A Dhaka court on Tuesday (May 09, 2023) sentenced Mohammad Rabiul Islam alias Arav Khan, a Dubai-based gold dealer, to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment in an arms case filed in January 2015. Judge Murshid Ahmed of Dhaka Metro Special Tribunal-14 passed the order this noon, in absence of Arav Khan. In addition to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, Arav Khan was sentenced to a fine of Tk 10,000, in default of which he will have to serve another three months' imprisonment. Assistant Public Prosecutor (APP) AKM Salahuddin confirmed the development. Read: Inspector Mamun murder case: 4 testify against Arav Khan, 7 others Earlier, on March 28, the court heard the testimonies of 10, out of 20, witnesses. Arav Khan could not claim his innocence as he was absconding. According to the prosecution, Arav Khan was arrested in January 2015, with a loaded revolver from Dhaka's Moghbazar area as he went to his father-in-law Sekendar Ali’s house to collect money at gunpoint. On the same day, Sujan Kumar Kundu, the then Sub-inspector of DB West's Car Theft Prevention and Rescue Team, filed a case against Arav Khan with Ramna Model Police Station under arms act. DB Police Sub-inspector Sheikh Hasan Mohammad Mostafa Sarwar, also the investigating officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet against Arav Khan to the court on March 1, 2015. The tribunal framed charges against him on May 10. Read: Hero Alam ready to help DB find Arav He was granted bail in the case on March 14, 2018. The court issued an arrest warrant against Arav Khan on October 24, 2018 declaring him as "fugitive".

The Ministry of Home Affairs and Bangladesh Mission in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are working over the issues related to Rabiul Islam alias Arav Khan, a fugitive in the police officer murder case, says a spokesperson. "He is under watch there," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Seheli Sabrin told reporters in the weekly briefing on Thursday (March 23, 2023) afternoon. She said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will extend required assistance if the Home Ministry seeks. Rabiul Islam alias Arav Khan, a fugitive in the police officer murder case, has not been arrested in Dubai, said State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam on Tuesday. Read More: Interpol accepted ‘red notice’ request against Arav Khan, says IGP “No, he has not been arrested….it’s an event that’s unfolding. You will know in time,” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs while responding to a question. The State Minister said all he can say that there is no scope for any Bangladeshi accused to stay free in a country if he is granted political asylum or for any reason he identifies himself. Interpol has accepted Bangladesh police's request to issue a red notice against fugitive accused Rabiul Islam alias Arav Khan, owner of Arav Jewellers in Dubai. Earlier, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Saturday (March 18) that efforts were underway to bring Arav Khan alias Rabiul Islam to the country through the international police agency Interpol. Read more: Arav Khan not arrested yet: Shahriar Alam A senior Detective Branch official on Thursday (March 16) said cricketer Shakib al Hasan and content creator Hero Alam who participated in the inauguration of Arav Jewellers in Dubai may be questioned for the sake of investigation.

A fugitive convict, sentenced to life imprisonment in Zillur Bhandari of Rangunia upazila in Chattogram district, was detained by the members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) from Kamarpara in Turag of the capital, said Rab on Sunday. The convict was identified as Tota Mia. Md Nurul Absar, Senior Assistant director of Rab-7, said the elite force detained Tota from the capital on Saturday night, seven years after the murder of Zillur Bhandari in 2015. Read: 4 tourists rescued from Cox’s Bazar cottage; members of extortion gang arrested Zillur Bhandari was shot dead by miscreants in front of Ranirhat Primary School in Rangunia upazila on January 21, 2015. Azim Uddin, brother of Zillur, lodged a complaint with Rangunia Police. Police registered an FIR in this connection. On February 14, 2022, a court sentenced two people to death and six others to life imprisonment.  

A team of the Anti-Terrorism Unit (ATU), a specialized unit of Bangladesh Police, arrested a fugitive death-row convict of war crimes from Dhaka's Shah Ali area on Sunday. The arrestee is Md Nazrul Islam, 75, son of Nayon Ali Joardar of Noyaltola village in Khulna district. Mohammad Aslam Khan, superintendent of police (Media and Awareness Wing) of the ATU, disclosed it at a press briefing on Monday. Read: Students stage protest against fuel price hike at Nilkhet Tipped off, a special team of ATU conducted a drive at Block-E of Mirpur's Shah Ali area and arrested Nazrul, the officer said. On July 28, 2022, the International Crimes Tribunal of sentenced five people including Nazrul to death for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. Nazrul was tried in absentia.

