law-order
Digital Security Act to be amended: Law Minister
Law Minister Anisul Huq on Sunday made his most direct statement yet that some amendments will be made to the Digital Security Acts as part of steps to stop misuse of the law.
“The Digital Security Act has not been enacted to regulate freedom of expression or the media or it is not being used to do these. Several solutions have already been taken to prevent the misuse of the law. As part of these solutions, some amendments will be made to the Digital Security Act,” he said.
The minister made the remarks while speaking at a discussion meeting titled ‘Digital Security Law in Bangladesh and freedom of expression’ at Brac University of the city's Mohakhali area. UN Resident s Coordinating office in Bangladesh and Brac University organize the program.
The government had lengthy discussions with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Office on the DSA and received some inputs which are under review now, the minister added.
Read more: Misuse of DSA should end: Information Minister
"Women are often harassed online which needs to be addressed. The country, the government or any individual will not be allowed to be defamed through indiscriminate misuse of the digital space,” said Anisul Huq.
The minister also said “We need to protect our national interests and those who are targeted and vulnerable to digital attacks. That's why we need a DSA.”
So there is no question of repealing this law, the law minister said adding, “However, amendments to the law are being reviewed. It must be considered.”
Parliament Member Ahsan Adelur Rahman, BRAC University Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Syed Mahfuzul Aziz, Senior Journalist Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul, Professor Dr Kaderi Gayen, among others, spoke on the occasion.
Youth stabbed dead by friend in Kushtia
A 20-year-old man was stabbed to death allegedly by his friend in Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia on Saturday afternoon.
Md Tanjil Sheikh was son of Md Monirul Sheikh of Wasi village under Panty union of the upazila and a first year student of the HSC level at local Panty Degree College.
Police and locals said some college students including the victim were passing leisure time at the field of a local high school after their coaching in the afternoon.
Tanjil and another Imon alias Wabaida, also a resident of the same area, locked into an altercation over some matter, they said.
Imon allegedly stabbed Tanjil with a sharp knife after bringing it out from his pocket and left him critically injured.
He was rushed to Kushtia Sadar Hospital where physicians declared him dead upon arrival, said Md Mohsin Hossain, officer-in-charge of Kumarkhali police station.
Though the reason for the murder could not be known immediately, police were trying to nab the accused, the OC said.
However, a source said online games or pictures on Facebook might have led to the killing.
It may be mentioned, two were killed and 8 to 10 injured over gambling in Sadar upazila on Friday night.
Airhostess, musicians blamed for Noble’s drug addiction
Arrested singer Mainul Ahsan Noble’s former wife Salsabeel Mahmuda has alleged that an airhostess is to blame for his drug addiction.
She came up with the remark while replying to questions from journalists at the DB Office in the city’s Minto Road on Saturday.
The former wife said some musicians and an airhostess of international routes were involved in supplying drugs to Noble.
“They (accused) used to threaten me from different numbers whenever I raised voice over his addiction,” she said, but didn’t disclose names of anyone.
Noble used to return home after taking drugs and torture her, Salsabeel alleged, saying that police rescued her from their residence when Noble tortured her.
A general diary was lodged with Gulshan police station in this regard, she said.
“Today the DB called me and I lodged complaints to them orally, the DB informed me that they were taking care of the matter with importance,” Salsable said.
Earlier in the day, Indian reality show Sa Re GA Ma Pa-famed singer Noble was arrested by the DB.
DB Chief Harunur-Or-Rashid said Noble is an established singer and recently some allegations surfaced against him.
He (Noble) took money for performing at an event but never showed up and did not refund the money to the organisers of the 2016-SSC batch of Vedarganj Headquarters Pilot High School in Shariatpur recently, the DB officer.
A case was filed against him with Motijheel Police Station for cheating, as he took an advance of Tk 1.72 lakh but did not perform, Harunur said.
Neither had he surrendered before the court nor police in this case, he informed. Noble was arrested on charges of fraud.
Previously, the ex-wife Salsabeel Mahmud complained to the police and wrote on social media about the constant physical and emotional abuse, citing that he is an avid drug addict and his demeanour got drastically changed in recent years due to his addiction.
Noble won the 2nd runner-up position in the popular Indian TV reality show Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’s West Bengal edition on Zee Bangla in 2019 and received the "Viewer's Choice" award, winning hearts in both countries.
Cumilla Awami League leader slaughtered in broad daylight
An Awami League (AL) leader was slaughtered in broad daylight allegedly by his rival over previous enmity in Adarsha Sadar upazila of Cumilla after on Friday noon, said police.
