Law-&-Order
HC defers Tarique-Zubaida’s hearing in corruption case
The High Court (HC) has deferred till June 5 the hearing on a rule issued against the proceedings of a corruption case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) during 1/11 against BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman and his wife Zubaida Rahman.
The court also delivers its opinion on whether Tarique and Zubaida can recruit a lawyer in the case as they are fugitives.
Also read:HC directs ACC to identify those involved in money laundering through e-commerce
A HC bench comprising Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akand passed the deferment order on Sunday.
Lawyer AJ Mohammad Ali and Kaiser Kamal stood for Tarique and Zubaida.
On the other hand, an Appellate Division bench led by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique deferred the hearing of Shamim Iskander, the younger brother of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia till June 5 in a case filed by the ACC for acquiring illegal wealth.
Lawyer Mahbub Uddin Khokon stood for Shamim Iskander while Md Khurshid Alam Khan represented the anti-graft body.
ACC filed the case against Tarique, his wife Zubaida and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu of amassing illegal wealth and concealing information in wealth statements, with Kafrul police station on September 26, 2007. The accused later filed a petition challenging the legality of the case proceedings.
Also read: HC orders disposal of ex-MP Bodi’s graft case in 1 yr
In 2007, the ACC issued a notice seeking information on the assets of Shamim. In 2008, the ACC filed a case under the Anti-Corruption Commission Act with the Ramna police station in the capital alleging concealing assets against Iskander and his wife.
In 2016, the High Court rejected Shamim's application for seeking dismissal of the case, and they then appealed to the Appellate Division.
DGHS drive: 37 unregistered hospitals sealed across the country
The local administrations of Faridpur, Natore, Kushtia, Chandpur and Bhola districts have shut at least 37 unregistered clinics, hospitals, and diagnostic centers following the directions of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of them 20 were sealed in five upazilas of Faridpur, seven in Natore, five in Kushtia, four in Chandpur and one in Bhola according to local authorities.
Read: Govt will do everything to stop bloodshed in CHT: Home Minister
On Thursday, DGHS directed the authorities concerned to close all unregistered clinics, private hospitals and diagnostic centres across the country within 72 hours.
No clinic, private hospital and diagnostics center will be allowed to run their activities until they get a license, said the health authority.
A team of the health service division led by Faridpur district Civil Surgeon Dr Md Siddiqur Rahman shutted down two diagnostic centers in Faridpur sadar upazila, three in Saltha upazila, seven each in Madhukhali and Boalmari upazila, and one in Sadarpur upazila.
During a joint drive conducted by Natore Health Service division and district administration Central Lab Diagnostic, Padma Clinic, Faim Diagnostic, Barat Diagnostic and Clinic, Healthcare Diagnostic, Tamanna Diagnostic, and Madina Eye Hospital were sealed.
Read: DIFE DIG caught red-handed by ACC
Meanwhile, Kushtia Civil Surgeon Dr HM Anwarul Islam said following the direction five illegal private clinics of Kumarkhali upazila were shut and another was warned . The closed clinics are, Pratik Adhunik Clinic & Diagnostic Center, Pradip Digital Diagnostic Center, Biswash Dental Care, Shimul Dental Care and Kumarkhali Diabetic Association.
Besides, three illegal diagnostic centers in Haimchar upazila and another in Hajiganj upazila of Chandpur district were shut, said Dr Belayet Hossain and Dr Golam Mowla Health and Family Planning officers of the respective upazilas.
Bhola executive magistrate Ali Suja sealed Abdul Khaleque Memorial Hospital after it could not provide legal documents and license while conducting a mobile court drive.
Fake army man held in Satkhira
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) detained a man who falsely claimed to be an Army personnel from Dumdum Bazar in Helatla union of Kalaroa upazila on Thursday night. The arrestee was identified as Abdur Rahman, 28, son of late Shahidul Sardar of Dakshin Puijala village in Sriula union of Asashuni upazila.
Read: Gaibandha AL leader allegedly threatens freedom fighterTipped off, a team of Rab-6 conducted a drive in the area and detained Rahman along with a fake ID card of Bangladesh Army, uniforms, two SIM cards and a mobile phone, said Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Pahan Chakma, company commander of RAB-6 in a press briefing on Friday.Rahman, identifying himself as a member of Bangladesh Army, used to have good relations with different women and take various immoral benefits, added the release.
Read: 13 held over attacking Rab members in CtgDuring the preliminary interrogation, the accused admitted his deception, it said.Legal process is underway in this regard, the release added.
13 held over attacking Rab members in Ctg
Up to 13 people have been detained from Chattogram and Feni district over beating three people including members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) at Mirsarai in Chattogram, said Rab.
