United News of Bangladesh

The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has taken into custody a junior friend of former Bangladesh Air Force Flight Lieutenant KM Tahsif Souri for questioning over his death. The man, Ahmed Shahriar Reza Dwip, reportedly spent around six hours with Tahsif before the former air force officer went missing, a senior PBI officer said on Friday. PBI investigators are questioning Dwip to verify information about Tahsif’s movements and to look for possible clues to the circumstances surrounding his death, the officer said. Tahsif’s motorcycle was also recovered from Tongi in Gazipur, although PBI officials were still verifying whether it belonged to him. The PBI took Dwip, son of Selim Reza, into custody from a Mohammadpur flat around midnight on Thursday. Speaking to UNB over the phone on Friday morning, PBI Dhaka Metro-North Additional Deputy Inspector General Md Enayet Hossain Mannan said Dwip was taken into custody for questioning and information collection. “He is currently with us, and we are collecting information from him. We will verify the information to see whether it provides any clues to the killing,” he said. CCTV footage recorded before Tahsif’s disappearance showed him with a man whom his family identified as Dwip. According to the footage, the two met in front of a garage at the RAJUK Uttara Apartment Project in Sector 18 of Uttara around 6:30pm on October 27. After exchanging greetings and shaking hands, they left on separate motorcycles. Family members said Tahsif left home after receiving a call from Dwip. Dwip later told the family that Tahsif’s motorcycle developed a problem and that they took it to a workshop for repairs. He reportedly said after the motorcycle was repaired, they had a meal together and then departed. Dwip’s role, if any, in Tahsif’s disappearance and subsequent death remains under investigation. On October 28, police were informed around 4:30pm that a body was floating in the Turag River. Members of the Tongi River Police Outpost later recovered the body from the Rajabari Ghat area of Uttarkhan. It was later identified as Tahsif’. An autopsy was conducted at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital on Thursday. Tahsif’s namaz-e-janaza was held at 4:35pm at the Central Jame Mosque of the RAJUK Uttara Apartment Project. He was later buried at a graveyard in Sector 12 of Uttara. The exact cause of his death has not yet been established. Tahsif’s father KM Enayetul Karim earlier expressed suspicion that his son might have been murdered. The circumstances surrounding Tahsif’s death and whether anyone was involved remain under investigation.

The High Court on Thursday issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the appointment of three members of the Bangladesh Judicial Service as private secretaries to two ministers and a state minister should not be declared illegal. The HC bench, led by Justice Md Toufiq Inam, issued the rule after hearing a writ petition challenging the legality of assigning judges to executive branch positions outside their judicial duties. The court also wanted to know why directives should not be issued to prevent serving judicial officers from being appointed or posted to the executive branch. Public administration, law, home and primary and mass education secretaries among others were made respondents to the rule which is returnable in four weeks. Advocate Chanchal Kumar Biswas stood for the petitioner. Supreme Court lawyer Rashedul Haque Khokon filed the writ petition on September 21, challenging the appointments of three judicial service members as private secretaries to two ministers and a state minister. The petition referred to Rule 4(1) of the Bangladesh Judicial Service Formation Rules, 2025, stating that the posts specified in the rules’ schedule are designated as cadre posts of the judicial service. However, the posts to which the three judges were recently appointed are not included in that schedule, according to the petition. The petition stated that a notification issued on March 9 appointed GM Farhan Ishtiaque, a senior assistant secretary in the Law and Justice Division and a joint district judge, as private secretary to the primary and mass education minister. Another notification, issued on February 25, transferred Kamrul Hasan, a senior assistant secretary in the Law and Justice Division and a joint district and sessions judge, to the post of assistant private secretary to the home minister. A separate notification issued on September 16 appointed Md Abu Bakar Siddique, a metropolitan magistrate in Chattogram with the designation of senior civil judge, as private secretary to the state minister for social welfare. The petition said the appointment orders, issued by the Law and Justice Division under the Law Ministry, mentioned consultation with the Supreme Court. It further argued that the appointments were inconsistent with the constitutional framework for separating the judiciary from the executive branch, the structure prescribed under the Bangladesh Judicial Service Formation Rules, 2025, and the principles laid down by the Appellate Division in the Masdar Hossain case. The writ petition was initially listed for hearing before a High Court division bench on September 28. However, the vacation bench that day removed it from the hearing list.