Police on Friday arrested a fugitive convict  who had been on the run since his conviction in the 2012 Biswajit Das murder case. Alauddin, 35, who was sentenced to life in jail in the case in 2013, was nabbed from his parents-in-law’s house in the Mokamtola of Shibganj upazila in Bogura. Read: Fugitive convicted for attempt to assassinate Hasina in 1994 lands in Pabna jail Acting on a tip-off, a team conducted a raid in the area and arrested Alauddin in the short hours of Friday, said Bogura District Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ali Haider Chowdhury. On December 9, 2012, tailoring shop employee Biswajit was chopped to death by some BCL activists near Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka during the BNP-led alliance's countrywide road blockade programme. On December 18, 2013, a tribunal sentenced eight BCL activists to death and 13 others, including Alauddin, to life imprisonment in the Biswajit killing case. On August 6, 2017, the High Court upheld the death sentences of Rafiqul Islam Shakil and Rajon Talukder and commuted the capital punishment of four other convicts — Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, Emdadul Haque Emdad, GM Rasheduzzaman Shawon and Mir Nurul Alam Liman — to life term.

A court here on Monday sent Zakaria Pintu, fugitive death row convict of a case filed over the attack on a train carrying the then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina in 1994, to jail. He was produced before court around 2 pm and the court directed to send him to Pabna jail, said Ataur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Detective Branch of Pabna police. On Saturday night, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested Zakaria Pintu, 50, of Ishwardi, from Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar during a drive. Also read: 1994 assassination attempt: Fugitive death row convict held in city Pintu was former general secretary of BNP and then general secretary of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal in 1994. Pintu was transferred to Ishwardi police station on Sunday and was kept under the custody of district DB police, said OC Ataur Rahman. During primary interrogation, Pintu confessed that he was a fugitive accused of carrying out bomb attack on a train at Ishwardi railway station with the intention of killing the now Prime Minister. Pintu was convicted in two murder case in Ishwardi in 1994 and in 2009. He was later arrested along with arms by law enforcers in 2011 and sentenced to 17 years in jail in an arms case. Apart from the death sentence and imprisonment, there are six arrest warrants and 19 cases filed against him over various crimes, including terrorist activities, establishing dominance and extortion. In 2015, he also took part in a local election in Pabna's Ishwardi as an independent candidate and lost it. On September 23 in 1994, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was travelling to Syedpur from Khulna in a train and was attacked with bombs and gunshots at Ishwardi Railway station, as per the release. A case was filed under the Explosives Act and Special Powers Act at Ishwardi GRP Police Station in Pabna in this regard. Later, the investigating officer of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted a chargesheet against a total of 52 people on April 3 in 1997, it added. After long proceedings, nine accused, including Pintu, were sentenced to death while 25 to life imprisonment and 13 others to 10 years in prison on July 3, 2019. He went into hiding soon after the sentence in the assassination attempt case was announced in 2019. He fled to India on the day following the judgment. After staying there for some days, he returned to the country and went into hiding in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, Rajshahi and Cox's Bazar. He was last detained by RAB-2 while hiding at his friend's house in Teknaf of Cox's Bazar.

