United News of Bangladesh

A court on Wednesday sentenced a man to life imprisonment for raping a 10-year-old speech-impaired child in Hatibandha upazila of the district. The convict is Shahidul Islam, 38, son of Nobiyar Rahman of Jamir Bari village in Kaliganj upazila. Judge Nityananda Sarker of the Lalmonirhat Tribunal for the Prevention of Violence Against Children delivered the verdict on Wednesday afternoon. The court also fined him Tk 50,000, in default, he will have to serve an additional three months in prison. According to the case statement and court records, Shahidul went to his in-laws' house in Hatibandha upazila on August 4, 2023. As no one was at home, he allegedly lured the child, who lived in the neighbourhood, into the house by telling her that he would show her photos on his mobile phone. He then violated her, according to the case statement. The child later returned home crying and told her mother about the incident. Following the incident, the child's father filed a case against Shahidul with Hatibandha Police Station.

No lawyer will defend the accused in the much-discussed murder of Ishiat Shahriar Oprotim, Cumilla District Bar Association leaders said, adding that the decision was taken on humanitarian grounds. They made the disclosure at a discussion between the Cumilla District Bar Association and Cumilla University administration at the university conference room around 5pm Tuesday. Cumilla District Bar Association President Advocate Md Shahidullah and General Secretary Md Mahabobol Hoque Khandaker announced the decision at the meeting. Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr M M Shariful Karim, Pro-Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mohammad Amzad Hossain Sarker, Treasurer Prof Dr Mohammed Belal Uddin, teachers, officials, employees and students of different departments attended the meeting. Public Prosecutor (PP) Advocate Kaimul Haque Rinku, GP Advocate Tarek Abdullah and other leaders of the Cumilla District Bar Association were also present. Advocate Kaimul Haque Rinku said, “We have called upon the police administration to conduct a speedy and impartial investigation and submit an accurate charge sheet. The Bar Association will extend all-out cooperation to ensure that the trial process is not disrupted in any way. District Bar Association President Advocate Md Shahidullah said, “The decision not to stand for the accused is not a decision taken through any formal written resolution. Rather, it is a principled position that has emerged among lawyers out of a sense of humanitarian responsibility in response to the brutality of the incident. However, as state-funded legal defence is available under existing law to ensure the legal rights of the accused, there will be no legal complication in the trial process.” Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr M M Shariful Karim thanked the Bar Association leaders for standing beside the university. “The actual cause of Oprotim’s murder and the role of every person involved must be uncovered through investigation. If there is any ambiguity regarding the accused’s ages, they must be determined through proper investigation and necessary tests. At the same time, if any criminal network or patron is found to be involved in the incident, they must also be brought to justice through investigation,” he said. At the meeting, students demanded proper verification of the ages of the accused and, if necessary, determination of their actual ages through ossification tests and other medical examinations. They also called for adequate lighting and installation of CCTV cameras in the Lalmia and Salmanpur areas, effective measures to control drugs and juvenile gangs, and stronger security and increased administrative patrols in Kotbari and areas adjacent to the university. Meanwhile, at around 11:30am university students held a silent procession demanding a speedy trial in Apratim’s murder and implementation of their four-point demands. The students’ four demands are: arresting the accused in Oprotim’s murder and completing the trial within 60 days with exemplary punishment; withdrawal of the Cumilla superintendent of police and the officers-in-charge of Adarsha Sadar and Sadar Dakshin police stations; establishing a permanent police outpost in the Cumilla University area and strengthening visible security measures; and forming an immediate response unit for missing persons. Oprotim went missing on September 18 while taking photographs with his mother’s iPhone. His body was recovered from West Sananda in the Kotbari area the following day.  