The International Crimes Tribunal-2 on Thursday sentenced Awami League(now activities banned) Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif to death in a case over crimes against humanity for killing six people in Kushtia during the July Uprising in 2024. The tribunal also sentenced Kushtia district Awami League President and former Chairman of Kushtia Zila Parishad Sadar Uddin Khan, district Awami League General Secretary Azgar Ali and Kushtia municipality Awami League General Secretary Ataur Rahman to imprisonment until death in the case. The three-member judicial panel of the tribunal headed by Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury delivered the verdict. All the convicts were tried in absentia.   Hanif was found guilty on counts 1-6 under charge No. 1 and sentenced to death. He was also sentenced to life imprisonment under charges No. 2 and 3. Sadar Uddin Khan, Asgar Ali and Ataur Rahman were sentenced to imprisonment until death for counts 1-6 under charge No. 1 and life imprisonment under charges No. 2 and 3. All four accused were also sentenced to life imprisonment after charges No. 4 and 5 were considered together. The tribunal ordered the confiscation of half of the immovable property of each convicted accused. It directed that the proceeds from the sale of the confiscated properties be distributed as compensation to those killed and injured during the July 2024 uprising through the July Foundation or another legally recognised organisation. According to the prosecution, the investigation into the case began on March 25 last year, and the investigation agency submitted its report to the Chief Prosecutor's Office on September 11. The prosecution subsequently submitted the formal charges to the tribunal on October 6. According to the charges, Hanif supported provocative statements made by Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on July 15, 17 and 30 in 2024 by being present alongside him. He was also accused of branding protesters as Jamaat activists, terrorists and communal elements at a discussion meeting at the Jatiya Press Club on July 29, 2024, and of directing, instigating, inciting and aiding killings and torture. According to the prosecution, on Hanif's instructions, Sadar Uddin Khan, Asgar Ali, Ataur Rahman and other Awami League leaders held a meeting at Kushtia district Awami League office on July 27, 2024. At the meeting, they allegedly portrayed the peaceful movement of unarmed students and members of the public as terrorist activities and instructed Awami League activists to use maximum force to suppress the movement in Kushtia city. The prosecution alleged that, acting on the instructions of the four accused, activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations opened fire on students and members of the public at different locations in Kushtia city on August 5, 2024, killing six people. The victims were s Ashraful Islam, Suroj Ali, Abdullah Al Mustakin, Md Usama, Babul Farazi and Yusuf Sheikh. Following hearings from both sides, the tribunal ordered the framing of formal charges in the case on November 2. The trial formally began on December 8 last year with the prosecution's opening statement, and the recording of witness testimony started the same day. The tribunal concluded the recording of testimony on April 23 this year after hearing 19 witnesses. Closing arguments in the case were completed on June 10, when the tribunal initially kept it awaiting a verdict. The prosecution later presented additional witnesses and documents, followed by further arguments from both sides. The arguments concluded on October 7, after which the tribunal reserved the verdict. On Tuesday, Tribunal-2 ordered that the verdict be delivered on Thursday.  

A team of Special Response Battalion (SRB)-10 recovered four unexploded crude bombs from a garage in the Shuvaddya area of South Keraniganj in Dhaka district on Wednesday afternoon. The bombs were found abandoned during a special drive conducted by an operational team of SRB-10’s Sadar Company at around 5:10pm. Tapan Sarkar, senior assistant superintendent of police (Media) of SRB-10, said the operation was launched based on secret information about the buying and selling of illegal drugs and other items in the area. All four crude bombs were recovered unexploded, he said. SRB-10 said it follows a zero-tolerance policy towards such crimes and remains committed to maintaining law and order and bringing offenders to justice. The battalion also said it would continue its efforts to prevent threats to public safety and the state while performing its duties professionally.

