Law-&-Order
US national held with 59 gold bars at Dhaka airport
Customs officials have detained a Bangladeshi-origin US national with some 59 gold bars at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.
The detainee has been identified as Shahnaj Chowdhury.
Also read: Man held with 12.5 kg gold in Jhenaidah
A preventive team of the Dhaka Customs detained her around 8.40am on Tuesday as she was about to board a flight to the US via Dubai.
Toriqul Islam, assistant revenue officer of Dhaka Customs, said that legal action will be taken against the detainee.
Also read: Man held with 56 gold bars at Shahjalal Airport
HC issues rule on extending ex- DIG Mizan’s sentence in bribery case
The High Court on Monday issued a rule questioning why sentence of suspended Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mizanur Rahman in a bribery case should not be extended.
HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Kazi Md Ezarul Haque Akunnd issued the rule during hearing on a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
Meanwhile, Appellate Division chamber Justice M Enayetur Rahim upheld the bail granted by the High Court to the ex-DIG in the case during hearing on the ACC’s appeal.
Senior advocate Khurshid Alam Khan represented the ACC while advocate Mahbub Shafik appeared for the accused.
Also read: HC grants bail to former DIG Mizan
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan said, “ Dhaka Special Judge Court sentenced him to three years imprisonment in the bribery case as per the Penal Code but he did not get punishment as per section 5 (2), of the ACC law. According to the ACC law he would get seven years Jail and we have appealed for extending the jail term.”
On February 23, Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 Sheikh Nazmul Alam sentenced Mizanur Rahman and suspended ACC director Khandaker Enamul Basir to three and eight years in jail, respectively in the case.
Later Mizan and Basir moved to the High Court against the order.
On April 13, HC granted two-month bail to Mizan against which ACC appealed to the appellate division.
The corruption case dates back to June 24, 2019, when ACC director Manjur Morshed lodged a complaint against the disgraced DIG, his wife Sohelia Anar Ratna, nephew sub-inspector Mahmudul Hasan and younger brother Mahbubur Rahman.
According to the case statement, Mizan accumulated wealth worth Tk 3.28 crore beyond his known sources of income. On the other hand, he had declared wealth worth Tk 3.7 crore in his tax statement.
Also read: Money laundering: HC to hear ACC’s appeal against ex-DIG Mizan’s acquittal
Then director of ACC, Basir, was made the investigating officer in the case.
During the probe, Mizan had accused Basir of demanding Tk 40 lakh as bribe for setting the case, prompting the Commission to appoint director Monjur Morshed as the investigating officer in the case.
At the same time, a three-member probe body was formed, led by ACC director Sheikh Mohammad Fanafillah, to look into the allegations of bribery.
On July 16, 2019, Fanafillah lodged a complaint against both Mizan and Basir. And on April 16, 2020, a Dhaka court indicted the two and directed the official beginning of the trial in the case.
Khulna police make 6 arrests after indigenous woman gangraped at home
A 22-year-old indigenous woman was allegedly raped by three people at Nalpara village in Koyra upazila of Khulna district on Monday.
Police arrested six people in connection with the incident.
Rabiul Hossain, officer-in-charge of Koyra Police Station, said three miscreants swooped into the woman's home on Sunday midnight and violated her.
Read: Man to die for killing wife over dowry in Pirojpur
The woman, a mother of a child, was alone at the house as her husband went out for work.
On information, police rescued the girl and arrested six people in this connection.
Man to die for killing wife over dowry in Pirojpur
A Pirojpur court on Monday sentenced a man to death for murdering his wife in 2012.
The convict was identified as Kamal Hawladar, 45, son of Rashid Hawladar of Mathbaria upazila.
Read: Raihan’s custodial death: Trial of ex-SI Akbar, 5 others from May 10
The court also fined him Tk one lakh and asked him to provide the money to the family members of the victim.
According to the prosecution, the convict strangulated his wife Shahinur Begum to death as she refused to provide dowry following his demand on July 22, 2012.
Shahinur’s maternal uncle lodged a complaint with Mathbaria Police.
Read: Facebook shopping scammers held in city
Police filed the murder case under Woman and Child Repression Prevention Act.
After examining records and witnesses, Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Mizanur Rahman handed down the verdict.
Raihan’s custodial death: Trial of ex-SI Akbar, 5 others from May 10
A Sylhet court on Sunday framed charges against six accused, including suspended SI Akbar Hossain Bhuiyan, in a case over Raihan Ahmed’s death at Bandarbazar police outpost.
Sylhet Metropolitan Session Judge Md Abdur Rahim framed the charges and fixed May 10 for starting the trial.
Earlier in the day, police produced five of the accused in the murder case, including then in-charge of Bandarbazar police outpost, the suspended SI Akbar Hossain Bhuiyan, before the court amid tight security.
Also read:Raihan murder: Court asks fugitive accused to surrender
Before today, charge framing in this case had been deferred several times.
