Law-&-Order
Khulna: 10 suspected militants remanded in police custody for 5 days
A local court in Khulna on Tuesday remanded 10 suspected militants in police custody for five days.
Though investigators sought a week's remand, chief metropolitan magistrate gave the police five days for the custodial interrogation of the accused.
The accused are Anwar Kabir Milon alias Middat Hossain, Sohail Rana, Aminul, Kamrul Islam, Rifat Rahman, Abdur Rauf, Md Sheikh Farid, Abdul Alim, Md Rafiqul Islam and Talha Islam.
Read: Court accepts charges against expelled Jubo League leader Samrat
Earlier on March 18, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) raided an under-construction house belonging to a person named Alam Sheikh off BIDC Road in Khulna’s Khalishpur and arrested them, said Nimai Chandra, the investigating officer in the case.
Later, the 10 were booked under the Anti-Terrorism Act, he added.
Court accepts charges against expelled Jubo League leader Samrat
A Dhaka Court on Tuesday accepted the charges against expelled Jubo League leader Ismail Hossain Chowdhury Samrat in a graft case.
Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Kayesh accepted the chargesheet in the case in presence of Samrat and ordered the transfer of the case to Dhaka Special Judge's Court-6.
The court also fixed March 31 for hearing on charge framing and his bail petition.
Read: Court sets Jan 10 for framing charges against Samrat in graft case
Earlier in the morning, Samrat was taken to the court from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for different ailments.
On March 7, Samrat’s lawyer Ehsanul Haque Samaji appealed for his bail. The court then fixed today for hearing on charge framing and bail.
According to the case, Samrat was accused of acquiring assets worth Tk 2.94 crore beyond his known sources of income. A Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) filed the case against him on November 12 in 2019.
On November 26 last year, the investigation officer of the case, Jahangir Alam, submitted a charge sheet before the court.
Read: Court sets Nov 30 for framing charges against Samrat in arms, drug cases
On October 6 in 2019, Rab arrested Samrat and his associate Enamul Haque Arman from Chauddagram in Cumilla.
Rab later raided his Kakrail office on that day. A 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 and was sent to jail the same day.
58 held in anti-narcotics drive in city
Police have arrested 58 people on charges of selling and consuming drugs.
Police arrested them conducting anti-narcotics drives in different areas of the capital in 24 hours since 6:00 am on Monday.
During the drives, 2269 yaba pills, 34 grams of heroin, 17.878 kgs cannabis and seven bottles of contraband phensidyl syrup were recovered from the possessions of the arrestees.
Read: 4 members of Indian fake currency gang arrested by DMP
Sources at the DMP headquarters said, as part of regular anti-narcotics drive, local police stations and detectives separately carried out the special drives in the capital from 6 am on Monday to 6:00 am today (Tuesday) and arrested them.
Forty cases were filed against the arrestees under the Narcotics Control Act.
ACC sues Jessore Education Board ex-chairman, 9 others
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against ten officials of Jessore Education Board including its ex-chairman Molla Amir allegedly for misappropriating TK 1.20 crore.
The case was filed with Jessore co-ordinated office of ACC on Tuesday after investigation.
Deputy Director of ACC Public Relations Office Muhammad Arif Sadeq told UNB that assistant director Mahfuz Iqbal filed the case.
Read: ACC official Sharif’s termination: Writ petition filed seeking reinstatement in job
According to the case statement, they embezzled the money in in the name of purchasing computers, computer accessories and printers during 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018- 19.
The other accused are assistant secretary (Common Services) Jahangir Alam, security officer Monir Hossain, deputy assistant engineer Kamal Hossen, sports officer Asafudullah, audit officer Abdus Salam, accounts officer Mizanur Rahman, assistant secretary (common services) Ashrarful Islam, system analyst Sharif Salma Kohinur and accounts officer Jahanara Khatun.
Khulna gang rape: 2 more accused held
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Tuesday arrested two more accused in the case over the gang rape of a woman in Khulna city.
Rab-6 Director Lt. Col. Muhammad Mushtaq Ahmed said they arrested Sumon and Alamin Mollik, residents of Shiromoni area of Khulna, from Chitalmari in Bagerhat.
Read: Four tie up man in Khulna, rape wife
With these, five people have been arrested in connection with the incident.
On March 18, four men forcibly dragged a couple to a garage near the Tetultala railway crossing in Khanjahan Ali area of Khulna city around 10:30pm, where they tied up the husband with a rope and took turns to rape the 27-year-old woman.
Based on the woman's complaint, an FIR for gang-rape was lodged against the four men -- identified as Kamrul, Jibon, Sumon and Alamin -- at Khanjahan Ali police station on Saturday morning.
