law-order
Chuadanga: Man gets life term for killing ex-wife's mother
A court in Chuadanga has sentenced a man to life in jail for killing his ex-wife's mother some eight years ago.
Chuadanga district judge Zia Haider on Tuesday handed down the punishment to Atiar Rahman, son of late Sher Ali Mandal of Jashore's Guatli village, and also sentenced four others to seven years in the case.
Read: Three held for killing 8-yr-old boy in Barishal
According to the case statement, Atiar married Josna Khatun, daughter of Abdul Quader of Azimpur School Para in Darshana municipal area of Damurhuda upazila. Later, they divorced.
In June 2014, Atiar, along with the four others, went to his ex-wife's house and tried to abduct her.
When Tahmina Khatun, her mother, resisted the kidnap attempt, the five hacked her with sharp weapons, leaving her seriously injured. She was rushed to Chuadanga Sadar hospital, where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
Read: HC grants anticipatory bail to four pro-BNP lawyers
On a complaint from the victim's husband, an FIR for murder was lodged against the five at Damurhuda police station. And on October 31, 2014, investigating officer Mizanur Rahman submitted a chargesheet in the court against the five.
4 get life term for 2008 deaths of two brothers in Sitakunda
A court has sentenced four people to life in prison in a case of beating to death of two brothers in Chattogram's Sitakunda.
At the same time, they have been fined Tk 20,000 each and additional 4 months non-payment imprisonment.
Chattogram Fifth Additional District and Sessions Judge Ashok Kumar Dutta passed the order on Tuesday
Confirming the order, Public Prosecutor (PP) Lokman Hossain Chowdhury said that the accused were Abul Kalam Azad, Badsha Alam, Faruk Mia and Md. Sekander of Baro Aulia area of Sitakunda upazila.
READ: Youth gets life term for raping Thakurgaon woman
According to court sources, on April 20, 2008, Harun and his cousin Zahidul were beaten to death inside a factory in Baro Aulia area of Sitakunda over establishing dominance and enmity.
Harun's father Mohammad Ali filed a case over the murder at Sitakunda police station.
On September 18 of that year, the police submitted a chargesheet against the four, to the speedy trial tribunal.
The four accused were present at the court when the verdict was announced, said PP Lokman.
Three held for killing 8-yr-old boy in Barishal
Three people have been arrested in connection with the murder of an eight-year-old boy in Barishal's Ujirpur upazila, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased was identified as Dipto Mandal, son of Dipak Mandal from Harta union. His body was found stuffed in a sack in a pond around 5.30am on Tuesday, four days after he went missing.
The arrestees have been identified as Ratan Biswas, his wife Eva, and Nayan Shil, said Ali Arshad, officer-in-charge of Ujirpur police station.
Read: 59-year-old woman 'ends life' in Rajshahi
The boy went missing from his house around 11pm on Friday. The next day, his father Dipak filed a missing person's complaint at the police station, the OC said.
“In the early hours of Tuesday, locals and his family members nabbed Ratan and Nayan suspecting their role in the boy's murder. The two have admitted to killing the boy and dumping his body in the pond," he added.
The body has been sent for post-mortem, he said.
HC grants anticipatory bail to four pro-BNP lawyers
The High Court on Monday granted six weeks’ anticipatory bail to four pro-BNP lawyers in a case filed over attacking pro-Awami League lawyers and vandalising the nameplate of Supreme Court Bar Association Secretary Abdun Noor.
It also directed two other pro-BNP lawyers accused in the case to surrender before the court.
An HC bench comprising Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice SM Mozibur Rahman passed the order taking the plea of the accused.
Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum Supreme Court unit general secretary and BNP’s national executive committee member Gazi Md Kamrul Islam Sajal, Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum Supreme Court unit assistant general secretary Rasel Ahmed, Supreme Court Bar Association executive member Kamrul Islam and Supreme Court Bar Association information and research affairs secretary Sagor Hossain were the ones granted anticipatory bail.
On the other hand, lawyers Abdul Kaiyum and Nure Alam Siddique have been ordered to surrender.
READ: HC directs UGC to find out about pvt unis' benefits for FF children, underprivileged
Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, AJ Mohammad Ali, Joynul Abedin, Mahbub Uddin Khokon, and Ruhul Kuddus Kajol stood for the accused while Deputy Attorney General Md Sarwar Hossain Bappy represented the state.
According to the case statement, pro-BNP and pro-Awami League lawyers locked in a clash over the post of secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association on May 18.
The following day, Rabiul Hasan, an administrative officer of the SCBA, filed a case with Shahbagh police station, mentioning six names.
HC directs UGC to find out about pvt unis' benefits for FF children, underprivileged
The High Court has asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) for information on the number of students at private universities availing benefits as offspring of freedom fighters, or stipends as poor or under-privileged since 2010.
Besides, the court also asked the UGC to report how much money has been allotted for research by the private universities since 2010.
UGC will have to submit the information to the High Court within the next 60 days.
The bench of Justice Md Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order with a rule on Monday.
