Law-&-Order
PHQ orders all units to take all-out security measures during blockade
Police headquarters has instructed all of its units, including specialized units, across the country, to take all-out security measures to ensure the safety of people's lives and property as well as to protect state assets to keep public life normal during the three-day blockade of road, rail and waterways across the country that will begin from Tuesday morning.
BNP and like-minded opposition parties on Sunday announced to enforce a three-day blockade of road, rail and waterways across the country from Tuesday morning to mount the Awami League regime to quit and hold the next election under a non-party neutral administration.
Also read: Opposition parties’ 3-day countrywide blockade to begin Tuesday
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami also announced on Monday that the party will also enforce the blockade simultaneously from Tuesday morning to Thursday evening demanding the current government's resignation and installation of a non-party neutral administration to oversee the 12th parliamentary election.
Sources at the Police headquarters said that the PHQ has already given necessary instruction to the police units across the country to beef up security alongside increasing vigilance to avert any untoward incidents during the countrywide blockade programme..
In a statement on Monday evening, the Police headquarters requested the public to help by calling national emergency number 999 if any information on deterioration of law and order and vandalism across the country.
Also read: AB Party expresses solidarity with BNP’s 3-day countrywide blockade
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have taken security measures to ensure the safety of people's lives and property as well as to protect state assets to keep public life normal.
The Rab headquarters in a press release in the evening said that the elite force will deploy more than 300 patrols of 15 battalions to ensure nationwide security. In addition, nationwide intelligence monitoring activities will continue.
If anyone plans any kind of sabotage or violence, he will be immediately identified and brought under the law.
Special teams and striking force reserves have been kept to deal with any emergent situation. RAB Forces will be deployed round the clock across the country to prevent any acts of vandalism and violence.
Also read: If BNP genuinely wanted elections, they wouldn’t have resorted to acts of terrorism: Quader
Farmers Bank scam: Mahbubul Haque Chisty, wife and son sentenced
A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced Mahbubul Haque Chisty alias Babul Chisty, former chairman of Farmers Bank audit committee, and his son Rashedul Haque Chisty to 12 years of jail each in a graft case over laundering around Tk 159.95 crore.
The court also sentenced Babul Chisty’s wife Rosy Chisty and former first vice president of the bank Masudur Rahman Khan to five years of imprisonment each in the case.
Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 Judge Syed Arafat Hossain handed down the sentences in presence of Babul Chisty and his son Rashedul, said the court’s bench assistant Belal Hossain.
The court fined Babul Chisty, his wife and son double the amount of the money they laundered, meaning they will have to pay over Tk 319.90 crore, in default of which the father and the son will have will serve two more years in prison while Rosy will have to stay in jail for one year.
Read: Farmers Bank Scam: 7 accused claim innocence
The Dhaka Special Judge Court also ordered the authorities concerned to confiscate the three convicts’ properties in favour of the state.
Another accused Masudur Rahman Khan was fined Tk 10 lakh, in default of which he will have to serve one more year in jail, and an order was issued to confiscate all his properties.
The court issued arrest warrants for Rosy Chisty and former vice president Masudur after rejecting their bail plea.
Read: Farmers Bank Scam: Appellate Division denies bail to Rashedul
According to the case statement, Babul Chisty, in collaboration with other officials of the bank, deposited and withdrew a huge amount of money in cash and through pay-order after opening saving accounts with Farmers Bank’s Gulshan branch.
Babul transacted Tk 159 crore 95 lakh and 49,642 through 25 accounts in the name of several firms owned by his wife, son and daughter.
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against the four with Gulshan Police Station on April 10, 2018.
On October 30, 2019, the court framed chargesheet against the accused. The same court set October 30 for delivering the judgment after ending arguments from both sides.
Read more: Farmers Bank Scam: HC upholds bail of Rashedul
After verifying testimonies from 15 witnesses, the court handed down the judgment in presence of two out of four accused.
