Law-&-Order
Munia rape, murder: PBI finds no evidence against Bashundhara MD, 8 others
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has said it has not found any evidence against Bashundhara Group Managing Director Sayem Sobhan Anvir and eight other accused in college student Mosarat Jahan Munia rape and murder case.
It also recommended their acquittal from the charges.
The PBI submitted the report to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka on Tuesday, said Deputy Inspector Saifur Rahman, the general recording officer of the court.
Munia's sister Nusrat Jahan filed the case with Dhaka Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-8 against the eight people on 6 September, 2021.
The other accused in the case are – Anvir's father Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, his mother Afroza Begum, wife Sabrina, Sharmin, Saifa Rahman Mim, Faria Mahbub Piasha and Ibrahim Ahmed Ripon.
Read: Munia's death: Bashundhara MD among 8 sued over ‘rape, murder’
Later, the case was handed over to the PBI for investigation.
Earlier on August 19, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Rajesh Chowdhury relieved Anvir of the charge of incitement to suicide of the college student.
On July 19, the investigating officer of the case, Gulshan Police Station officer-in-charge Abul Hasan, submitted a final report to the court giving a clean chit to Anvir.
Anvir was not found culpable in the suicide incitement case of Munia in the final report submitted by the investigating officer and asked for his name to be dropped.
On April 26, police recovered the hanging body of Munia from a flat in the capital's Gulshan area.
Munia's elder sister, Nusrat Jahan Tania, filed a case against Anvir that night accusing him of incitement to suicide.
According to Tania, her sister, Munia, was in a relationship with Anvir who regularly visited her at the Gulshan apartment.
Dhaka court frames charges against contractor Shamim, mother in graft case
A Dhaka court on Wednesday framed charges against "influential" contractor GK Shamim and his mother Ayesha Akter in a disproportionate assets case.
Judge Sheikh Nazmul Alam of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-4, framed the charges against the mother-son duo for corruption and fixed November 7 as the next date for hearing the testimonies of witnesses in the case, said Belal Hossain, a court official.
Framing of charge is vital to a criminal case as it gives the accused precisely what the prosecution intends to prove against them.
Shamim and his mother have been charged with graft for acquiring excessive assets -- worth over Tk 298 crore -- by corrupt means, the court official said.
Earlier, on December 22, 2020, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) approved the chargesheet against Shamim and his mother in the graft case.
He was arrested with illegal firearms and a huge amount of money from his Niketan office on September 20, 2019, during a drive against illegal casinos and other businesses.
Seven of his bodyguards were also arrested during the raid.
Rab members seized Fixed Deposit Receipts (FDRs) worth Tk 165 crore, Tk 1.81 crore in cash and a huge amount of foreign currencies.
A foreign-made pistol, seven shotguns and a huge cache of bullets were also seized from the office of ‘GKB & Company Pvt Limited’.
The elite force lodged three complaints – one under the narcotics control act, another under the money-laundering prevention act, and the third under the arms acts – against Shamim with Gulshan police the next day.
Jhenaidah: Jamaat leader gets 17 yrs in jail in arms act case
A Jhenaidah court has sentenced a local Jamaat-e-Islami leader to 17 years in jail in an arms act case.
Judge Md Nazimuddoula of the Jhenaidah Senior Special Tribunal Judge's Court, handed down the punishment to Muabia Hossain, secretary of the Jamaat-e-Islami's Kotchandpur upazila wing, on Tuesday.
According to the prosecution, police arrested Muabia, also a former vice-chairman of Kotchandpur upazila parishad, from near the parishad office on February 22, 2016.
Based on his interrogation, police recovered a gun and six rounds of bullets from the Sulemanpur area.
Later, a case was filed against him at Kotchandpur Police Station in this connection.
After the investigation, police submitted a chargesheet to the court on May 25, 2016.
"After examining the records and witnesses, the court handed down the judgment," said Public Prosecutor Ismail Hossain Badshah.
Man held with 13 kg gold bars at Benapole
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Tuesday detained a man and seized 106 pieces of gold bars, weighing a combined 13 kg along Bengda border in Jhikorgacha upazila of Jashore district.
The detainee was identified as Saju Ahmed, 20, son of Abdul Salam of Chougaccha upazila.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of BGB-49 conducted a drive along the bordering area and detained a man in the afternoon, said commanding officer of BGB-49 Lieutenant Colonel Shahed Minhaz Siddique.
Read: Gold worth Tk 3.5 cr seized at Benapole
Later, the BGB men seized the gold bars after searching his body.
The market value of the seized gold bars is Tk 12.22 crore.
A complaint has been lodged with Jhikorgacha Police Station.
Another Rohingya stabbed to death inside Cox’s Bazar camp
Unidentified assailants stabbed to death a Rohingya said to be vocal against the activities of militant group ARSA at a camp in Ukhiya upazila in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday night.
The deceased is identified as Hafez Syed Hossain, a resident of the No 19 Tanjimarkhola camp at the Rohingya camp.
Saiful Islam, a resident of the camp, said the miscreants wearing masks stabbed Hafez with sharp weapons indiscriminately and left him dead on the spot.
“The terrorists left the spot firing blanks to create panic among residents,” he said, suspecting that the attackers might be members of ‘ARSA’.
"Hafez Sayed was vocal against terrorism activities of ARSA which might have led to the killing," he said.
Read: Two more Rohingya community leaders killed in ambush inside camps
Faruk Ahmed, assistant superintendent of police of the Armed Police Battalion (APBN), said they have been looking into the reason behind the murder and efforts are on to nab the criminals.