Police arrested Kamrul, the owner of the garage, on Saturday night.
Read: RAB detains 11 suspected militants in Khulna
On Monday, Sagar and Shakil were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the incident.
Based on their information, police arrested Sumon and Alamin today.
However, the prime accused Jibon is still on the run. “Efforts are on to arrest him,” said the official.
Gang of cyber cheats busted in Dhaka, 5 held
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Tuesday claimed to have busted a gang of cyber cheats with the arrest of its five members in Dhaka.
The arrestees have been identified as Md Golam Mostafa, 60, the gang leader, Md Jalal Bashar, 54, Md Muslim Uddin, 40, Md Minarul Islam Minni, 22, and Md Tareq Mridha, 21.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of Rab-3 conducted a drive in the city's Malibagh, Basabo, Shahjahanpur and Kotwali police station areas and arrested them on Monday.
Read: No progress in Tonu murder case yet in 6 yrs
During the drive, the elite force also seized two computers, 2,460 fake receipts of the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, 26 fake national identity cards, one laptop, one digital camera, 18 fake driving licences, one card printer, four pen drives, five cell phones and Tk 2,800 in cash from their possession.
The accused would lure potential targets on Facebook with the offer of getting them driving licences and national identity cards in a short time, the force said in a release.
Legal action will be taken against them, officials said.
No progress in Tonu murder case yet in 6 yrs
Six years into the murder of college student Sohagi Jahan Tonu police probe into the case has seen little progress with dejected family members losing hope for getting any justice.
Tonu, 19, a second-year history student of Cumilla Victoria College and a member of Victoria College Theatre, was found dead at Cumilla Mainamati Cantonment on March 20, 2016 after she went out for private tuition.
Her murder sparked a huge public outcry amid growing demand for identifying the killers and put them on trial.
Also read: One held over murder of schoolgirl ‘after rape’ in Magura
Forensic doctors at Cumilla Medical College Hospital conducted two autopsies on her body but their reports did not mention any clear cause of her death.
In May, 2016, CID told media that semen of three men were found in DNA test but the officials concerned declined to make any comment over further development.
Banaj Kumar Majumdar, Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), said “CID has done a lot as semen was found after testing DNA we will increase the number of suspected people and we are working focusing on the matter.”
Tonu’s mother Anwara Begum said “No one has come here and asked about Tonu. We are poor and we do not expect any judgment. We just pray to Allah.”
However, a doa mahfil was arranged at the local mosque marking the 6th death anniversary of Tonu and cooked food was distributed among the orphan children.
A disappointed Yaar Hossain, father of Tonu, said “Poor people are always deprived of justice.”
After the recovery of Tonu’s body, police suspected that she had been raped before the murder.
Tonu was buried at a grave at Mirzapur village in Muradnagar upazila on 21 March.
Also read: 9 to die in Naogaon for triple murder
On March 29, 2016, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) started investigation on the killing of the girl.
From March 25-27, 2017, the CID team interrogated Dhaka cantonment.
In 2020, the case was shifted to PBI. But no visible progress has been made yet.
4 to die for killing schoolboy in N’ganj
A Narayanganj court on Sunday sentenced four people to death and two others to life imprisonment for killing a schoolboy in 2013.
Narayanganj Additional District and Sessions Judge Court-2 Begum Sabina Yeasmin handed down the judgment.
Read: 9 to die in Naogaon for triple murder
The condemned convicts are Siraj, 45, son of Abdus Samad, Ahmed Ali, 55, Nahid, 21, son of Amanullah and Sentu Mia, 25.
The lifers are Salma, 42, son of Sirajul Islam Siraj and Husna, 47, wife of Ahmed.
The court also acquitted four accused from the murder charges as allegations brought against them could not be proved.
According to the prosecution, Ahmed Ali and his nephew Iqbal, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Singapore and son of Ismail Hossain of Char Radhanagar village in Fatulla area, had longstanding enmity with Iqbal.
Read:5 to die for killing farmer in Laxmipur
As a sequel to the enmity, Ahmed took Iqbal’s brother Emon Hossain, 13, a class VI student, where he killed the boy and dumped the body after cutting the body into nine pieces on June 13, 2013.
Later, police recovered the body of Emon and a complaint was lodged with Sadar Police Station.
After investigation, police submitted a chargesheet against ten people.
Hoseni Dalan blast case: Two sentenced to jail, six acquitted
The investigative officer of the 2015 Hoseni Dalan blast case has made a great mistake during the investigation and showed negligence on his part, said the court in its observation.
Inspector Shafiuddin and also the IO of the case had made a mistake and as a result, the mastermind of the blast case and attackers both remained out of the purview of the case, said the court.
