Law-&-Order
SC scraps bail to Laxmipur UP chairman Selim in graft case
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed a High Court order that had granted bail to controversial union parishad chairman of Chandpur Md Selim Khan in a corruption case.
The court also ordered Selim Khan to surrender before the court by September 27.
Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice M Enayetur Rahim passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
Read: Samrat's bail extended in money laundering case
Advocate Momtaz Uddin Fakir appeared for Salim Khan at the court while Advocate Khorshed Alam Khan stood for ACC.
On September 14, the High Court (HC) granted anticipatory bail to him for four weeks in the graft case.
The HC, however, ordered Selim Khan to surrender before the trial court concerned within four weeks in connection with the case.
On August 1, ACC’s assistant director Ataur Rahman filed the case against Selim Khan for acquiring the assets illegally.
Read: Dhara Multipurpose Co-Operative Society president gets 12 years jail
According to the complaint, Selim Khan acquired assets worth Tk 34,53, 81,119 beyond his known source of income and he concealed information about his assets.
On August 8, the Appellate Division ruled that Md Selim Khan must pay a huge amount in royalties against sand extraction from the Meghna river banks.
It said since 2016, Selim Khan had been extracting sand from the Meghna River in Chandpur Sadar and Haimchar illegally, causing the government to incur huge losses.
Dhara Multipurpose Co-Operative Society president gets 12 years jail
A Dhaka court on Monday sentenced the president of Dhara Multipurpose Co-Operative Society Ltd retired Major General Jalal Uddin to 12 years jail in a money laundering case.
Judge of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-8, Badrul Alam Bhuiya handed down the judgment.
The court also sentenced Sheikh Samsur Rahman, an accused of the case and resident of Sanatankathi village in Paikgachcha upazila of Khulna district to six years jail.
Jalal was tried in absentia. The court also fined them Tk 6 crore.
On December 31, 2014, the ACC lodged a complaint against the retired major general and his wife, son and daughter for plundering nearly Tk 60 crore taken from 1,449 investors assuring them of high interest.
Read: Samrat's bail extended in money laundering case
Jalal opened Dhara Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd in the capital’s Banani in 2005, stating himself as the president, his wife Alia Fatema vice-president, son Talha Ahmed general secretary and daughter Radia Ahmed joint secretary, according to the case statement.
Deputy Director of ACC Jahangir Alam lodged the complaint against Jalal and his wife, daughter and son.
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday approved a chargesheet against Maj Gen (retd) Jalal Uddin Ahmed and another man in a graft case.
On December 31, 2003, Jalal retired from the army and opened Dhara Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd.
Samrat's bail extended in money laundering case
A Dhaka court on Monday extended the bail of expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat until October 20 in a money laundering case.
Judge Al Asad Md Asifuzzaman of the Special Judge's Court-6 passed the order after Samrat's lawyer Afroza Shahanaz Parvin Hira submitted an application, seeking permanent bail in the case.
On August 22, the same court granted ad-interim bail to Samrat till September 19 considering his poor health condition on a Tk10,000 bond.
In the bail order, the court asked him to submit his passport to the court as his bail condition, and anyway he has to take court permission to go abroad.
Earlier, Samrat secured bail in a drugs case on April 11 and in an Arms Act case and a money laundering case on April 10.
The expelled Jubo League leader has been undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital since November 24 last year.
In October 2019, Rab detained Samrat and his associate Enamul Haque Arman from Chauddagram in Cumilla.
Read: Jubo League leader Samrat arrested
Rab raided his Kakrail office the next day. Huge quantities of foreign liquor, pistols, and two hides of kangaroo were seized from his office.
He was later sentenced by a mobile court to six months in prison under the Wildlife Conservation Act.
Abdul Khaleque, deputy assistant director of Rab-1 lodged two complaints against Samrat at Ramna police station under the Arms and the Narcotics Acts. Arman was also made an accused in the narcotics case.
Shekhar Chandra Mallik, a sub-inspector, submitted a chargesheet against Samrat in the Arms Act case.