‘Said what I was asked to say at BNP office’: So-called ‘Biden’s adviser’ Arefy at DB Office
Mian Zahidul Islam Arefy, who claimed to be an “adviser to US President Joe Biden,” at the DB office said that he “only followed instructions he received at the BNP office.”
A video that has been circulating on social media, shows Arefy talking to DB officials.
No DB officials have officially commented on this as of filing this report.
Read: Mian Arefy, so-called ‘adviser to Biden’, detained from Dhaka Airport
During his statement at the DB office, Arefy in the video is heard saying, “On October 28, Lt General (retired) Chowdhury Hasan Sarwardi brought me to the BNP party office at 3 pm to discuss their program. They requested me to deliver a speech. BNP leader Ishraque Hossain was also present, along with many others I didn't recognize. They asked me to introduce myself as a ‘leader of the Democratic Committee’ and ‘Joe Biden's adviser,’ and deliver a speech. I said what I was asked to say.”
Arefy said he was admitting his mistake: “I said what I was asked to say at the BNP office. I'm sorry for what I said, I was wrong.”
Read: Posing as ‘adviser to US President’: Should be arrested immediately, Momen says about Arefy
Arefy was detained at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka yesterday and subsequently taken to the DB headquarters on Minto Road for interrogation.
On Saturday, Arefy visited the BNP central office in Naya Paltan and presented himself as an "adviser to US President Biden" when speaking to reporters.
Alos read: Fakhrul denied bail, sent to jail
Holey Artisan Attack: HC commutes death sentences of 7 militants
The High Court has commuted the death sentences of seven convicted individuals to life imprisonment unto death in connection with the Holey Artisan Bakery attack.
High court bench of Justice Sahidul Karim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman delivered the verdict.
Attorney General AM Amin Uddin and Deputy Attorney General Bashir Ahmed represented the state. Lawyer Ariful Islam and Md. Amimul Ehsan Zubair were at the hearing on behalf of the defendants.
Lawyer Ariful Islam said that the death reference was brought to the High Court, and an appeal was made for acquittal. The High Court dismissed the death reference and, by partially accepting the appeal, reduced the death sentences of the seven convicted individuals to life imprisonment unto death.
The seven who had their death sentences reduced to life imprisonment are: Jahangir Hossain alias Rajib Gandhi, Aslam Hossain alias Rash, Abdus Sabur Khan, Rakibul Hasan Reagan, Hadisur Rahman, Shariful Islam alias Khaled, and Mamunur Rashid Ripon.
On November 27, 2020, the judge of the Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal sentenced the seven to death for their involvement in the Holey Artisan Bakery attack in 2016. One was acquitted.
On the night of July 1, 2016, during the 12-hour siege of the café, the militants held dozens of people hostage and killed 22 of them, including 17 foreigners and two policemen. At least 50 people were seriously injured in the deadliest ever militant attack in the country.
Those killed included nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, one Bangladesh-born American and two Bangladeshis.
Five armed men stormed the café, frequented mostly by foreigners, and took the diners as hostage. At one stage they started killing some of the hostages one by one.
Bangladesh authorities responded with a brutal crackdown on the militants after the gruesome attack.
Man who died during Saturday's violence is not a Jubo Dal activist: Family
A man, who died on Saturday during clashes between the BNP activists and police near the capital's Rajarbagh Police Lines Hospital, was not a Jubo Dal activist, said his family.
Yousuf Mia, father of the victim Shamim Mia, said his son was a driver of a car owned by a doctor.
During the clashes, Shamim was passing through the Police Lines Hospital area on Saturday afternoon.
Read: Police officer dead in pickup van-autorickshaw collision in Sylhet
Shamim possibly suffered a heart attack and fell on the road.
Later, he was rescued and admitted to Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital (CPH) where doctors declared him dead, he added.
Rezaul Haider, director of Police Hospital and deputy inspector general of Police, said that there was no major injury on his body.
Read more: Mohakhali's Khawaja Tower fire leaves woman dead
He is believed to have died of a heart attack, added the officer.