In the rule, the court also wanted to know why the inaction of the government in implementation of a law to facilitate 6 percent of the student body at private universities from poor backgrounds should not be declared illegal.
Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua, counsel for writ petitioners the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said: "According to section 9(4) of the Private Universities Act, 6 percent seats should be reserved for the children of freedom fighters and meritorious students every year. According to section 9(6) of the law, a certain portion of the budget fixed by the University Grants Commission should be kept for research in the budget of private universities every year. These accounts must be sent to UCG. The UGC will later send the report to the ministry, and the ministry will send it to the parliamentary committee. They will take necessary action. We have tried to find out on behalf of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, and our investigation found that since 2010, no private university has met these requirements."
READ: HC orders probe on ‘disappearance’ of birth and death registration info
The education secretary and UGC chairman are among those made respondents of the rule and they have to explain to the court within the next four weeks.
The court has also fixed August 14 for the next hearing on the writ.
Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar stood for the state.
Architect Mubasshar Hussein, on behalf of CAB, filed the writ petition last week.
Overzealous woman in viral incident at Narsingdi station held for assault
A woman who assaulted a girl for wearing western attire in an incident last week at Narsingdi Railway Station has been detained from Shibpur upazila, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) announced on Monday.
The detainee was identified as Marzia Aktar alias Shila alias Shayla, a matchmaker of Narsingdi Sadar upazila.
Rab-11 Narsingdi Camp Commander Flight Lieutenant Touhidul Mobin Khan said they detained the woman from Shibpur upazila in the early hours of Monday.
Also read: Man held for assaulting girl wearing western attire at Narsingdi rail station
On Monday, a court sent the woman on remand for three days, said Ferdous Ahmed Biswas, officer-in-charge of Bhairab Railway Police Station.
On May 20, a three-member team from Narsingdi District Administration detained another man named Ismail Hossain, 25, after identifying him from CCTV footage of the incident, said ATM Musa, station master of the railway station.
On May 18, a woman at the Narsingdi Railway Station made distasteful comments at the young girl and two boys with her who were waiting at the station for a train.
The girl was wearing a crop-top and jeans and the boys were also wearing western outfits.
At one point the woman locked in an altercation with them and some local miscreants started beating the youths and harassed the girl, said the station master.
“The girl had to take shelter in the station master’s room to save herself. The matter was resolved later with my intervention,” said ATM Musa.
The matter sparked debate among netizens after video footage of the incident went viral on social media and several news media published reports on it.
14 bike lifters held in Magura
In separate drives police arrested 14 members of a bike-lifting gang from different areas in Magura district on Monday.
The arrestees are- Md. Nazmul Hasan Munna, 28, Md. Monirul Islam Majed Madhu ,23, Md. Shawkat Hossain,21, Jewel Rana ,24, Md. Tuhin Hossain ,22, Md. Ibrahim Hossain Shakil ,22, Md. Sagar Sikder ,22, Md. Enamul Hossain Tamim ,20, Md. Rabiul Islam Robi 23, Md. Rezaul Islam ,35, Shahidul Islam ,40, Md. Enamul Biswas 33,, Md. Salam Sheikh ,38, and Abul Bashar Mollah ,23.
Read: HC orders probe on ‘disappearance’ of birth and death registration info
Tipped off, police conducted the drives and arrested them from Doarpara, Batikadanga and Vaina Mor areas, said Additional Superintendent of Police Mohammad Kamrul Hasan in a press briefing on Monday afternoon.
The law enforcers also recovered 12 motorcycles from their possession during the drives, he said.
Read: JCD leader sues 33 BCL men for 'attempted murder'
During preliminary interrogation, they confessed that they have long been involved in stealing motorcycles.
The arrestees were sent to jail, the officer added.
HC orders probe on ‘disappearance’ of birth and death registration info
The High Court has directed the government to investigate the disappearance of a large amount of birth and death registration information from the database stored on the server.
A HC bench of Justice Mojibur Rahman Mia and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after hearing of a writ petition filed in the public interest on Sunday.
The HC also issued a rule questioning why the government’s inaction to prevent the difficulties faced by the people in obtaining birth and death certificates and non-investigation of the disappearance of a large numer of information from the relevant servers should not be declared illegal.
Also read: Stern action against harassment in issuing birth certificates: Minister
At the same time, the HC asked why the creation of a central database should not be directed as Rule-19 of Birth and Death Registration Act-2019.
The LGRD Secretary, the Registrar General of the Birth and Death Registration of LGRD, the Director General of the Planning-Monitoring, Evaluation and Inspection Office and the Joint Secretary of the Law Department of the ministry have been asked to submit the probe report responding to the rule in four weeks.
Lawyer Md Tanvir Ahmed appeared for the writ petition in the court while Deputy Attorney General Bipul Bagmar represented the state.
Md Tanvir submitted legal notice in this regard on April 4 attaching a report published in a national daily on March 12 entitled 'Citizens in Extreme suffering with birth registration certificate' and on February 4, 'Birth Certificate: Birth registration information of millions of people in Bangladesh not listed on server'.