A Dhaka court on Tuesday placed former Awami League MP from Chattogram-3 Mahfuzur Rahman Mita on a six-day remand and his driver Golam Mawla Selim on a five-day remand in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act. Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam passed the order after the investigating officer of the case, Inspector Md Masudur Rahman of the Detective Branch (DB) Tejgaon Zonal Team, produced the duo before the court and sought a 10-day remand for each. A DB team of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested Mita and his driver from a house in Gulshan-2 early Tuesday. According to the remand application, 35-40 leaders and activists of Awami League, which faces a ban on its activities, brought out a procession near Mohakhali Bus Terminal on June 18 under Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station. Police later filed the case with Tejgaon Industrial Area Police Station in connection with the incident. Police said evidence indicated that the accused were involved in the incident. The remand application said police need to interrogate the two accused to identify and locate their alleged accomplices who remain at large, determine plans for alleged anti-state activities and establish the source of the crude bombs.

A teenager was arrested on charges of allegedly raping his 12-year-old cousin in Dhekipara-Saota village of Chapra Union in Kumarkhali upazila. He was arrested from the village on Tuesday morning, said Jamalkhali Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Jamal Uddin. Later in the afternoon, he was sent to jail by a court order. According to the case statement, the girl’s mother died of cancer two years ago, and she had been living with her grandmother since then. On the morning of September 19, around 8:30 a.m., the victim’s father gave Tk 10 to the teenage boy and asked him to take the money to his daughter. At the time, the girl was eating a meal at home. Taking advantage of the situation, the accused allegedly violated the girl. Police said both families had attempted to settle the matter privately to hush it up. However, police learned of the incident on Monday, rescued the victim and took her to the police station. Subsequently, the victim’s father filed a rape case under the Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act. The plaintiff said he filed the case seeking justice. However, he declined to comment on the reported settlement attempt. OC Jamal Uddin said the investigation is ongoing and further details would be available after its conclusion.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday arrested a sub-registrar and two of his associates while they were allegedly taking Tk 2 lakh in bribes at Pahartali Sub-Registrar’s Office in Chattogram. The arrestees were Pahartali Sub-Registrar Abdus Sobhan, head clerk Faruk Islam and office assistant Rupon Das. The ACC team also seized the Tk 2 lakh, said Md Aktarul Islam, public relations officer of the ACC. Tipped off, a special team from the commission’s Chattogram district office conducted a drive and caught the three while red handed. According to the ACC, a Chattogram lawyer had submitted two partnership agreements at the Pahartali Sub-Registrar’s Office for registration on behalf of his client. Although the documents reportedly contained no errors, the sub-registrar allegedly delayed the registration intentionally. Later, Sub-Registrar Abdus Sobhan and head clerk Faruk Islam demanded Tk 2 lakh to register the two documents. The lawyer subsequently contacted the ACC hotline 106 and later submitted a written complaint to the ACC’s District Office in Chattogram-1. A case will be filed under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act.    

A seventh-grade schoolgirl, who was allegedly kidnapped from Chirirbandar in Dinajpur, has been rescued from Mymensingh's Bhaluka. The 13-year-old girl was abducted by several youths on August 25 while she was returning home after school, according to a press release issued by Special Response Battalion (SRB) media wing on Tuesday. The abductors rpicked her up in an easy-bike and took her to an unknown location. Following the incident, the girl's father, Abdur Rahman, filed an abduction case with Chirirbandar Police Station on Sept 7. After conducting a shadow investigation, the SRB team identified the suspected abductors' location. With assistance from the local camp of SRB's 14 Battalion stationed in Mymensingh, the team conducted a drive at Amtali Sarkar Bari in Bhaluka  on Sept 20. During the operation, the girl was rescued and Shahin Alam, 21, the main suspect and son of Aminul Islam Lalu of Dabi Bazar area in West Saitara village of Chirirbandar, was arrested. He was later handed over to the police of the concerned police station for further legal action.      