Some 540 BNP-Jamaat supporters detained across the country during hartal
Law enforcement agencies detained more than 540 leaders and activists of the opposition BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami across the country during the daylong hartal on Sunday.
Over 100 others were injured in Dhaka and elsewhere while many cases were filed against the BNP-Jamaat supporters across the country.
In Bogura, 29 BNP supporters from Dupchanchia upazila and three from Adamdighi Upazila were detained and over 40 were injured in clashes.
Read: Fakhrul shown arrested in CJ’s house vandalising case
In Sherpur, 51 BNP-Jamaat men were detained from different upazilas and over 400 people accused in five cases involving Sunday's hartal and clashes with police.
In Chandpur, 13 BNP-Jamaat supporters were detained and 15 people were wounded in clashes with the law enforcement agencies.
In Joypurhat, 46 BNP activists were detained following clashes with police.
Read: BNP-Police Clashes: At least 70 BNP leaders, activists injured in N'ganj
In Lalmonirhat, Awami League (AL) supporters allegedly ransacked BNP’s party office in the district town involving the death of an AL leader.
In Chuadanga district, 38 BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists were detained during the clashes.
In Sirajganj, over 146 BNP and Jamaat were rounded up from several upazilas of the district during picketing.
In Dinajpur, 40 BNP activists were detained when they clashed with the law enforcers.
In Feni, three BNP men were detained for vandalising vehicles and blocking roads. In Bhola, another three were detained.
In Jhalakathi, 18 BNP and Jamaat activists were detained during clashes with police and other security agencies.
In Jashore, over 150 BNP-Jamaat men were detained from several upazilas during hartal.
Read more: Fakhrul brought to DB office for questioning: DMP Commissioner
Justice soon for killing policeman: Law minister
Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Anisul Huq said on Sunday that the trial of the killing of a policeman during Saturday's anti-government rally by the BNP would be a fast-paced affair.He said this while addressing the inaugural ceremony of the newly built registration complex in Malia of Gazipur city.
Read|: Mob sets fire to Fire Service vehicle in Dhaka's Shahjahanpur
"We believe in democracy. Politics is a part of democracy. No one is barred from talking about the welfare of the people. But, if violence is committed in the name of politics, we will ask the law enforcement agencies to take action,” the minister said.
Referring to Saturday's violence in Dhaka, the law minister strongly criticised the opposition saying that attacks on the house of the chief justice were nothing but an attack on the judiciary.
Read: Nayapaltan turns into battlefield following BNP-law enforcers clashes
Liberation War Affairs Minister Mozammel Haque, local MP from reserved seat Shamsun Nahar Bhuiyan, Law and Justice Division Secretary Md Golam Sarwar and Directorate of Registration Inspector General (Additional) Umme Kulsum, among others, were present at the event.
Read more: Jamaat men preparing to rally in Dhaka’s Arambagh
Daylong hartal marked by clashes, vandalism, and chase –counter chase in Bogura
The daylong hartal enforced by the BNP in Bogura, the birthplace of the party founder late Ziaur Rahman, was marked by clashes, vandalism, chase and counter chase, and picketing on Sunday.
Forty men from BNP, five to six from Awami League (AL) were injured and 17 vehicles vandalized in tripartite clashes among AL, police and the opposition amid the hartal.
No intra-district and long-haul route buses moved in the district but train communication remained as usual. Most establishments including markets also remained closed fearing damage.
Witnesses said four to five Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD, student wing of BNP) activists including district unit president Saidul Islam sustained bullet injuries in a clash with police when they brought out a procession in favour of the hartal from in front of the party office on Nababbari Road in the district town around 8am.
At 9am, at least 10 to 15 BNP men and five to six AL men were injured in a clash between the parties in Galapatti area of the district town. Police opened rubber bullets to bring the situation under control as the cocktails were exploded at the time.
Four to five BNP men were hurt in another clash with the AL when an AL procession was passing out in front of the BNP office.