On September 30 last year, the court accepted the chargesheet submitted by police against six people in the case.
The court also issued an arrest warrant against the sixth accused -- Abdullah Al Noman, who had allegedly helped Akbar flee the country, who remains absconding.
The other four accused in the case are sub-inspector Hasan Ali, assistant sub-inspector Ahshque Elahi, and constables Harunur Rashid and Titu Chandra Das of the Bandarbazar police outpost. They are all currently in judicial custody.
In May 2021, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) submitted the chargesheet in the case.
According to the chargesheet, Akbar, constables Harunur Rashid and Titu, and ASI Asheque were directly responsible for Raihan's custodial death.
On October 11 in 2020, the 34-year-old resident of Akharia in Sylhet city, was allegedly beaten to death in police custody.
His wife Tahmina Akter Tanni filed a complaint at the Kotwali police station the following day, following which an FIR was registered against unidentified people.
Four policemen, including then in-charge of the Bandarbazar police outpost Akbar, were suspended on October 12. The three other policemen were also withdrawn from the outpost the same day.
Later, the case was transferred to the PBI.
How Raihan died
Raihan called his mother from an unknown number and told her that police took him to the Bandarbazar outpost and demanded Tk 10,000 for his release, in the early hours of October 11, 2020.
Later that day, his uncle rushed to the police outpost with Tk 5,000 but the cops allegedly refused to accept the bribe and asked him to return after arranging Tk 10,000.
Raihan’s uncle then again went to the Bandarbazar police outpost with the money but was told that his nephew had fallen sick and was taken to a hospital at 6.40am.
When his uncle went to the hospital, he came to know that Raihan was dead and his body had been sent for post-mortem.
Also read: One year on, justice for Raihan’s death in custody still remains elusive
Turning down the allegations of custodial torture, police at first said that Raihan was caught by locals in the Kastghar area attempting a robbery and had been lynched.
However, the news of Raihan’s death triggered massive protests and locals blocked the Sylhet-Sunamganj Highway, demanding action against the accused cops.
Facebook shopping scammers held in city
Police have arrested four members of a fraud gang from the city’s Dhanmondi area, who were allegedly deceiving customers by selling them sub-standard products using Facebook.
The arrestees were Md Bappi Hasan, 24, Md Ariful alias Harisul, 19, Md Sohag Hossain, 22, Md Biplob Sheikh, 25, and Nur Mohammad, 28.
Also read: 6 fraud gang members involved in making 144 types of fake certificates held
Tipped off, an Organized Crime and Vehicle Theft Prevention Team under the Detective Brunch (Lalbagh Division) made the arrests conducting a drive in Shangkar in Dhanmondi area on Sunday, said Deputy Commissioner (DB-Lalbagh) Md Rajib Al Masud at a press briefing today.
During the drive, a large quantity of unusable and very low quality sarees, three pieces and various other clothing were seized from their possession.
During the primary interrogation, the arrestees confessed that they used to deliver sub-standard products to the customers after taking orders providing attractive advertisements of good quality products through their 17 online shopping pages on Facebook.
Also read:10 fraud gang members held for issuing fake driving licenses
A case was filed against the arrestees under Digital Security Act, the official added.
‘Arms trader’ held with firearms in Rajshahi
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in a drive arrested a suspected arms trader along with arms from Baliaghattra Kashimpur area of Godagari upazila in Rajshahi on Sunday night.
The arrestee is Robiul Islam, 25, son of Shariful Islam of Taherpur village in Chapainawabganj district.
Trial begins against Regent’s Shahed in ACC case
A Dhaka court on Sunday ordered the official beginning of trial against Regent Group chairman Mohammad Shahed after framing charges in a case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission over acquiring illegal assets.
Judge Mohmmad Nazrul Islam of Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-10, passed the order rejecting an appeal of the accused seeking acquittal from charges.
The court has fixed May 20 to hear the testimonies of the witnesses in this case, said advocate Mahmud Hossain Jahangir, lawyer representing ACC.
Also read: HC rejects Shahed’s bail application
Some of Shahed’s lawyers have sought bail in the case mentioning his long imprisonment and illness. They sought acquittal saying, "This case is false as Shahid does not possess this much wealth and he did not give any false information.”
Meanwhile the ACC lawyer said the appeal should be rejected as Shahed is a habitual offender.
The court also did not approve of the appeal to bring Shahed separately in a special vehicle during the hearings pressed by his lawyers, said ACC lawyer Mahmud Hossain Jahangir.
On March 1, 2021, ACC Deputy Director Farid Ahmed Patwary filed the case against Shahed for acquiring illegal assets worth Tk 1.69 crore.
On February 2, this year, ACC submitted a chargesheet in this case to the court.
On July 6, 2020, Rab raided the Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital. During the operation, fake Covid test reports, and various irregularities including collection of money from patients in the name of Covid treatment were unveiled.
