge and commemorate the event.
The couple also has an 11-year-old daughter.
Torn by the deaths of two children within 24 hours, they are now struggling to keep alive Swapno, last of the triplet sisters.
Divorcee woman raped by 5 in Bagerhat over land dispute
A 24-year-old divorced woman has reportedly been raped by five men at Birobashbaria village in Sadar upazila, police said on Monday.
The crime took place in the dead of night at a betel-nut orchard as the criminals took her there when the woman, a mother of a four-year-old child, came out from her home in response to the nature, said Additional Superintendent of police Mahmud Hasan.
She is now undergoing treatment at Bagerhat District Hospital.
The woman lodged complaint with Sadar Police against the five people on Monday, said officer-in-charge of the Bagerhat Model Police Station, KM Azizul Islam.
Read: Young girl gang raped in Chattogram
The accused were identified as Saiful Islam Tito, Rakib Hawladar, Zahidul Hawladar, Sajib Hawladar and Riazul Hawladar. All of them are the neighbours of the woman.
According to the complaint, the woman went out from her house in response to nature. At one stage, five people, who were there from before, took her to the betel-nut orchard after tying her mouth.
Later, they exposed her and tied her hands with a scarf and violated her in turns.
Zinia Ferdous, a physician of the hospital said necessary treatments have been given to the woman and samples were collected.
“Preparation is going on to conduct a medical test of the woman and a number of police teams are working to arrest the culprits,” said Mahmud.
The rapists committed the crime in a planned way over land dispute, said police after recording her statement.
4 get life imprisonment for murder in Chattogram
A Chattogram court on Monday sentenced four people to life imprisonment for killing an expatriate in 1999.
Chattogram Additional District and Session Judge Court-3 Judge Ferdous Wahid handed down the punishment.
The convicts are—Md Nur Islam, his son Osman goni, Sarwar Kamal and Abbas Uddin. The court also fined them Tk 20,000 in default to suffer two years more in rigorous imprisonment.
Also read: Two power officials get 5 yrs in jail in graft case
According to the prosecution, Nurul Kabir, an expatriate of Adhunagar Rustompara in Lohagara upazila, took his nephew Islam, son of Nur Islam to abroad.
After returning to the country, Nurul demanded Tk 1.70 lakh from his brother Nur for taking his son abroad by expending money. The two brothers had been at loggerheads over the issue.
On December 6, 1999, Nur along with his sons swooped on the house of Nurul and hit him with a sharp weapon. Later he succumbed to his injuries at Chattogram Medical College and Hospital.
Also read: Youth gets bail after marrying victim in Ctg
Khaleda Yeasmin, wife of Nurul, filed a case with Chattogram Judicial Court.
On December 21, police submitted chargesheet against six people.
After examining records and witnesses, the court handed down the punishment and acquitted two others as allegations brought against them could not be proved.
Dollar price jumps to Tk 105 in kerb market, amid BB’s move to stable it
The dollar crisis keeps growing in the kerb market, as its price jumped to Tk105 per dollar amid trade bodies appealing for a stable exchange rate.
Increasing by Tk 1 from Sunday, one US dollar was sold at Tk 105 on Monday, in the kerb market, which is the highest ever.
The kerb market traders said that huge numbers of people are searching to buy dollars, but they cannot manage enough forex at this moment.
Because syndicates are actively involved in dollar business, they will only sell the dollar if they get the desired price, said Anowar Ali, a vendor of kerb market dollar trading.
People of different categories including tourists, small importers, students, and treatment purposes are purchasing dollars from the kerb market, he said, who sells dollars in the Motijheel area in the capital.
Read: Dollar price in kerb market crosses Tk 90
Despite the BB’s move to sell the dollar and relax policies to increase the inflow of forex in the country, the dollar market is yet to be stable since June this year.
Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi laid to rest in Gaibandha
Deputy Speaker Md Fazle Rabbi Miah was laid to rest at his family graveyard in Gaibandha Monday afternoon.
He was buried at 6pm at Gotia village of Saghata upazila in Gaibandha after his third namaz-e-janaza.
His mortal remains were brought to Bonarpara Kazi Azahar Ali High School premises around 2pm by a helicopter from Dhaka airport.
A flight of Emirates Airlines carrying Fazle Rabbi's body from New York reached Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 8:40am today.
His first namaz-e-janaza was held at the National Eidgah in Dhaka around 10:30am.
Before that, he was given a guard of honour by the Dhaka Deputy Commissioner's office.
Later, floral wreaths were placed at his coffin on behalf of President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury also laid a wreath over his coffin.
People from all walks of life paid their last respects to the freedom fighter and seven-time lawmaker.
Graft case against DIG Mizan: HC asked to dispose of the case by 6 months
The High Court on Monday asked to dispose of the case filed against suspended Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mizanur Rahman for amassing illegal wealth within six months.
The HC bench of Justice SM Kuddus Zaman and Justice KM Zahid Sarwar ordered the Dhaka Special Judge Court-6 to dispose of the case.
The court also rejected the bail petition of Mizanur.
Also read: HC rejects Ex-DIG Mizan’s bail plea in graft case
Advocate Mahbub Shafique stood for the petitioner while Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Although Mizan was granted bail on April 13 after appealing against a three-year sentence in a bribery case, he will not be able to walk out of jail as he was denied bail in the graft case.
On February 23, Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 Sheikh Nazmul Alam sentenced Mizanur Rahman and suspended ACC director Khandaker Enamul Basir to three and eight years in jail respectively in the case.
Later Mizan and Basir moved to the High Court against the order.
The corruption case dates back to June 24, 2019, when ACC director Manjur Morshed lodged a complaint against the disgraced DIG, his wife Sohelia Anar Ratna, nephew sub-inspector Mahmudul Hasan and younger brother Mahbubur Rahman.
Also read: HC issues rule on extending ex- DIG Mizan’s sentence in bribery case
According to the case statement, Mizan accumulated wealth worth Tk 3.28 crore beyond his known sources of income. On the other hand, he had declared wealth worth Tk 3.7 crore in his tax statement.
Then director of ACC, Basir, was made the investigating officer in the case.
During the probe, Mizan had accused Basir of demanding Tk 40 lakh as bribe for setting the case, prompting the Commission to appoint director Monjur Morshed as the investigating officer in the case.
At the same time, a three-member probe body was formed, led by ACC director Sheikh Mohammad Fanafillah, to look into the allegations of bribery.
On July 16, 2019, Fanafillah lodged a complaint against both Mizan and Basir. And on April 16, 2020, a Dhaka court indicted the two and directed the official beginning of the trial in the case.