Customs officials have filed a case against Jamal Yarn Trading in Narayanganj over alleged VAT evasion of Tk 40.39 crore between January 2022 and August 2026. The Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate, Narayanganj, filed the case after an inspection of the yarn importer and supplier found discrepancies in its sales records and VAT returns, according to an official press release. The enforcement team inspected the company’s premises at 56 SM Maleh Road in Tanbazar, Narayanganj Sadar, and examined its stock and accounting records. During the inspection, the company failed to produce VAT-related documents. The officials later seized several registers, notebooks, invoice books, guard files, Excel copies retrieved from a computer and a statement signed by a company representative. A preliminary review of the seized documents showed that the company had recorded total yarn sales of Tk 659.15 crore from 2022 to 2026. VAT applicable at rates of 5 per cent and 7.5 per cent on the sales was calculated at Tk 40.40 crore, the release said. However, the company’s VAT returns (Mushak-9.1) showed sales of only Tk 39.17 crore for the period from January 2022 to August 2026. The company deposited just Tk 1.33 lakh in government revenue through treasury challans during the same period, according to the release. After deducting the amount deposited, the authorities calculated the outstanding VAT at Tk 40,39,10,942. The commissionerate alleged that the company violated Sections 15, 32, 45, 49 and 64 of the Value Added Tax and Supplementary Duty Act, 2012, and Rules 25, 40, 42 and 47 of the VAT and Supplementary Duty Rules, 2016. The alleged offences are punishable under Section 85 of the Act. The case has been filed to recover the evaded VAT, applicable penalties and interest under Section 127.

Police have submitted a charge sheet against five accused in the murder case of customs official Bullet Baishnagi in Cumilla. Officer-in-Charge of Cumilla District Detective Branch (DB) Police and the case’s investigating officer, Md Samsul Alam, confirmed the development on Tuesday night. The accused are Md Sohel, 34, Ismail Hossain Jony, 28, Emran Hossain alias Hridoy, 34, Rahat Hossain Jewel, 27, and Md Sujon, 32. All five are currently in Cumilla Central Jail. Samsul Alam said the charge sheet was submitted after a lengthy investigation. The court accepted it and sent the case to the Cumilla District and Sessions Judge’s Court for trial. He said investigators could not establish the permanent addresses of Jony, Jewel and Sujon, so they were listed as having no fixed address in the charge sheet. Bullet Bairagi was a 41st BCS non-cadre officer serving as an assistant revenue officer at the Bibir Bazar land port in Cumilla. His hometown was Dumuria village in Tungipara of Gopalganj. He lived with his family in the Panpatti area of Rajganj in Cumilla city. According to the case statement, Bairagi left Chattogram for Cumilla on April 24 after completing the 44th basic training course at the Customs, Excise and VAT Training Academy in Chattogram. On April 25, police recovered the body of Bullet Bairagi from the Kotbari area of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway under Cumilla’s Sadar South Police Station. The complaint alleged that miscreants killed him on his way back from Chattogram and looted the cash he was carrying. His mother, Lilima Bairagi, filed a murder case against unidentified assailants with Cumilla Sadar South Model Police Station that day. Lilima said police had informed her about the submission of the charge sheet. She expressed hope that those responsible for her son’s murder would receive exemplary punishment.  

Police Headquarters on Tuesday directed field-level police officials to identify the godfathers involved in drug-related activities and juvenile gangs and take strict action against them. The directive was given from the monthly crime review meeting for September 2026 at Police Headquarters on Tuesday. Addressing the meeting, Additional Inspector General of Police (Crime and Operations) Md Saiedur Rahman said that the Bangladesh Police maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards drugs and juvenile gangs. He also instructed field-level police officials to identify the godfathers involved in drug-related activities and juvenile gangs and take strict action against them. Additional IGP (Crime and Opps) urged field-level police personnel to enhance the image of the police through honesty, dedication and professionalism. He also stressed the need for treating members of the public humanely while performing their duties. The additional IGP directed police officials to record robbery cases and quickly uncover the incidents to bring the perpetrators to justice. He also instructed them to closely supervise investigations into rape cases to increase the conviction rate. He further emphasised the need to improve the overall rate of case disposal. Saiedur Rahman called for effective and inclusive community and beat policing activities by involving individuals with positive reputations in society. On the occasion, he conveyed thanks to field-level police personnel on behalf of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) for ensuring the safe and peaceful celebration of the recently concluded Sharadiya Durga Puja. Metropolitan police commissioners, range deputy inspectors general (DIGs) and district superintendents of police joined the meeting virtually. DIG (Crime Management) Mohammad Abu Sufian and other relevant officials attended the meeting at Police Headquarters. The meeting reviewed the overall crime situation in September 2026, including significant incidents during the month. It also discussed robbery, dacoity, murder, rape, attacks on police and kidnapping cases, along with pending arrest warrants, investigation and trial outcomes, and conviction rates.  