Earlier in the day, a Dhaka special anti-terrorism court sentenced two men to seven and 10 years in jail, respectively, in the blast case.
Judge Mojibur Rahman of the Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal handed down the punishment to Arman alias Monir (10 years) and Kabir Hossain (seven years) in the case filed over the bomb blast at Hoseni Dalan during the Tajia procession preparations ahead of the holy Ashura in 2015.
Besides, the prosecution failed to prove the allegations brought against the six accused, who were acquitted from the case, Abu Syed and Rubel Islam Sumon alias Sajib, Chan Mia Omar Faruk alias Chan Mia, Hafez Ahsan Mahmud, Shahjalal Mia and Ahsanullah Mahmud. The IO indeed failed to provide any explanation against them in the chargesheet.
READ: Judgment in Hoseni Dalan blast case on March 15
Meanwhile, the IO made Chan Mia, Ahsan, Shahjalal Mia and Ahsanullah accused in the case without any concrete evidence. As a result, they have been going through mental and physical harassment during the trial proceedings.
Following the confessional statements of Kabir Hossain alias Rashed alias Arif and Arman alias Monir, the mastermind of the blast case is Albani and Noman.
Apart from it, the IO in his report said Hiron alias Kamal Al Bani alias Hujja and Abdullah alias Alauddin died in gunfight
The court also imposed a fine of TK 10,000 on each of the two, but acquitted six other accused in this case due to lack of evidence.
All the eight, including the two convicts, were members of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
On October 23, 2015, five members of JMB triggered a bomb blast at Hoseni Dalan that killed two people and injured hundred others.
A case was initially filed at the city’s Chawkbazar police station and later it was handed over to the Detective Branch (DB) for investigation.
In October, 2016, Md Shafiuddin Sheikh, inspector of DB (south), submitted a chargedheet in the case accusing 10 militants of the crime, after getting approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
On May 31, 2017, a court framed charges against the 10 accused and the official trial in the case began.
On May 14, 2018, the case was transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Special Tribunal where lawyers of two of the 10 accused claimed that they were minors and submitted supporting documents.
Later the court declared the two accused as minors and asked the investigating officer to submit a supplementary chargesheet mentioning them as under-age.
Their cases are currently under trial at the juvenile court.
Of the initial eight accused JMB members in the case -- Omar Faruq Manik, Hafiz Ahsan Ullah Mahmud, Sahjalal Mia, Chan Mia, Kabir, Rubel Islam alias Shajb, Abu Sayeed alias Solayman, and Arman -- three, including the convicts, gave confessional statements to the court.
The court also recorded statements of 31 witnesses in the case.
Crack down on syndicates of essential commodities, HC asks govt
The High Court on Tuesday directed the government to take immediate legal action against syndicates and hoarders of essential commodities.
A division bench of justices Farah Mahbub and SM Moniruzzaman asked the commerce secretary, the home affairs secretary and the Bangladesh Competition Commission to submit an action-taken report by April 26.
The court passed the order in the wake of a writ petition by three Supreme Court lawyers seeking directions to set up a monitoring cell to control soybean oil prices in the market.
The bench issued a rule questioning why a regulation will not be formulated following Section 21(1) of the Competition Act, 2012, to stop syndication of essential commodities.
The court also questioned why daily commodities like rice, pulse, oil, sugar, flour and onion should not be sold through ration shops, bringing those under Open Market Sale (OMS) policy.
Advocates Syed Mohidul Kabir and Syeda Nasrin represented the petitioner’s side while Deputy Attorney General Pratikar Chakma appeared for the state.
Read: Expedite Shahjalal Airport's extension work, PM directs authorities
Seven people and entities were made respondents to the rule, including the commerce secretary, the home affairs secretary and the Bangladesh Competition Commission.
On Monday, the court said that a nexus of individuals and groups are taking advantage of inactive machinery such as regulations, policies and regulatory and monitoring bodies of the government in controlling the prices of essential commodities.
“It’s not a one-day job to control or monitor the market, so we want the machinery to be active 365 days a year and effective steps are needed to activate them,” it said.
Earlier on March 6, Supreme Court lawyers Monir Hossain, Syed Mohidul Kabir and Mohammad Ullah filed the writ petition in public interest.
The secretary of the commerce ministry, the Consumer Rights Authority and others were made respondents to the petition.
Read: Stimulus for CMSMEs: BB asks banks to complete loans disbursement by June
On March 3, the three lawyers brought the issue of soybean oil price hike to the notice of HC following a report published in an English daily.
According to the report, a group of traders in Bangladesh has raised the soybean oil prices, taking advantage of the Russia-Ukraine war.
On March 2, the price of a litre of loose soybean oil was available at Tk 175 despite the fixed rate being Tk 143.