A Dhaka court on Thursday imposed a travel ban on former Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed and his wife Dilshad Nahar Kakoli. Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Ash Shams Joglul Hossain passed the order following a petition filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). ACC's Deputy Director, Zakaria, submitted the petition requesting the travel ban with prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir representing the commission during the hearing. General Aziz is under investigation for allegations of abusing his power, engaging in irregularities, and amassing illegal wealth in his name and in the names of his family members. He is also accused of laundering money through various banks and informal channels to different countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, and Dubai. Read: EC cancels 4 NIDs of ex-army chief Aziz Ahmed's two brothers On September 5, the ACC launched probe into the former army chief as it  found initial evidence regarding his involvement in wealth accumulation at home and abroad by abusing his power. There are accusations against him that he purchased houses and flats in various places, including the capital through corruption, unethical practices, and various irregularities through the misuse of power.

The government has issued a travel ban on Tapashee Tabassum Urmi, an officer on special duty (OSD) (assistant secretary) of the Ministry of Public Administration and suspended assistant commissioner of Lalmonirhat district administration. The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification in this regard on Monday. Urmi was suspended following her controversial remark regarding the interim government on Facebook and process is underway to take departmental action against her. Earlier, on October 9, a defamation and treason case was filed against Urmi in Lalmonirhat by Tahiatul Habib Mridul, a representative of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. On October 7, she was suspended following her controversial remark. In a Facebook post, Urmi wrote, “The chief adviser of the interim government which has no constitutional base said a push has been made on the reset button, history got erased. He has removed all histories of the county by clicking the reset button. Is it too easy! your (Yunus) countdown has started, Sir.”

Usually vibrant with tourists during public holidays, the popular tourist destinations in the three hill districts now wear a desolate look after a recent directive by the authorities discouraging people from visiting the region. Tourism businesses in Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari are set to suffer huge losses as all bookings have been cancelled due to the restriction. District administrations asked people not to visit the hill districts from October 8 to31 citing “unavoidable reasons”, including safety concerns and the impact of recent natural disasters. Rangamati Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Khan said the decision was made to ensure the safety of tourists, with hopes that the situation will normalise by the end of the month. “We have urged tourists not to visit Rangamati during this period. Later, travel can resume as usual,” he said. The travel restriction came at a particularly difficult time for the tourism sector. Hotel and resort operators had received advanced bookings for the Durga Puja holiday, the biggest religious festival of Hindus. Read: Government announces programs to mark World Tourism Day tomorrow However, he is optimistic that easing the restrictions could help the tourism sector recover from this crisis. “We are facing a major crisis,” said Ramzan Ali, a leaseholder at the boat dock operated by the Rangamati Parjatan Corporation. “The scenic Hanging Bridge was submerged due to recent rains and floods, and now we have this travel ban. We don't know how we will survive.” Md. Sultan, manager of Hotel Square Park, echoed similar concerns saying, “All the bookings have been canceled, and our hotels are empty. Normally, we are fully booked at this time of year,” he said. Local tourism associations have expressed deep concern over the economic impact of the travel ban. Ten organizations, including the Rangamati Resort Owners’ Association, the Houseboat Owners’ Association, and the Residential Hotel Owners’ Association, submitted a memorandum to the district administration calling for the government to lift the ban immediately. “We are facing severe uncertainty regarding our livelihoods. The ban sends a highly negative message to tourists and threatens to push the developing tourism sector in these regions to the brink of collapse,” they said in the memorandum. Read more: Sunamganj tourism suffers Tk 50 crore loss amid floods and ongoing situation Ten organizations, including the Rangamati Resort Owners’ Association, the Houseboat Owners’ Association, and the Hotel Owners’ Association, submitted a memorandum to the district administration calling for the government to lift the ban immediately. “We are facing severe uncertainty regarding our livelihoods. The ban sends a highly negative message to tourists and threatens to push the developing tourism sector in these regions to the brink of collapse,” they said in the memorandum. Adviser to Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Affairs Supradip Chakma recently said the ban would be lifted soon. “We are in talks with the Home Affairs adviser, and a decision will be announced shortly,” he said.

A  Dhaka court has issued a travel ban on Saiful Alam, the owner of S Alam Group, his wife Farzana Parveen and 11 family members. Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Mohammad Zoglul Hossain passed the order in response to a petition from Anti-Corruption Commission’s Public Prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam on Monday. Travel ban imposed on former NSI DG, his wife In addition to Saiful Alam and his wife, those barred from leaving the country include his sons Ashraful Alam and Ahsanul Alam, brothers Morshedul Alam, Shahidul Alam, Rashedul Alam, Abdus Samad, Osman Gani, and Mohammad Abdullah Hasan, Abdus Samad’s wife Shahana Ferdous, Osman Gani’s wife Farzana Begum, and an unidentified man, Miskat Ahmed.