Read: Expelled Jubo League leader Samrat gets bail in arms and money laundering cases
ACC lodged a complaint against him for acquiring assets worth Tk 2.94 crore beyond his known sources of income.
Rashedur Rahman, sub-inspector of CID, registered a case against him at the Ramna police station for laundering Tk 195 crore to Malaysia and Singapore. Last November, the investigating officer in the case submitted a charge sheet in court.
Businessman lured by promise of ‘magnetic coins’ loses Tk75 lakh; 5 arrested
Detectives of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) have arrested five members of a gang of alleged fraudsters from the Dhanmondi Lake area in Dhaka, on charge of embezzling a businessman’s money after luring him with the promise of ‘magnetic coins’.
The arrested persons are Md. Yusuf Ali, Md. Khabir Ghazi, Md. Shamim, Md. Nasir Uddin Akon and Md. Jasim.
Ten so called ‘magnetic coins’ were also recovered from their possession.
Based on several days’ acquaintance, the businessman gave them Tk 75 lakh for buying the magnetic coins on August 28.
Three or four days after that, Yusuf, who posed as an engineer, called and told the victim businessman that they would have to go to Barisal in a few days.
Accordingly, the businessman and Yusuf went to Barisal by a private car on September 3. There they stayed at a residential hotel and Yusuf contacted the magnetic coin traders on the phone, setting up a date to meet the next day – or so the businessman thought.
On September 4, Yusuf apparently went to meet the owners of the magnet coins leaving the businessman at the hotel. He didn’t come back. After a long time had passed, the victim repeatedly tried to contact Yusuf, but failed to get through.
Eventually he realized that he had been cheated, and filed a case in Khilkhet police station as plaintiff.
Based on the allegation, the detectives started investigation into the matter and succeeded in arresting the five members of the gang who interacted most with the victim.
Manikganj: Rohingya teen trying to get passport on fake documents held
A 16-year-old Rohingya girl was arrested while she was trying to get a Bangladeshi passport using a fake identity from the Manikganj regional passport office, police said.
The Myanmar national was identified as Humayra.
Abu Taher, 22, from Chakoria upazila of Cox's Bazar, who was aiding Humayra in getting her fake passport, was also arrested.
They went to the passport office to apply for a passport for Humayra under the name of Bangladesh national Tasnim Begum from Singair upazila. Humayra and Taher provided all the necessary documents, including a birth certificate.
The staff of the passport office got suspicious about them after Humayra's fingerprint showed that she was registered as a Rohingya national, said Nahid Newaz, assistant director of the passport office.
Abdur Rauf Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Manikganj Sadar Police Station, said: "Two Rohingyas were handed over to us by the passport office. We arrested Humayra and Taher after the office lodged a complaint against them."
"During questioning, Humayra said, with the help of Taher, she made a deal of Tk1 lakh with someone called Ershad from Singair upazila to help her procure the documents required for making a Bangladeshi passport," Rauf added.
6 get life terms in Kushtia drug case
A court in Kushtia on Sunday sentenced six people to life terms in prison, in a drugs case filed in 2014.
The court of Additional District and Session Judge Md Tajul Islam also fined the convicts Tk 50,000 each, in default of which they will have to serve one more year imprisonment in jail.
The convicts are Bablu, 35, Muslam Ali, 32, Jahangir Ali, 32, Bakul Mandal, 30, Jahidul, 25, Habu Mondol, 30 - residents of different areas of Daulatpur upazila in the district.
Of the convicts, Jahangir, Jahidul and Habu were tried in absentia. Three more accused in the case were acquitted by the court, said lawyer Anup Kumar Nandy, public prosecutor (PP) of the court.
According to the case statement, members of Detective Branch (DB) came under attack by the drug peddlers when they conducted a drive to recover drugs from a betel leaf field at Dharmadah villa under the upazila on May 24, 2014.
Later, a case was filed accusing nine people in connection with the recovery of 46 kilograms of hemp and other drugs and attacks on the cops at the local police station.
The investigation officer of the case pressed the chargesheet against nine accused on June 23 in the same year.