Detective Branch (DB) police rescued an 11-month-old infant in Gaibandha on Sunday, two months and three days after the child was allegedly sold by his father for Tk 31,000. The child was rescued around 9:30pm from the home of Soleman Chowkidar in Madaner Para village of Fulchhari upazila, said Abdul Mottalib Sarker, officer-in-charge of the DB. Police arrested four people, including two women in connection with the incident. The child's father, Hamidul Islam, a resident of South Dhanghara village in Gaibandha municipality, was among those arrested. Police said Hamidul, who is allegedly addicted to drugs, took his child from home and fled in search of money to buy drugs. The child was subsequently sold for Tk 31,000. The child's mother, Romana Akter, later filed a petition with the court seeking recovery of her baby. Following the petition, a court on September 14 directed Gaibandha Sadar Police Station to rescue the child. Police said they took action after reports about the incident were published in the online and print editions of the Daily Jugantor on September 15 and 16. DB police later conducted raids at different locations and rescued the child. The rescued infant was handed over to the mother, Romana Akter, on Sunday night. DB OC Mottalib Sarker said further details would be disclosed at a press conference at the Gaibandha Superintendent of Police's office on Monday.

The body of the second wife of Satkhira-4 MP GM Nazrul Islam was found hanging at NAM Bhaban in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area on Sunday evening, police said. The deceased was identified as Mosammat Mariam Khatun, 19. Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Monir Hossain said police rushed to the spot after receiving the information and found the body hanging from a ceiling fan inside a room of Flat No. 203 on the third floor of Building No. 5 of NAM Bhaban. Teams from the Detective Branch (DB), Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) forensic unit had arrived at the scene, the OC said. Police were trying to enter the flat by breaking open the door when filing the report around 8:10pm, he said, adding that they had not yet obtained information about when Mariam allegedly took her life. Further details will be provided later, he said.

Police detained a man early Sunday while he was allegedly attempting to set fire to a bus parked under Metanir overbridge in the capital’s Azimpur area. The detainee was identified as Aminul Islam Shawon, 40. Police said Shawon was attempting to set fire to the bus around 2:15am when bus staff and local people noticed the incident and rushed to the spot. Patrol police also arrived at the scene and detained him. An agitated crowd beat up Shawon during the detention, leaving him injured, said Niaz Mehedi, additional deputy commissioner (Media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Sunday afternoon. He was later taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment.

Police on Sunday claimed that seventh-grader Yashat Shahriar Opratim was killed during an attempt to snatch iPhone he was carrying in the Lalmai Sananda hill area in Cumilla Sadar Dakkhain upazila. Three people have been arrested in connection with the killing, while another person, identified as Siam, 19, has been detained and his alleged involvement is being verified, said Cumilla Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman. While briefing reporters at his office in the afternoon, the SP said Opratim’s mobile phone was recovered from the house of prime suspect Saiful Islam Tuhin, which helped investigators piece together the alleged sequence of events. According to police, CCTV footage showed Tuhin accompanying Opratim to an isolated, hilly area in Sananda around 3:15pm on September 18. Following the recovery of Opratim’s body on Saturday, police took Tuhin into custody after identifying him from the CCTV footage. During interrogation, Tuhin told police that he took the schoolboy to the area intending to snatch his mobile phone, the SP said. He said based on information provided by Tuhin, police later took Mozammel Hossain Fahad into custody. During interrogation, Fahad disclosed the involvement of his friend Md Kamrul Hasan, following which police also took Kamrul into custody. Anisuzzaman said they later recovered Opratim’s mobile phone from Tuhin’s house based on information provided by him. According to the preliminary investigation, an attempt was made to snatch Opratim’s mobile phone between 5:00pm and 6:00pm on September 18 in the Sananda area. “When Opratim resisted, a scuffle broke out. At one stage, Tuhin first struck Opratim on the head with a bamboo stick, followed by Fahad and Kamrul,” the SP said, adding that he died from the blows. After Opratim’s death, Tuhin took his mobile phone and left the scene with Fahad and Kamrul, he said. Details about Farhad were withheld as he is a minor. Siam, 19, has also been detained, and police are examining the information and evidence gathered regarding his alleged involvement. A murder case was filed against the arrested suspects, police said. They are also investigating whether anyone else was involved in the killing and said a police report will be submitted to the court after completion of the investigation. Opratim, the only son of Dr Nahida Begum, an associate professor of the Department of Bangla at Cumilla University, and KM Firoz Shahriar, was found dead in a jungle in the Sananda area on Saturday. He was buried at the family graveyard in Kotbari on Sunday.