The BNP is conspiring to come to power illegally once again, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Saturday. “BNP always came to power through the back door. They tried to rig the election by registering 1.2 crore fake voters during their last tenure,” alleged the AL leader while addressing a peace rally of Awami League at Hajiganj upazila of Chandpur. “But the government and people of the country will not allow this. They know that they can’t win a fair election, and that’s why they are trying to sabotage the upcoming poll,” she said. But we will resist all evil forces with the help of the people, she added. The peace rally was held in front of the office of the Chandpur Sadar unit of AL. Bangladesh Awami League's Information Research Secretary Dr. Salim Mahmud, Chandpur District Awami League President Nasiruddin Ahmed, General SecretaryAbu Naeem Patwari Dulal, and District Awami League Vice President JR Wadud Tipu spoke among others.  

Border Guard Bangladesh(BGB) members on Saturday detained 10 Bangladeshis while they were entering the country from India without valid documents through Maheshpur border in Jhenaidah district. Three men and seven women were detained  from a field at Gopalpur village of Jadavpur BOP under Maheshpur Battalion around 2.30 pm, confirmed Maheshpur 58 BGB additional director Taslim Mohammad Tareq. Read: Human trafficking gang busted in Dhaka, 3 held Some of the detainees were identified as Mohammad Sohag, 32, Sumi, 29, Mintu Mia, 38, Tuhin, 33, and Mosha Mabia, 25. BGB sources said all of them are Bangladeshi nationals. A casewas filed against them under Section 11 (1) (c) of the Passport Ordinance, 1973 at Maheshpur Police Station for entering Bangladesh illegally from India without a passport.  

VAT Intelligence seized nearly two lakh illegally manufactured cigarettes during a raid in Gazipur's Koultia Monday. The cigarettes were manufactured using fake tax stamps or band rolls, depriving the government of huge money, said the VAT Audit, Intelligence and Investigation Directorate officials after raiding Virgo Tobacco. Moinul Khan, VAT Intelligence director-general, said the factory had been manufacturing illegal cigarettes and evading tax for a long time.   READ: House approves bill to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes "On information, the VAT intelligence team raided the factory today and seized 199,000 sticks of cigarettes with fake band rolls. The illegally manufactured cigarettes were being sold to remote parts of Sylhet, Barishal and Cumilla," said Moinul. VAT Intelligence Deputy Director Tanvir Ahmed, who led the raid, said: "The factory was being operated in two shifts. During night shifts, illegal cigarettes were being manufactured. The government would suffer a revenue loss of Tk40 lakh if the seized cigarettes were sold to markets." The National Board of Revenue sources said 73% value added tax (VAT) and supplementary duty (SD) are imposed on cigarettes of the lower tier. The industry insiders said most companies are violating the law and evading taxes while manufacturing low tier cigarettes. READ: 150 cartons of contraband cigarettes seized at Sylhet airport VAT Intelligence officials said local markets are now being flooded with cigarettes of different illegal brands. Remote and underdeveloped regions are the biggest market for locally produced illegal cigarettes.