The report stated that the birth registration law was enacted in 2004 and came into force in 2006. Birth registration certificate is mandatory for various important activities including passport issue, marriage registration, admission in educational institutions, obtaining driving license, land registration.
In the beginning handwritten certificates were given. Then at the end of 2010 an initiative was taken to digitalise it.
At that time the government also provided a separate allocation for computer training to the registrars concerned. But not all the information was digitised at that time, especially of the city corporations and densely populated areas, the report said.
Also read:Birth Registration in Bangladesh: Application Process, Essential Papers
According to another report, the Registrar General's Office in charge of registration of births and deaths in Bangladesh and officials of the Dhaka City Corporation say that millions of people who had previously obtained birth registration certificates now need to be re-registered online as their previous registrations have disappeared.
The birth registration of these individuals has not been updated online and it will no longer be possible to transfer old data to the new server. Authorities concerned are also struggling to cope with the large number of online birth registrations of a large number of school students.
Laxmipur UP Chairman Salim Khan can’t extract sand from Meghna: SC
The Appellate Division on Sunday canceled the High Court judgement allowing Laxmipur UP Chairman Md Selim Khan to extract sand from the Meghna River in Chandpur.
A three-member bench of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court (SC) headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order. Two other members of the bench are Justice Obaidul Hassan and Justice M Enayetur Rahim.
Following the order, Selim Khan will no longer be able to extract sand in 21 mouzas on the banks of the Meghna in Chandpur, said Attorney General AM Amin Uddin, the state's chief legal officer.
Deputy Attorney General Kazi Mainul Hasan appeared for the state in the court while senior lawyer Ajmalul Hossain QC for Selim Khan.
In 2015, Selim Khan filed a writ petition seeking directions for sand extraction after conducting a hydrographic survey in Meghna river at his own expense in 21 mouzas of Chandpur and Haimchar upazila. The writ was filed mentioning to activate a route for water transport.
The High Court issued a rule on July 9 of the same year on the primary hearing of the writ petition.
Also Read: Modern launch terminal to be constructed in Chandpur
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Later, on 5 April 2018, the High Court disposed of the rule delivering verdict saying that there is sufficient sand and soil in the river of those mouzas and there is no obstacle to extract it.
No response (affidavit) was submitted to the court on behalf of the respondents (Land Secretary, Shipping Secretary, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) chairman, Chandpur deputy commissioner and hydrography department director) so that the matter (having sand) seemed credible.
The verdict directed the defendants, including Chandpur deputy commissioner, to allow sand extraction of 86.30 cubic meters (30.46 crore cubic feet) from the Meghna river in 21 mouzas.
In March this year, the state filed a leave to appeal to the Appellate Division seeking stay of the High Court order regarding sand extraction in Maghna.
According to the state's leave to appeal, the High Court did not realize that the hydrographic survey report is not the sole basis for extracting sand from a river under the Balumahal and Soil Management Law.
According to the Balumahal and Soil Management Law, whether there is any damage to the environment, landslides, diversion of river or canal water, government establishments (such as bridges, culverts, roads, ferry terminals, markets, tea gardens, river dams, etc.) and residential areas or not, Deputy Commissioner will take the opinion of the authorities concerned.
Besides, the deputy commissioner can send a proposal to the divisional commissioner to cancel the balumahal if there is not enough extractable sand, or if there is any possibility of harm of nature and ecology for sand or soil extraction or important government establishment, or public interests.
Leave to Appeal further said that no assessment has been made from Chandpur deputy commissioner office regarding sand extraction from Chandpur shoals. Even the mouzas mentioned in the writ have not been declared as Balummahal by the Divisional Commissioner.
Hydrographic surveys are used to identify or map where the soil is at the bottom of a river in a modern way. Hydrographic survey is to be done first to extract sand from shoals.
And so, the HC order to allow the Selim Khan to extract sand is null and void.
On April 4, the hearing of Leave to Appeal was held in the Appellate Division Chamber Judge's Court. On the same day, the judge of the chamber judge shifted the state's appeal to the regular bench of the Appellate Division suspending the HC verdict.
JCD leader sues 33 BCL men for 'attempted murder'
Some 33 leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), including Central BCL vice-president Tilottama Sikder, have been sued on charges of theft and intended to commit murders.
Mansura Alam, a member of the convening committee of the Dhaka University Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), filed the case in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shanto Islam Mallik on Sunday.
Besides, 100 unnamed BCL leaders and activists have been accused in the case.
Also read: JCD have to repent for their statement to enter DU campus: Al Nahiyan Khan Joy
The court accepted the plaintiff's statement and directed the officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh police station to submit a report on June 26 after investigating the allegations in the case.
According to the case statement, the leaders and activists central committee of Bangladesh BCL and DU BCL attacked JCD leaders and activists with local weapons when they were carrying forward the scheduled rally in the university area, leaving 70-80 JCD leaders and activists injured.
Also read: Over 100 JCD leaders, activists injured in BCL’s attacks: Fakhrul
On May 22, Mansura Alam, JCD activists of Shahid Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall Atiq Murshed and several others were attacked by BCL leaders at the university’s TSC area, stated in the case.