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has said that the High Court violated the constitution in  hearing the case of the fugitive accused Dr Zubaida Rahman, wife of BNP senior vice chairman Tareq Rahman. A full text of the judgment given by the Appellate Division was published on Wednesday dismissing the leave to appeal filed by Zubaida  seeking dismissal of the case filed for acquiring assets from unknown sources.   The Appellate Division also declared Zubaida a fugitive. At the same time, the High Court gave extra benefits  to Zubaida violation of the constitution, reads the judgment. On April 13, a four-judge bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique dismissed the leave to appeal of Zubaida  and delivered a brief judgment. The judgment was written by Justice Borhanuddin. Appellate Division Justice Md Nuruzzaman and Justice M Enayetur Rahim and the Chief Justice agreed with the judgment. As per the judgement, the judicial court did not take cognizance of the charges against Zubaida  in the corruption case. “Where the charges were not taken into account, how did she apply for dismissal of the case under section 561A of Code of Criminal Procedure?” asked the Appellate Division. READ: HC defers Tarique-Zubaida’s hearing in corruption case And when she filed the appeal without surrendering before the court, she was a fugitive in the eyes of the law. But a bench of the High Court has issued a rule suspending the trial of the case after hearing the plea of a fugitive, said Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan. If a person or accused is a fugitive, he/she cannot file any writ, criminal case or any legal action except surrender. But the High Court has violated the law by giving more benefits to Zubaida Rahman, he added. The Appellate Division further said all citizens are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection of the law according to Article 27 of the Constitution. Judges of the Supreme Court of the country have taken an oath to conduct justice without fear or bias. In any case, the judiciary must adhere to this principle. The judiciary will not set a precedent that does not apply to everyone. ACC filed the case against Tarique, his wife Zubaida and her mother Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu accusing them of amassing illegal wealth and concealing information in wealth statements, with Kafrul police station on September 26, 2007. The accused later filed a petition challenging the legality of the case proceedings. Later in the same year, the High Court issued a rule suspending the proceedings on the application of Jobaida Rahman. On April 12 in 2018, the High Court gave its judgement dismissing the rule issued to dismiss the case. At the same time, Zubaida Rahman was ordered to surrender before the court within eight weeks. Zubaida then filed a leave to appeal in the Appellate Division against the judgment of the High Court. Lawyers say Zubaida, livimg in the UK, is a fugitive in the case and will now have to go to jail after surrendering. She will then be able to appeal for bail.

The Anti-Terrorism Unit of Bangladesh Police arrested a fugitive convict in a murder case from the city’s Khilkhet area early Thursday. The arrestee was Md Anwar Hossain, 55, of Dinajpur district. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in a murder case in 2005. Tipped off, a team of ATU conducted a drive in Barua Bazar area in Khilkhet around 12:30am, according to a media release of Bangladesh Police. Also read: 7 protesters arrested from DU for demanding 2nd admission test In 2000, Anwar killed his second wife Alfatun alias Alta Begum and went into hiding. He had been staying in different areas of Dhaka hiding his identity for 22 years. During primary interrogation, the arrestee confessed to his involvement with the crime, said the release. Legal steps will be taken in this regard, It added. Also read: TCB goods recovered from Gazipur market godown; trader arrested

Officer-In-Charge of Chakaria police station Muhammad Osman Gani has been suspended for celebrating his birthday at his office with some fugitive accused. Md Hasanuzzaman, Superintendent of Cox’s Bazar police confirmed the matter to UNB Thursday afternoon. He was suspended as the police force’s image was hampered after photos of OC Gani’s birthday celebration with some fugitive accused at the police station went viral on social media recently and evoked controversy, said Md Rafiqul Islam, Additional Superintendent of police. Also read: SB man suspended for beating up DU student-journalist at campus OC Osman Gani has been attached to Cox’s bazar Police Lines, he said. On March 2, the OC celebrated his birthday by cutting a cake at Chakaria police station. In the viral photos, two absconding accused of a muder attempt case- Arhan, Alif -and some others were seen standing beside the OC and feeding him cake. Also read: Habiganj: Drug peddler escapes from custody, 3 cops suspended The UNB reporter could not contact OC Gani for a comment after several attempts.

Police have arrested a fugitive death row convict in a case filed over the attempt to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2000. Azizul Haque Rana alias Shahnewaz alias Ruman was arrested from Khilkhet Bazar in the capital on Tuesday. Read: 4 arrested over killing of teenager in Cox’s Bazar Police also seized two jihadi books, two mobile phone sets, a pen drive and a computer hard disk from his possession. Police recovered a 76-kg bomb in front of a shop adjacent to Sheikh Lutfur Rahman Govt High School on July 20, 2000 where Sheikh  Hasina was supposed to address a rally on July 22. Another 40-kg bomb was also recovered by an army bomb expert squad from near Kotalipara helipad on July 23, 2000.