The High Court on Tuesday summoned the taskforce chief and International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) Prosecutor Tanvir Hasan Zohha to appear before it on April 29 next year to report on progress in journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi murder case. The HC bench of Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi and Justice Fatema Anwar passed the order asked them to report the progress in examining seized CDs and other documents related to the case. It also gave the high-level taskforce six more months more to complete its investigation into the murder case as the mystery surrounding the killings remains unresolved after more than 14 years. Earlier, the taskforce submitted an interim progress report instead of the full investigation report, which was due on Tuesday. However, the taskforce sought an additional year to complete the investigation. After hearing both sides, the court allowed six months. During the hearing, Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kajol said ICT Chief Prosecutor Md Aminul Islam and Prosecutor Tanvir Hasan Zohha had informed the taskforce about new developments in the investigation. Sagar Sarowar, news editor of Maasranga Television, and Meherun Runi, a senior reporter at ATN Bangla, were murdered at their rented apartment in West Rajabazar in the capital on February 11, 2012. The following day, Runi's brother, Nausher Alam Roman, filed a murder case with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station. The police initially investigated the case before the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch (DB) took over. After failing to identify the perpetrators during more than two months of investigation, the High Court transferred the responsibility to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) on April 18, 2012. Several suspects were detained at different stages of the investigation. DNA tests were also conducted on evidence at laboratories at home and abroad, but available investigative findings indicated that the DNA profiles of those detained did not match those of Sagar and Runi. Amid prolonged delays and questions over the investigation's progress, a four-member high-level taskforce was formed on October 28, 2024. Investigative responsibilities were subsequently changed, and fresh efforts were undertaken to question witnesses and review evidence. The taskforce reported that 90 witnesses had been re-examined and statements from 24 people recorded between 2024 and 2026.  

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) will deliver its verdict on October 29 in a case filed against four people, including Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif, over the killing of six people in Kushtia during the July 2024 uprising. The three-member ICT-2, chaired by Justice Nozrul Islam Chowdhury, fixed the date on Tuesday. Earlier on October 7, the ICT-2 completed the hearing on the law-point arguments in the case and kept the judgement reserved for a later date. The three others accused are former Chairman of Kushtia Zila Parishad Sadar Uddin Khan, General Secretary of Kushita district Awami League Asgar Ali and General Secretary of Kushtia municipality Awami League. All of them are absconding. Three charges were brought against them, including six murders in Kushtia, during the July uprising. The charges include supporting statements and positions taken by Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader to suppress the movement, issuing orders to kill students and members of the public and participating in a conspiracy at a meeting held in Kushtia on July 29, 2024 and involvement in the killing of six people in Kushtia during the movement. Hanif was also accused of instructing local police officials, public representatives and party activists over the telephone to carry out the killings. The prosecution sought the maximum punishment for all four accused. The prosecution formally filed charges against the four accused on October 5 last year. The following day, on October 6, the tribunal took cognisance of charges and issued arrest warrants for the accused. On November 2 last year, the ICT framed charges against them, ordering the formal trial to begin.

A tribunal in Jamalpur on Sunday sentenced an imam of a mosque to life imprisonment for raping a 15-year-old student. The convict is Musa Mia, hailing from Harichandi village in Fulchhari thana of Gaibandha district. He worked as an imam at a Jame Mosque and taught at a maktab at Mondolpara village in Dewanganj upazila of Jamalpur. Muhammad Abdur Rahim, judge of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-1 in Jamalpur,  pronounced the judgment, said Public Prosecutor Fazlul Haque. It also fined him Tk 5 lakh. According to the prosecution, Musa used to send the other students home every morning and keep the girl at the mosque to do cleaning work. Taking advantage of the situation, he raped her on November 28, December 1 and December 2, 2020, after luring her with the promise of marriage, the prosecution said. After the girl's family learned about the incident, her mother filed a case with Dewanganj Police Station on December 8, six days after the last incident. Police submitted the charge sheet to the court on May 5, 2021.