Mentionable, unidentified assailants slaughtered two Rohingya leaders in an attack at a Rohingya camp in Ukhiya upazila on October 16.
Moulvi Yunus and Anwar, served as head majhi and sub-head majhi respectively of camp number 13 in Ukhiya.
Including the latest killing, 14 people have been killed inside the camps during the last four months, of whom eight were serving in voluntary community leadership roles such as 'majhi' and head majhi.
HC issues rule on military court verdicts against 88 officers during Zia's rule
The High Court on Tuesday issued a rule asking why the military court verdicts on 88 people during the regime of President Ziaur Rahman should not be declared illegal.
The HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Quader and Justice Mohammad Ali issued the rule after hearing a writ petition in this regard.
The rule also sought to know why the convicts should not be treated as patriots by declaring the convictions and acts of the tribunal constituted under the Martial Law Regulations of 1977 illegal.
The Defence Secretary, Home Secretary and Law Secretary were asked to respond to the rule within four weeks.
On April 28 in 2019, a writ petition was filed in the High Court on behalf of 88 people including 14 officers who were sentenced to death and children of Army and Air Force officers who were sentenced to death in that military court.
Out of 88 people, 13 were sentenced to death, 33 were sentenced to various terms including life. And the remaining 42 people were fired from their post in 1977.
Supreme Court lawyer Matiur Rahman filed the writ petition on behalf of the convicts.
The writ sought the government’s directions to grant pay, other benefits, and pension to the convicts of the court in 2 October 1977 till their normal retirement from service.
Three SPs sent on compulsory retirement
Three police officers of the rank of Superintendent of Police (SPs) have been given compulsory retirement.
Public Security Division under the Home Ministry has already issued three separate notifications in this regard signed by its senior Secretary Md Akhtar Hossain on Tuesday.
Among the compulsorily retired Superintendents of Police, two are of the 12th batch and the other of the 15th batch of BCS police cadre.
Among these three retired police officers, Mohammad Shahidullah Chowdhury and Delwar Hossain Mia belong to the 12th batch of BCS police cadre and the other one Mirza Abdullahel Baki, a 15th batch officer of BCS police cadre.
Among them, Muhammad Shahidullah Chowdhury has been working as Superintendent of Police (TR) at Police headquarters, Md. Delwar Hossain Mia and Mirza Abdullahel Baki are working as Special Super (SS) in the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
The order will be effected immediately on public interest, the notification said.
Fugitive JMB member held in Gazipur
A team of the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU), a specialized unit of Bangladesh Police, arrested a fugitive member of the banned militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) from Mouchak area of Gazipur's Kaliakair on Monday night.
The arrestee is Noor Alam Moaz,29, son of Abdul Aziz of East Naodabas in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat.
Tipped off, the ATU members conducted a drive in the area around 11:30pm and arrested him, said Mohammad Aslam Khan, Superintendent of Police (Media & Awareness wing of the ATU).
He was an accused in a case filed at Hathazari police station under the Explosive Substances Act in 2011. The trial of the case is underway.
Read: Biswajit Das murder case: Fugitive convict held in city
On December 26, 2010, some JMB men including Noor Alam carried out a bomb attack on police in Chattogram's Hathazari. Police arrested another JMB member Shamim Hasan from the spot.
However, Noor Alam managed to flee the scene and since then he remained absconding, he added.
Ten-truck arms haul: HC sets Jan 3 for hearing appeals, death references
The High Court on Tuesday fixed January 3 for hearing the death references and appeals in the sensational 10-truck arms haul cases.
The HC bench of Justice Shahidul Karim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman passed the order.
Deputy Attorney General Bashir Ahmed and Assistant attorney general Nirmal Kumar Das represented the state.
Earlier, on July 20, the court fixed October 18 for hearing the appeals and death references.
On April 1, 2004, ten trucks of arms were seized at the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd jetty.
Two cases --– one under the Arms Act and another under the Special Powers Act -- were filed with Karnaphuli Police Station the following day.
Fifty people were made accused in the arms case and another 52 in the other case.
On January 30, 2014, Chattogram Metropolitan Sessions Judge SM Mujibur Rahman sentenced 14 people to death in the case filed under the Special Powers Act.
The court also sentenced them life term imprisonment and seven years imprisonment each under two sections of the arms case.
Fourteen people, including former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, Indian separatist outfit United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) chief Paresh Barua, former DGFI director Maj Gen (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury and former National Security Intelligence director general Abdur Rahim, were sentenced to death in the case filed under the Special Powers Act for smuggling.
On February 4, the court published the full text of the judgment in the two cases.
Of the death row convicts, former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami was executed in 2016 on charge of crimes against humanity.
Schoolgirl rape-murder in N’ganj: 4 to die, another gets life term
A Narayanganj court on Tuesday sentenced four people to death and another to life imprisonment for killing a schoolgirl after rape in 2005 in Fatulla.
The death row convicts are Kamrul Hasan, Rabiul, Ali Akbar and Shukkur Ali. The lifer is Doli Begum.
Among them, Rabiul and Doli were tried in absentia.
Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Nazmul Hoque Shyamal delivered the judgment.
The court also acquitted Nasrin Aktar.
According to the case, the four death row convicts raped the sixth grader in a cropland in Laxminagar area of Fatulla after abducting her on June 3 in 2005. Doli and Nasrin assisted them in killing of the girl after rape.
Later, police recovered the body from the spot and a case was filed in this regard. In 2006, a chargesheet was submitted to the court against the convicts.