A Dhaka court on Thursday issued a travel ban on former head of the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit of Bangladesh Bank ( BFIU) Masud Biswas. The commission decided to initiate investigation on September 26 and formed four committees to probbe alleged corruption of former BFIU chief Masud Biswas According to the ACC's primary investigations, Biswas allegedly amassed huge wealth within a short time. He adopted unfair means regarding the aircraft purchase of Sky Capital Airlines Limited, according to the primary investigation. Read: Travel ban imposed on former fisheries minister SM Rezaul Karim By taking a bribe from the company,Biswas concluded an investigation of the company without sending a report to the law enforcement agency. Biswas also approved a report as a general monitoring report instead of an intelligence report under the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. The report was related to the embezzlement of Tk 50 billion by NRB Commercial Bank Chairman Tamal Parvez. Read more: Travel ban imposed on 8 former AL ministers, 6 MPs As an accomplice of Saiful Alam Masud, chairman of S Alam Group, the ex-BFIU officialsiphoned off billions of taka taking loans from Islami Bank.

A Dhaka court today imposed a travel ban on Md Matiur Rahman, the recently removed president of the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) Customs, Excise, and VAT Appellate Tribunal, along with his wife Laila Kaniz and son Mushfiqur Rahman Ifat, over allegations of amassing illegal wealth. Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Mohammad As-Shams Jaglul Hossain issued the order following a petition, according to Aminul Islam, assistant director (prosecution-general) of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Lawyer Mir Ahammad Ali Salam represented the ACC during the hearing. Read more: Matiur removed from NBR post after goat purchase scandal On Sunday, Matiur was transferred to the Internal Resources Division of the Ministry of Finance from his NBR position amid widespread criticism and social media uproar over his son’s purchase of a goat worth Tk 15 lakh before Eid-ul-Azha. He also lost his post as a director at state-owned Sonali Bank PLC. Allegations of amassing illegal wealth surfaced after a video went viral showing Matiur’s son buying a goat for Tk 15 lakh. Matiur has since faced severe criticism over claims of acquiring illegal wealth amounting to thousands of crores in Bangladesh, with alleged investments in Singapore, the United States, Canada, and the UAE. On Sunday, the ACC also formed a three-member body to investigate these allegations. Read more: Goat Affair: Govt directive bars Matiur from participating in Sonali Bank board meeting

Bandarban district administration has further extended the temporary ban on tourism in Ruma and Rowangchhari upazilas till November 20 as part of high security measures. A public notice in this regard was issued from Bandarban Deputy Commissioner’s office on Wednesday upon receiving a letter from Bandarban Cantonment. Meanwhile, the travel ban on Thanchi upazila has been lifted, it added. Read more: Bandarban: Ban on tourism in 3 upazilas extended till Nov 16 Taking into consideration the safety of tourists, the travel ban on domestic and foreign tourists has been extended in the two upazilas, said the notice signed by Yasmin Parvin Tibriji, Bandarban Deputy Commissioner. This is the seventh time that such restriction has been extended for the safety of tourists amid anti-militancy drive in the district's remote forested areas. On November 12, the ban on tourism in the three upazilas was extended till today. On November 8, the restriction was lifted from Alikadam upazila. Read more: Tourists leaving Bandarban amid security drive to remove suspected militants, criminals The administration imposed the temporary restriction on visitors in Ruma and Rowangchhari upazilas on October 18. Later on October 23, the local administration discouraged tourists from traveling to Thanchi and Alikadam upazilas due to the same reason. From October 10, law enforcement agencies started a joint drive against the underground extremists and criminals in the district.

Saudi Arabia has banned its citizens from travelling to 16 countries following the re-outbreak of COVID-19. These include Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, India, Yemen, Somalia, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Libya, Indonesia, Vietnam, Armenia, Belarus and Venezuela, reports Gulf News. Also read: Saudi raises number of hajj pilgrims this year The ban comes following a steady increase in the number of daily COVID-19 infections over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has ensured the public that it has not detected any cases of monkeypox in Saudi Arabia yet, Al Arabiya reported. Dr. Abdullah Asiri, deputy minister of health for preventive health, said that the Kingdom’s health sector is capable of monitoring and discovering suspected cases of “monkeypox” and to combat infection. He said, “There is a standard definition of suspected cases and the way to confirm them and monitoring and diagnosis methods are available in the laboratories of the Kingdom.” Also read: Saudi Arabia says it's not responsible for high oil prices “Until now, cases of transmission between humans are very limited, and therefore the possibility of any outbreaks occurring from it, even in countries that have detected cases, are very low,” he added. The World Health Organization said about 80 cases of monkeypox have been confirmed in 11 countries, warning that more cases are likely to be reported.

The Chief Justice has ordered the judges of the lower courts of the country not to apply for foreign travel unless any emergency. A notification, signed by Bazlur Rahman, the registrar general of the Supreme Court, was issued in this regard on Thursday. Read: Govt bars officials from overseas travel until further notice  

Britain has imposed a travel ban and asset freezes on seven more wealthy Russians, including Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Premier League soccer club Chelsea. The government said Thursday that Abramovich’s assets are frozen, he is banned from visiting the U.K. and he is barred from transactions with U.K. individuals and businesses. Also read: New Zealand passes Russia sanctions bill Abramovich said last week he was trying to sell Chelsea as the threat of sanctions loomed. Also added to the U.K. sanctions list are industrialist Oleg Deripaska and Rosneft chief executive Igor Sechin. The sanctions are being imposed in response to Russia's invasion of neighboring Ukraine. Also read: Singapore announces sanctions against Russia