Enamul Hoque was organizing secretary of the ward No.4 in Durgapur Uttar Union unit AL and son of Abdul Wadud of Alekhachar village of the same union.
Ahmed Niaz Pavel, joint secretary general of Sadar Upazila unit AL, said there had long been a dispute between him and some locals over land properties in the village.
Some people dragged him to a wall when he came out of a mosque after offering the Jummah prayer, he said.
The miscreants slaughtered him with sharp weapons in broad daylight and fled away leaving him critically injured, according to the leader.
Enamul was first rushed to Cumilla General Hospital and later shifted to Cumilla Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries around 3pm, he said.
Abdullah Al Mamun, an in-charge of Cumilla Cantonment Police Outpost, said Enamul was slaughtered and they were aware of the matter.
He said they were trying to identify the killers who have already left the area.
At least 20 wounded, 10 detained after police baton-charge BNP rally in Khulna
At least 30 people including police personnel were injured in a clash between the law enforcers and BNP supporters over holding a pre-scheduled rally of the party in front of Khulna Press Club in the city on Friday afternoon.
Shafiqul Islam Tuhin, member secretary of Khulna Metropolitan Unit BNP, claimed that at least 20 leaders and activists of their party were injured in the attack by the police.
Several party men including their leaders Mujibur Rahman and Jahidul Rahman also sustained bullet injuries, he said.
Moreover, 10 people were detained from the rally venue, he said, adding that the injured were admitted to several hospitals of the city.
The BNP leader alleged that police opened fire on them, charged batons and used teargas to spoil the rally without any provocation.
Party insiders said there was a scheduled rally in front of the Press Club on Friday afternoon to press home their 10-point demand including resignation of the government, stoppage of fake cases and mass arrest and protest of the government’s corruption among others.
The party men from different areas of the district and city started gathering at the venue at noon. A clash broke out when police obstructed a procession heading towards the rally venue, they said.
Md Tajul Islam, deputy commissioner (South) of Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP), said, “We were forced to use teargas when the BNP men threw brickbats targeting us without any excuse”.
He said they detained 10 BNP men from the spot and some cops were injured in the incident.
An additional number of the law enforcing agencies were deployed to avert any unexpected incident, he said, adding that the situation was now under their control.
Woman’s body recovered with hands, feet tied in Narayanganj: Police
Police on Friday recovered the body of a woman with her hands and feet tied at Siddhirganj of Narayanganj.
The body of Sharmin Akhter was recovered from the Jalkundi Taltala area on Friday morning.
Golam Mostafa, officer-in-charge of Siddhirganj police station, said, “This morning, locals found the woman's body lying in the sand field and informed the police. Later, the body was recovered from the spot and was sent to Sadar General Hospital morgue for an autopsy.”
Sharmin was returning home from an Orosh ceremony at a shrine in the area on Thursday night when she was attacked by miscreants. It is believed that the miscreants tied her hands and legs and strangled her to death for robbery or any other purpose and then left the body behind, according to relatives.
A police operation is underway to identify and arrest those involved in the murder. Legal action is also under process, added the OC.
17 including 4 women arrested for alleged fraud using mobile apps
Police arrested 17 suspected operatives including four women of a fraud gang involved with realising money from people through several mobile phone applications from different areas of Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj.
The arrestees are Md Mohiuddin Mahri, 31, Bani Saad Monihaj, 23, Md Sana Miah, 35, Md Latin, 43, Md Mehedhi Hasan, 23, Md Hasan Imam Proncy, 33, Md Belayet Hossain, 28, Md Maruf Ahmed, 27, Sabbir Hossain Loyin, 26, Shahabul Islam Nishu, 22, Faizul Islam, 24, Md Sohan Khan, 21, Abdul Wadud, 25, Iti Akter, 20, Sriti Shah Soumik, 21, Ayesha, 21 and Rubaya, 20.
According to a media release signed by Md Rafiqul Alam, an additional deputy commissioner (Media) of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP), police in association with Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU) arrested the 17 people from Dhaka and two other districts.
Initially the members of the fraud gang asked people to install a mobile phone application ‘Rapid Cash’ for taking a loan of Tk 30,000 and sent some money to the mobile phone user in cash, it said.
Later, the app users were asked to refund the money with a huge amount of interest, otherwise their naked pictures will be shared on social media including Facebook as they provided their pictures and relevant information from the NID card , it reads.