The detainees were identified as Saidur Rahman Sayeed, 33, Anwar Hossain, 45, SM Shafayet Hossain, 38, Minhazul Islam alias Mithu, 36, Shahidul Islam Akash, 25, Sohaib Uddin Abir, 29, Md Saidul Islam Sumon, 30, Nahid Uddin, 33, Md Abu Sayeed, 28, Md Nasir Uddin, 38, Md Main Uddin, 32, Imam Hossain, 33, and Fahad Prakash Farhad, 26, of Mirsarai upazila. They all are involved in drug peddling.
Read: Ramna Batamul carnage: Death row convict held in N’ganj
A team of Rab-7 detained them conducting drives at different areas of Chattogram's Jorarganj and Feni's Chhagalnaiya upazila on Thursday, said Rab-7 Senior Assistant Director (Media) Md Nurul Absar.
During the drives, two thousand yaba pills, 52 bottles of Phensedyl and one kg of cannabis were seized from the detainees’ possession.
On Wednesday, they attacked three people including two Rab personnel spreading rumors of robbery when they went to Baroiyarhat Municipality Bazar in a car around 8.45pm to gather information about drugs-business in the area, leaving the Rab men seriously injured. The two Rab members were later brought to Dhaka for better treatment by a helicopter.
Read: DIFE DIG caught red-handed by ACC
The detainees were handed over to the Jorarganj police station, said the Rab official.
Govt will do everything to stop bloodshed in CHT: Home Minister
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Thursday said the government will do everything to stop killings, clashes and extortion in the Chattogram hill tracts.
He said Armed Police Battalion (APBn) has been introduced in the hill tracts according to the Chattogram Hill Tracts Peace Accord to maintain the law and order.
The APBn personnel will take the charge of those camps from which the army personnel were withdrawn, he added.
Also read: Home minister bins BNP allegation on BCL-JCD clash
Asaduzzaman Khan said these while addressing a rally at Rangamati Sukhi Nilganj Armed Police Battalion regional office after laying foundation stones of the regional office and three APBn offices in the three hill districts at noon.
Home Ministry’s Public Security Division Senior Secretary Md Akhter Hossain presided over the function while Chattogram Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Parliamentary Standing Committee Chairman on the Ministry of Food Dipankar Talukdar, lawmakers Kujendra Lal Tripura and Basanti Chakma, Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam, IGP Benazir Ahmed, Rab Director General Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, DGFI Director General Major General Ahmed Tabrez Shams Chowdhury, were, among others, present at the rally.
The home minister said then Awami League government signed Chattogram Hill Tracts Peace Accord with Parbatya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samity(PCJSS) for permanent peace in the hill tracts. She always wants that peace prevails in the region.
Also read: Strict action against those who extort in my name: Home Minister
About the newly launched APBn offices, he said APBn is a part of the police and they will take action against the extortionists and terrorists besides stopping killing sand bloodshed in the hills.
“The government will take stern action against the extortionists and terrorists,” he warned.
James, Miles withdraw cases against Banglalink
Leading singer-musician James and renowned rock band Miles on Thursday withdrew the cases filed against mobile operator Banglalink and its four officials for allegedly breaching copyright laws.
The four accused are Erik Aas, chief executive officer of Banglalink Digital Communication Ltd, Nurul Alam, its chief compliance officer, Taimur Rahman, the chief corporate regulatory affairs officer, and Anik dhar, head of VAS.
Also read:4 Banglalink officials get bail in case filed by James
Judge KM Emrul Kayesh of Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court granted the withdrawal appeal of James and Hamin Ahmed of Miles, according to defendants’ lawyer Md Matiur Rahman.
During the hearing, Manam Ahmed of Miles told the court that the case was filed over "misunderstanding" and that they didn't want to pursue it anymore.
Four accused were also present in the court during the hearing.
On November 10 last year, Faruq Mahfuz Anam alias James appeared before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate KM Emrul Kayesh and filed a case against Banglalink under the country's copyright laws.
Also read: James sues Banglalink for “breaching” copyright law
Besides, Hamin Ahmed and Manam Ahmed of Miles band filed another case in the court against Banglalink and the officials over the issue.
According to the complaint, Banglalink used many songs of James and Miles band in its ringtones, welcome tunes and even advertisements without their permission from 2007-2021, which is a clear violation of Bangladesh's copyright laws.
Ramna Batamul carnage: Death row convict held in N’ganj
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has claimed to have nabbed a fugitive death row convict in the 2001 Ramna Batamul carnage case.
Mufti Abdul Hye, 57, former amir and founder of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami Bangladesh (HuJI-B), was apprehended during a drive in the Fatulla area of Narayanganj on Wednesday, Rab said on Thursday.
He was also a death row convict in a case filed over a murder attempt on Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Kotalipara in Gopalganj in 2000, according to Rab.
Tipped off, a Rab-2 team conducted the drive in the Fatulla area, said assistant SP (media wing) at Rab headquarters Imran Khan. "Abdul was wanted in as many as 13 criminal cases."
He was also sentenced to life in jail in the August 21 grenade attack case, and wanted in two separate cases of murder, including that of former Finance Minister SM Kibria.
