United News of Bangladesh

The government has appointed Superintendents of Police (SPs) for 64 districts across the country through a lottery system ahead of the national election slated for the first half of February next year.   According to a gazette notification, signed by Md Mahbubur Rahman, deputy secretary at the Ministry of Home Affairs, was issued on Wednesday (November 26). Earlier in the day, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury said the SPs have been appointed through the lottery after categorising the districts into three considering the law-and-order issue.   Talking to reporters after a review meeting of the Annual Development Programme of the Ministry of Agriculture at Secretariat, he claimed that no meritorious officers have been left out during the SP postings. Bangladesh sees crime spike ahead of polls; police stress preparedness Responding to a question on the lottery system, the adviser said, “Yes, the news is correct. The lottery was conducted exactly as planned. We established three categories—A, B, and C—not based on district size but on the law and order situation.” After categorising districts, the adviser said, officers were assigned accordingly. “Out of a total of 64 SPs, 18 were reassigned, while others remained unchanged. The lottery then decided which officer would go to which district, based on luck,” he asserted. Asked if the same system would apply to officer-in-charge postings, he replied saying ‘Insha’Allah,’ emphasizing that primarily the most capable officers were selected. New police commissioner for Gazipur Met Police; new SPs in 6 districts

The High Court (HC) on Wednesday issued a contempt of court rule against nine people including the Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner (DC) and Superintendent of Police (SP) for failure to halt hills cutting. The HC asked the respondents why action will not be taken against them for not implementing its directions on the issue. A bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Iqbal Kabir passed the rule after hearing a writ petition. Nine respondents are Environment, Forest and Climate Change Affairs Secretary Farhina Ahmed, Department of Environment (DoE) Director General (DG) Abdul Hamid, Cox's Bazar DC Md Mamunur Rashid, SP Md Hasanuzzaman, Ukhiya Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Imran Hossain Sajib, Cox's Bazar Sadar UNO Mohammad Zakaria, Ukhiya Police Station Officer-in-Charge, Cox's Bazar Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge and Cox's Bazar DoE Assistant Director Md Saiful Ashraf. Read:HC forms expert committee to prevent plagiarism in PhD thesis Lawyers Manzil Morshed and Ripon Bare stood for the writ petitioner. Morshed said the High Court gave a verdict to preserve the hills and stop cutting them down and protect the environment on July 19, 2012, and directed the respondents to implement the verdict. However, defying the court order, houses and structures are being built in Cox's Bazar and Ukhiya by damaging hills. From this perspective, the court issued the rule.