law-order
HC seeks postmortem report and details of RAB members involved in Sultana's death in Naogaon
The High Court on Monday summoned the police report and postmortem report on the death of a union land office employee— Sultana Jasmine— in RAB custody in Naogaon district.
The court also sought details of Rab personnel who arrested and interrogated Sultana.
Concerned government officials have been asked to produce these reports before the court by tomorrow.
The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ahmed Sohel made the orders after taking newspaper reports into account regarding the issue.
Advocate Manoj Kumar Bhowmik presented the reports published in various news outlets before the court. After that, the High Court asked Assistant Attorney General Abul Kalam Khan Daud to find out whether there was any case involving the death.
After 15 minutes, the state lawyer told the court that no case has been filed so far.Earlier, an employee of a union land office died in the custody of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) being allegedly tortured by the elite force on Friday morning.The deceased was identified as Sultana Jesmine, 45, office assistant at the Chandipur union land office of Naogaon Sadar upazila.The victim was detained from Muktirmor area of Naogaon city on Wednesday morning and died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital on Friday morning.However, the elite force denied the allegation of torture. They claimed that the victim was arrested for interrogation as there was an accusation of fraudulence against her.
Shahed Hossain Saikat, son of Sultana Jesmine, alleged that his mother was a victim of conspiracy. “She was tortured while in RAB custody which led to her death.”
Naogaon municipality’s former councilor and Sultana's uncle Nazmul Haque Mantu told journalists that Sultana was arrested by a group of people wearing RAB uniform on Wednesday morning from Muktirmor area.“After 12pm, we came to know that Sultana had been under treatment at Naogaon Hospital. We rushed and found RAB people there. My niece was unable to speak that time”, said Nazmul Haque Mantu.Rajshahi RAB-5 Company Commander Major Nazmus Sakib said they got an allegation of fraud against Sultana and arrested her for interrogation, finding evidence of an unusual transaction in her bank statement.“She fell sick immediately after the detention and was rushed to Nagaon Sadar Hospital. After primary treatment she was moved to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where she died of stroke on Friday morning”, said the RAB officer.The body was handed over to her family on Saturday after completing all legal procedures, he added.
Man arrested for alleged fraud involving Beximco’s TK46 crore meant for solar schemes
A man was arrested on charge of embezzling crores of taka from Beximco in Panchagarh.
Detective Branch (DB) of police arrested him from Satmera Union of Sadar upazila on Thursday evening, Abu Sayeed Chowdhury, officer-in-charge of Tentulia police station, said on Saturday.
The accused is Harun-ur Rashid Pradhan, son of late Gafur Uddin Pradhan of Satmera Basamor area of Devnagar union of Tentulia upazila of the district. He was on the run since two cases were filed against him and 10 others in November 2022. He is known to be a local leader of ruling Awami League.
According to case details, Beximco Group took an initiative to set up two solar power plants with a capacity of 30 megawatts and 50 megawatts in Tentulia of Panchagarh under the leadership of Osman Kaiser Chowdhury, the director of the company.
Accused Harun was primarily appointed by the company to oversee the land acquisition process for the projects.
Three years have passed since then, but the accused didn’t complete the task and instead submitted some fake and forged documents of land acquisition.
Embezzling Tk 46.35 crore from the company, Harun Pradhan and his cohorts went into hiding soon after that, according to the case details.
Later, Al Mamun, deputy manager of Beximco Power Company Limited, filed cases against 11 people including Rashid Pradhan on November 14, 2022, at Dhanmondi Model police Station under one of the two projects.
Meanwhile, since the financial investment of about Tk1000 crore for the 2nd project is coming from abroad, due to international legal complications and to protect the image of Bangladesh to the international investors, it was not possible to file any kind of lawsuit directly in the name of the project.
But Beximco is planning to file a separate case for foreign projects.
A case of embezzling Tk1.5 crore has already been filed at the individual level.
A total of 191 cases are being processed against some individuals and institutions involved in the fraudulence.