Also read: Ramna Batamul carnage: Fugitive death row convict held in Kishoreganj
Arrest warrants were also issued against him in seven cases in Cumilla district.
Abdul had been absconding since 2006. Initially, he went into hiding in his parents-in-law's house in Cumilla district and worked as an assistant in his father-in-law's shop.
In 2009, he left Cumilla and moved into a rented accommodation in Narayanganj from where Rab detained him, said Imran.
On February 15, Rab detained Mufti Shafiqur Rahman alias Abdul Karim alias Shafiqul Islam, another fugitive death row convict in the Ramna Batamul carnage case.
A Dhaka court on June 23, 2014, sentenced eight militants to death for the 2001 Ramna Batamul bomb attack that claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 50 others during new year celebrations.
On August 20, 2017, the Speedy Trial Tribunal-2 in Dhaka sentenced 10 people to death in another case filed over the murder attempt on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Kotalipara in Gopalganj in 2000.
Police found a 76kg bomb near a shop adjacent to Sheikh Lutfur Rahman Government High School on July 20, 2000, where Hasina was supposed to address a rally on July 22.
Another 40kg bomb was also recovered by an Army bomb expert squad from near the Kotalipara helipad on July 23, 2000.
DIFE DIG caught red-handed by ACC
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday caught a high official of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments (DIFE) red-handed while taking bribe from a company in Dinajpur.
The detainee is Mostafizur Rahman, deputy inspector general of the DIFE Dinajpur region.
Also read:HC directs ACC to identify those involved in money laundering through e-commerce
Deputy Director of ACC Public Relations Office Muhammad Arif Sadeq told UNB that Mostafizur demanded Tk 80,000 as bribe from Ishan Agro Food of the district for the renewal of its license.
Being informed through ACC hotline 106, a team of the anti-graft body, led by Mohammad Moazzem Hossain and Ahsanul Kabir Palash, deputy directors, ACC, Dinajpur, caught him red-handed at noon while taking the bribe at his office, added Arif Sadeq.
Loan scam: 7 ex-Sonali Bank officials, 2 others get 17 years jail
A Dhaka court on Wednesday sentenced nine people including a former Managing Director of Sonali Bank to 17 years jail in a case filed over embezzling Tk 27.5 lakh from the state owned bank.
Judge Md Iqbal Hossain, Judge of Dhaka Special Judge Court -5 passed the order.
Also read:Sonali Bank writes off Tk 2,728 crore of Hall-Mark, 19 other defaulters
The convicts are—former Sonali Bank MD Humayun Kabir, deputy managing director (DMD) Mainul Haque, GM Noni Gopal Nath, DGMs Sheikh Altaf Hossain and Safiz Uddin Ahmed, AGMs Quamrul Hossain Khan and Saiful Hasan and Managing Director of Paragon Knit Composit Limited, Saiful Islam Raza and its director Abdullah Al Mamun.
Of them, Mainul, Safiz, Altaf, Quamrul Hossain were present during the judgment while the others tried in absentia.
The court sentenced the convicts ten years imprisonment on charge of embezzling the money and fined them Tk 27.50 lakh.
Besides, the court also sentenced them seven years jail on charge of fraudulence under another section of the relevant law.
The court also fined them Tk 50,000 each and they have to suffer three months more in rigorous imprisonment if they fail to five the fined money.
Also read:Fake freedom fighter's certificates scam: ACC sues Sonali Bank DGM
On January 1, 2013, deputy director of Anti-Corruption Commission Mujibur Rahman lodged a complaint against them with Ramna Model Police for embezzling Tk 27,50,681.
On May 22, 2014, ACC assistant Director Mashiur Rahman submitted a chargesheet against them after investigation.
The convicts were also accused in Hall-Mark Scam case.
Bangladeshi woman confined, tortured in KSA; Case filed
A 33-year-old Bangladeshi female migrant worker has allegedly been tortured by 'human traffickers' in Saudi Arabia since April.
Victim’s mother filed a complaint with the Anti-Human Trafficking Offence Tribunal in Barishal on Monday.
Read: Haji Salim moves SC seeking quashing of 10-year prison term
The accused are Lucky Begum, wife of Delwar Hossain of Palashpur Guchhgram in Barishal, her son Ajman, Kazi Atahar Hossain, director of Aziz & Recruiting Agency in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan, Anwar Hossain, office executive of the agency and four or five more anonymous people.
Tribunal judge Manjurul Hossain directed the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the matter, said Md. Kakon, the bench assistant of the court.
Earlier, the accused allegedly trafficked the woman to Saudi Arabia through Aziz & Recruiting Agency on April 4 this year promising a job with a handsome salary.
Read: Graft case: Ex-OC Pradeep’s wife sent to jail on surrender
The woman was sold there for unethical activities and held captive in a room in a city in Jeddah where she was physically assaulted.
On April 14, the victim called her mother and described her ordeals.
When the matter came to light, the relatives of the victim contacted the accused who demanded Tk 1,20,000 as ransom for her release.