The next day, a case was filed against 17 people at Uttara West Police Station.
Also read: Regent’s Shahed, 2 others indicted in fraud case
On July 15, from the border area of Satkhira, Regent Group and Regent Hospital Chairman Shahed was arrested by RAB. Shahed has been in jail since then.
In 2020, the court sentenced him to life imprisonment in an arms case.
More than 36 cases have been filed against Shahed on allegations of different irregularities.
JMB death row convict nabbed after absconding for years
An operational team of Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU), a specialized unit of Bangladesh Police, arrested a fugitive death row convict, a member of banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), from Nazipur area under Patnitla police station in Naogaon district.
The arrestee was identified as Md Sanwar Hossain aka Rauf, 44, son of late Ershad Ali of village Chhoto Chandpur of Nazipur under Patnitla police station in Naogaon district.
Also read: JMB man gets 5 yrs imprisonment in Chattogram
An operational team of the ATU came to know that Sanwar was hiding under the name of Abdullah in Chhota Chandpur area. Sanwar used to work as a mason as well as raising sheep there.
Based on the secret information, the ATU team conducted a raid at the village Chhoto Chandpur area on Saturday evening, and arrested Sanwar Hossain, a member of the Isaba Group (Military Wing), said Mohammad Aslam Khan, SP (Media & Awareness wing of the ATU).
Arrested Md. Sanwar Hossain became a member of the banned JMB after 2000 under the leadership of Shaikh Abdur Rahman. At that time, he was working as a homeopathic doctor and head of JMB in Nachol and Gomstapur, he said.
When Shaikh Abdur Rahman was hanged in Comilla Central Jail on March 29, 2007, Maulana Saidur Rahman became the Amir of the militant group. They later continued their activities amid their internal-conflict. Later, the self-proclaimed Amir of the JMB Salman was called to Khulshi Boria Ambagan area under Nachol police station where he was killed.
According to the information given by the arrested A. Shakur alias Shakur and Jahangir, Salman's decapitated head was recovered from the bank of the river Mahananda, said the SP (media & Awareness) wing of the ATU Aslam Khan.
Also read:2 suspected JMB militants held in Nilphamari
Arrested Sanwar Hossain had been working secretly for 10 years to activate the old JMB in different areas of Chapainawabganj and Naogaon. Two arrest warrants under anti-terrorism Act (death-convicted) were pending at Nachol police station in Chapainawabganj. Moreover, he was accused in another case filed with Gomstapur police station of Chapainawabganj.
It may be mentioned that on November 25, 2019, the Additional District and Sessions Judge of Chapainawabganj district sentenced three people, including arrested Sanwar, to death in the Salman murder case.
HC orders handing over of teen ‘confined by parents’ to Canadian govt
The High Court on Sunday ordered the authorities concerned to hand over the 19-year-old Canadian girl, who was allegedly confined to a house by her parents for over 10 months in the city’s Mugda area, to the representatives of the Canadian government.
The HC bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice SM Maniruzzaman passed the order following a writ petition.
High Court Registrar Md Golam Rabbani was asked to take the girl to the Canadian High Commission today (Sunday).
Also read: Stop DJ party at educational institutions in the name of Rag Day: HC
Barrister Sara Hossain appeared for the petitioner while Advocate Md Ajiullah for the girl’s parents.
According to the writ, the girl was born in Canada. She is a Canadian citizen by birth and studies at a university there. Her parents are also Canadian citizens who came to visit Bangladesh about 10 months ago along with their daughter. When the young girl tried to return to Canada they disagreed.
The girl’s parents and grandmother confined her to their home after taking away her cell phone set, reads the writ.
At one point, the young woman informed the Canadian government and the Canadian High Commission in Dhaka about her ‘house arrest’ using land phone. She also expressed her wish to return to Canada.
Later on February 9, a general diary was logged by the Canadian High Commission at Mugda police station in the capital.
Human rights organisations Bangladesh Legal Aid Services (BLAST) and Ain O Salish Kendra also filed a writ petition with the High Court on behalf of the High Commission.
The Inspector General (IG) of Police, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Officer-in-charge (OC) of Mugda Police Station and the parents of the girl were made respondents in the writ.
Following the hearing on the writ petition on April 5, the court directed Mugda police and her parents to produce the girl before the court.
At the same time, the court issued a rule seeking explanation as to why confining a 19-year-old girl to a house for 10 months should not be declared illegal.
According to the order, the parents along with the girl were present in the court on April 12.
Also read: HC questions temporary dismissal of govt employee accused in criminal case
On that day, the court asked the parents to provide the girl with computer, internet, mobile phone sent and other essential things.
The court also ruled that the young woman cannot be barred from going to Canada if she wants.
Later the Canadian High Commission said that the Canadian government will bear all the expenses, including her educational cost.
Barrister Sara Hossain, counsel for the petitioner, submitted the statement of the Canadian High Commission in this regard.