"Efforts are on to arrest the other accused," added the OC.
BNP leader held for 'derogatory' remarks on Bangabandhu, his mother
A former BNP leader was detained by the Detective Branch (DB) of Narayanganj District Police on Friday for allegedly making derogatory remarks on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his mother Sayera Khatun in a video that went viral on Facebook.
Kazi Rubayet Hasan Sayem, former co-organising secretary of Narayanganj City BNP, was detained on Friday night from Paikpara Nayapara area in Narayanganj, DB Inspector Al-Mamun said on Saturday evening.
Sayem had long been active in BNP politics. Now he is inactive in politics as he does not hold any post in the party.
Inspector Al-Mamun said a video of Sayem went viral on social media where he was seen drinking and making offensive comments about Bangabandhu and his mother.
"Legal action will be taken as per the law," he added.
Police arrest 3 suspected drug dealers at Turag
Police arrested three alleged drug dealers in connection with stabbing a Police Sub-Inspector (SI) of Turag police station on Friday night.
They were identified as Abdur Rauf, Md. Raju and Md. Farooq Mia alias Tulu.
Briefing reporters at Turagh thana bhaban on Saturday, Deputy Commissioner (Uttara Division) of DMP Mohammad Morshed Alam said that on Friday SI Md Shahinur Rahman Khan of Turag police station had a secret information that some drug dealers were buying and selling drugs on the roof of a house in Tekpara area of Fulbaria under Turag police station.
Based on the information, SI Md Shahinur Rahman Khan along with his team members went to the spot at around 7:05 pm. Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, the drug dealers ran away, but Abdur Rauf failed and he was hiding behind the water tank on the roof. At one stage, he came out from behind the water tank and stabbed SI Shahinur in his chest with a sharp knife and ran away.
SI Shahinur was first rushed to Kurmitola General Hospital on an emergency basis and then shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for better treatment.
The DC (Uttara Division) also said that three drug dealers involved in the incident, Abdur Rauf, Md. Raju and Md. Farooq Mia alias Tulu, were arrested from the area conducting raids after the incident.
He said that the arrested trio and other fugitive accused are professional drug dealers. They used to collect drugs from border areas of the country and sell them in different parts of Dhaka city including Turag area. There are several drug-related cases against the arrested in different police stations in the country.
IGP defends arrest of 53 BNP members at Banani Club as lawful
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on Saturday said police followed the law of the land in arresting leaders and activists of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The IGP said this while replying to a question on whether the recent arrest of BNP leaders and activists under the Anti-Terrorism Act without any warrant has been lawful.
He was talking to journalists after attending a function organized at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital.
Police are doing everything according to the law of Bangladesh, he added.
When asked what type of terrorist work the BNP activists had done in Banani, the IGP said, “You will understand it if you see the FIR (First Information Report) of the case. However, the matter will be investigated. After investigation we will take steps.”
BNP has claimed that the arrest was made in order to harass and obstruct the opposition party.
When asked about this, the police chief said that it is not like that, everything will be clear after seeing the copy of the case.
Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested 53 BNP leaders and activists while holding a meeting at Banani Club in the capital on the night of March 19.
Read more: BNP urges DMP not to arrest its leaders, activists without any warrant
Police said the arrested BNP members were planning anti-state activities while sitting in Banani Club. The police arrested them after receiving the news. Later, the police filed a case against the 53 people at Banani police station under the Anti-Terrorism Act and sent them to court.
When his attention was drawn to Rabiul Islam alias Aram Khan, the fugitive accused in the murder of police inspector Mamun Imran Khan, the IGP said that a red notice has been issued against him by Interpol. Liaison with Interpol and Dubai Police continues. Based on the information provided by the Bangladesh Police, Interpol has issued a red notice against Rabiul, he said.
Asked if there is any obstacle to bring Aarav Khan back to Bangladesh as he went to Dubai using an Indian passport, the IGP said we are working on it.
He said he has no information about Arab’s arrest or detention in Dubai.