After being deceived by the gang, one Abul Ahsan lodged a case with the RMP’s Boalia police station in this regard on May 14.
Later, the police and the ATU arrested them from different areas of the country and recovered 11 laptops, 10 mobile phone sets, 5 pen drives and cash.
The suspects landed in jail following an order by a Rajshahi court on Thursday, the press release said.
Any plot to destabilise country must be stopped: IGP
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on Thursday said that any conspiracy to destabilise the country must be stopped.
He reaffirmed that the police have the necessary logistics, training and strong morale of the policemen to do so.
He also directed the field level police officers to perform their duties with transparency and accountability to provide services as per the expectations of the people.
Besides, he also gave instructions to be ready to face any challenge of law and order, which may come in the days to come.
The IGP gave the directives on Thursday while addressing on the last day of the two-day Police Headquarters Quarterly Conference at the Bangladesh Police Auditorium at Rajarbagh Police Lines in the capital.
The police chief said that during the election, the police will perform their duties under the Election Commission.
“The police will do whatever is necessary to maintain the law and order of the country. We are ready to foil any plot to worsen the law and order situation,” he said.
The IGP said that measures have to be taken so that no one can hamper the law and order situation in the country by spreading rumours. Besides, cyber monitoring have to be enhanced to prevent rumours, he said.
The IGP said that the welfare of the force should be ensured. Discipline cannot be compromised while looking after the welfare of the force, he added.
Mentioning that Bangladesh Police will not bear the responsibility of deviant behaviour of any policeman, he said, our position is 'zero tolerance' against corruption, involvement with drugs and moral lapse of any policemen.
He called upon the field level police officers to discharge their duties maintaining good relations with other services and forces keeping honour and dignity of Bangladesh Police.
Senior officers of the Police Headquarters and heads of various police units also attended the conference.
204 gold bars worth Tk25 crore seized from Biman flight
Preventive team of Dhaka Custom House (DCH) seized 204 gold bars worth around Tk 25 crore from inside a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) on Thursday.
Sources at the HSIA said, an aircraft of Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight No- BG 122 from Muscat via Chattogram landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 11:30 am.
Based on secret information, the preventive team of the DCH conducted a drive after passengers came out from the flight. During the drive, the customs officers seized 204 gold bars weighing around 23.66 kilograms abandoned from the cargo hole of the aircraft, said Deputy Commissioner (Preventive) of the DCH Mokaddis Hossain.
Present market value of the seized gold is around Tk 25 crore.
Legal notice sent to Bidyanondo Foundation seeking clarification on donation: Lawyer
A woman has sent a legal notice to Kishore Kumar Das, chairman of the Bidyananda Foundation, seeking information on how her donation to the foundation was spent.
Supreme Court lawyer Md Haider Tanviruzzaman said on Wednesday that the notice was issued on Tuesday on behalf of Sabiha Rahman Nitu, who had donated to the charitable organisation.
Through the legal notice, the donor has asked the foundation to provide information on how the donated money was spent within 30 days.
Otherwise, legal recourse will be taken, the notice states.
According to the legal notice, the donor gave Tk 40,500 to the foundation in three phases through banks and bKash to contribute to social work.
However, various allegations against Bidyanondo Foundation -- including financial irregularities and improper use of donation funds -- have been circulating in different newspapers and on social media.
According to the notice, although the audit report made clear the scope of all expenses, the donor did not get information about the money she donated in the audit. And there was no satisfactory response from the foundation despite repeated requests regarding the matter.
Bidyanondo Foundation, which is known for distributing food to thousands of underprivileged people under the 'Ek Takay Ahar' project, started its journey in 2013.
Following the Bongobazar fire last month, the foundation announced to stand by the traders by making and selling products -- made with the burnt clothes recovered from the fire -- including children's clothes and jewellery.
However, a Facebook post containing collage photos of various products -- that the organisation claimed have been made from burnt clothes recovered from the Bongobazar fire -- sparked a criticism on the internet. People took to social media accusing the foundation of promoting another woman entrepreneur’s work as its own.
The foundation’s chairman Kishore Kumar Das, however, denied the allegations.
“An attempt was made to make these jewellery after seeing some pictures of some jewellery made by a woman entrepreneur,” he said. “However, while publishing the collage picture on Bidyananda's Facebook page, photos of some jewellery made by the woman entrepreneur were also published,” he said.
Following the criticism, the foundation removed the post from its official Facebook page and issued an apology.