District chapter BNP president Rezaul Karim Badsha alleged that the AL men swooped on them leaving four to five supporters injured when a peaceful hartal was going on. Later the BNP supporters were removed from the area.
Read: Fakhrul brought to DB office for questioning: DMP Commissioner
Denying the allegation, the district unit AL Publicity and Publication Secretary Sultan Mahmud Khan Rony claimed that the BNP men hurled brickbats targeting them from the BNP office leaving eight supporters including office secretary Al Raji Jewel injured.
In the morning, 13 people including a child were injured in clashes between police and BNP men on Dhaka-Dinajpur Highway in Bagherpara Kholer Ghor area under Sadar upazila.
The injured child was admitted to Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital.
At least 17 vehicles including the Sadar Upazila Nirbahir Officer’s one were vandalized. Later a few other vehicles also got torched there.
The BNP men using mikes from mosques allegedly asked police personnel to go away from the road. However, the Rapid Action Battalion brought the situation under control.
BNP Organizing Secretary Sahid-Un-Nabi claimed that at least 40 supporters were injured in attacks by the AL and police in the district.
Twenty-nine BNP men from Dupchanchia upazila and three from Adamdighi Upazila were arrested, he said.
Read: BNP announces 3-day countrywide blockade from Tuesday
Demanding immediate release of the arrested leaders and activists, Nabi claimed that five leaders including district unit Vice President MR Islam Swadin were arrested from Sirajganj when they were returning from Dhaka to Bogura on Saturday night.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Sudip Kumar Chakrabarty said the BNP men got involved in clashes with law enforcers after calling from the mosque by mikes.
A few people including a child were injured when people tried to remove the picketers, he said.
Additional SP Snigda Akhter said they used five rounds of bullets to disperse BNP men during clashes with law enforcers.
Read more: BNP man dies ‘while fleeing after attempting to set bus on fire’ in Dhaka
Mob sets fire to Fire Service vehicle in Dhaka's Shahjahanpur
A group of agitated people vandalized a vehicle of the Fire Service and set it on fire in the capital shahjahanpur area on Saturday afternoon.
The water truck of the fire service came under attack on the way back after extinguishing fire under Shahjahanpur flyover at 5 pm, said a press release.
At that time, the attackers beat up some firemen, according to the release.
The injured firemen are Ariful Islam, Senior Station Officer of Khilgaon Fire Station and Shariful Islam, driver of the same station. They returned to the station after receiving treatment at the hospital, said the release.
So far, 22 fire incidents were reported. Fire service extinguished the fire in 12 of these accidents, said the release.
Several journalists beaten up while covering clash between BNP men and police
Several media personnel were injured while on duty during clashes between BNP men and members of law enforcement agencies in Dhaka’s Kakrail area this afternoon.
The injured are Dhaka Times’ reporter Salehkin Tarin; Dainik Kalbela’s Rafsan Jonny; Breaking News’ crime reporter Kazi Ihsan Bin Didar; staff correspondent Habib Sabuj; the daily Ittefaq’s multimedia reporter Sheikh Nasir, and Inqilab’s photojournalist FM Masum.
Of them, Tarin was admitted at National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR), and Rafsan at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Others received treatment from several hospitals.
Read: Nayapaltan turns into battlefield following BNP-law enforcers clash
Rafsan’s colleague Rajan Bhattacharya, senior correspondent at Kalbela, said Rafsan was recording a video when a clash was going on between BNP men and police in Kakrail intersection.
Some men attacked Rafsan when he was collecting video footage of BNP activists attacking the police, he said.
Read: Jamaat men preparing to rally in Dhaka’s Arambagh
“Rafsan was indiscriminately beaten up despite his ID card hanging around his neck. Moreover the attackers snatched away his mobile phone. His condition is critical,” he said.
BNP supporters clashed today with law enforcers in several Dhaka areas centring their scheduled grand rally in Nayapaltan.
Read more: Security beefed up in the capital ahead of Saturday’s political rallies amid heightened tension