The court handed down the judgment after hearing the testimony of 11 witnesses and other relevant documents in absence of three accused, PP Anup added.
Armed Rohingya men hack APBn man at Balukhali camp
An Armed Police Battalion (APBn) member was seriously injured after some armed Rohingya men attacked him at Balukhali Rohingya camp in Cox's Bazar Saturday during a drive.
The injured, Abu Sayed, 22, has been stationed in Armed Police Battalion 14 (APBn 14), a specialised unit of police at the Rohingya camp.
The incident took place at block D-5 of Balukhali Camp-7, said Additional Deputy Inspector General Syed Harunur Rashid, commanding officer of APBn 14.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of police went to arrest someone called Zubair from the Rohingya camp.
At this time, four to five armed Rohingya men, including Zubair's brother Sanaullah, attacked them with machetes, leaving Sayed critically injured, Harunur Rashid said.
Read: 4 held over Tongi businessman murder
Later, the APBn man was rushed to Kutupalong Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital. As his condition worsened, he was shifted to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital for better treatment.
Law enforcers arrested a suspect involved in the attack and efforts are underway to arrest others, Harunur Rashid said.
4 Mastercard, Visa cards fraud ring members held
The Detective Branch (DB) of Gulshan Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has claimed to have arrested four members of a fraud ring for ripping off Mastercard and Visa cardholders by hacking into their accounts.
The arrestees are Md Sohel Mir, Md Nazmul Hossain, Parul and Md Tara Mia.
Read: Teen gansters stab teenager to death in Khulna
On Friday and Saturday, a team of DB Gulshan conducted several raids in Dhaka, Faridpur and Savar and arrested them, Mohammad Harun-or Rasheed, additional commissioner of DMP, said Saturday.
As Visa and Mastercard are being used for electronic payment, shopping and withdrawal of money from ATM booths and mobile recharging, the gang was hacking into the accounts of card users and ripping them off for a long time.
A member of this gang would collect the mobile numbers of cardholders and send them to Nazmul and Sohel, Harun-or Rasheed said.
Read: Kushtia youth arrested 'for hurting religious sentiments' on Facebook
Sohel and Nazmul, posing as officers of the card division of various banks, including Standard Chartered and Brac, called the numbers of Visa and MasterCard users. They would tell the cardholders that their information had to be updated immediately or else their cards would be suspended.
Many cardholders with large account balances panicked and did as the fraudsters said, Harun-or Rasheed added.
"Several cases were filed at Gulshan, Banani and Hatirjheel police stations in this regard. Also, efforts are underway to arrest other members of the gang," the additional commissioner said.
Benapole man held with Tk2 crore gold bars at border
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Saturday claimed to have detained a man with 20 gold bars worth over Tk2 crore at the Putkhali border in Jashore.
The detainee was identified as Md Hridoy Hossain from Benapole, Lieutenant Colonel Tanvir Ahmed, commanding officer of BGB-21, said.
Read: Damurhuda man held with Tk6.6 crore gold bars
Tipped off, a team of BGB-21 conducted a drive in the Putkhali area and detained Hridoy with the gold bars weighing 2.33kg while he was about to sneak into India, he added.
Legal action will be taken against Hridoy, the BGB commanding officer said.
Kushtia youth arrested 'for hurting religious sentiments' on Facebook
Police in Kushtia arrested a 24-year-old male on Friday for 'hurting the religious sentiments' of the Hindu community on social media.
Nayebur Rahman, 24, of Bahalbaria village under Mirpur upazila of Kushtia, allegedly posted the offending status on his Facebook profile last Wednesday, with a view to stoking communal instability and hostility.
Read: Youth held under DSA for 'hurting religious sentiment' in Moulvibazar
Md Khairul Alam, superintendent of police (SP) for Kushtia, disclosed all this at a press conference held at the district Police Lines on Friday afternoon.
The SP further said that Nayebur is a private jobholder in Dhaka, but was arrested from his father-in-law’s house in Mohishakhola village in the same Mirpur upazila after a case related to the incident was filed earlier, SP Khairul added.