1 arrested with 7 gold bars in Chuadanga
Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested a man along with seven gold bars from Jibannagar upazila of Chuadanga district on Saturday.
The arrestee is Jewel Hossain, 38, son of Abdul Khaleq of Darshana Dakshinchandpur village under Damurhuda upazila.
Lieutenant Colonel Masud Parvez Rana, director of the BGB-58 in Maheshpur, said a team of Natunpara Border Outpost (BOP) took position in the area tipped-off that a consignment of gold would be smuggled to India through border in Mollabari Morr in Jibannagar upazila.
Jewel was arrested on suspicion and later seven gold bars weighing 829.27 grams were recovered from his possession after checking, he said.
The gold was deposited to the treasury office while a case was also filed in this connection, the BGB officer added.
27 fishermen arrested in Chandpur for violating ban on catching Hilsa
River police arrested 27 fishermen on Friday for violating a two-month government ban on catching Hilsa in the Padma-Meghna river sanctuary area of Chandpur.
The arrested fishermen were from Shariatpur, Chandpur Sadar, Matlab Uttar and Munshiganj upazilas.
Among the arrestees, 24 were sentenced to one month's imprisonment, said Md Kamruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Chandpur River Police Station.
Three fishermen were released to the care of their families as they were minors.
During the drive, the law enforcers seized about 5 lakh meters of current nets, 8 fishing boats, and 39 kg of ‘Jatka’ from the fishermen.
Read: 74 arrested in DMP’s anti-narcotics drive
The seized Jatka were distributed among the local poor and orphans.
The government imposed a two-month ban on catching jatka to increase the production of hilsa in the Padma-Meghna sanctuary under Chandpur, Shariatpur, Lakshmipur, Barishal, and Bhola districts.
Seventy kilometers of the sanctuary of Meghna in Sadar, Haimchar, Matlab North, and Matlab South upazilas of the Chandpur district are also under restriction.
Those who violate the ban are subjected to a maximum of two years imprisonment, a fine of Tk 5,000, or both.
74 arrested in DMP’s anti-narcotics drive
During an anti-drug operation in different areas of the capital over the last 24 hours, members of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police and the Detective Branch (DB) arrested 74 people for alleged selling and consuming drugs.
The DMP conducted the routine anti-narcotics drive, which began at 6:00 am on Thursday, and recovered 12,769 pieces of yaba pills, 38.250 kg hemp, 150 grams of heroin, 843 bottles of phensidyl, and 12 pieces of narcotic injections from the arrestees.
A total of 50 cases were filed with local police stations under the Narcotics Control Act against the arrestees, police said on Friday.
Probe committee formed to look into bus-train collision in Malibagh
A probe committee was formed on Thursday to investigate the train-bus collision at the Malibagh rail crossing in Dhaka.
Assistant Transport Officer of Bangladesh Railways, Aminul Islam, is the head of the committee.
Other members are Assistant Engineer (Dhaka) AK Anwar Hossain, Assistant (Signal) Engineer (Dhaka-1) Ashikur Rahman, Assistant Command Feroz Alam, and Assistant Mechanical Engineer Md Ezharul Islam.
On Wednesday evening, Panchgar-bound Drutojan Express hit a bus of Shohagh Paribahan at Malibagh rail-crossing, snapping the rail communication between Dhaka and the rest of the country.
According to witnesses, the gatemen forgot to close a gate at Malibagh rail crossing, causing the accident as the bus was already on the railtrack. The train eventually hit the bus from behind. However, the train was running at a slow pace during the collision.
No one was injured in the collision as there were no passengers on the bus at the time, railway police’s assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Aminul Islam said.
Customs seizes huge consignments of liquor from Ctg port
The customs department seized a large consignment of foreign liquor from Chittagong Seaport on Thursday as the goods were imported under a false declaration.
Chattogram Customs House seized the container loaded with 16,840 litres of foreign liquor during a special drive, said Nizam Uddin, Audit Investigation and Research (AIR) Unit Revenue Officer of the customs house.