United News of Bangladesh

A Chattogram court on Monday granted bail to 63 lawyers in a case filed over the chaos on a court premises centering the bail hearing of Chinmoy Krishna Das, spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatan Jagran Jote and former ISKCON leader, in November last year. Chattogram Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sarkar Hassan Shahriar passed the order, said public prosecutor of the court Advocate Mafizul Haque Bhuiya. The 63 lawyers sought bail after surrendering before the court and the court granted the bail on bond of Tk 1000 till the submission of the chargesheet in the case. Jajira thana OC found dead at police station compound Condemning the death of lawyer Saiful Islam Alif, Subhrajit Chowdhury, senior lawyer of the Supreme Court and also the counsel of the 63 lawyers, said Alif’s elder brother filed the case over vandalism. Security was strengthened on the court premises over the bail hearing of the 63 lawyers. A check-post was set up at the entrance of the court and police, Rab, BGB and Army members remained alert since morning. Meanwhile, soon after the court order, a group of people staged a demonstration expressing dissatisfaction over the court order. On November 26, last year, Chattogram Sixth Metropolitan Magistrate Judge Kazi Shariful Islam rejected the bail plea and ordered Chinmoy Das to be sent to jail. Roads and Highways Department starts eviction drive in Natore Lawyer Saiful Islam Alif was hacked to death amid clashes among law enforcers, agitated protestors, and supporters of Chinmoy Krishna following the denial of his bail petition in a sedition case. Protestors vandalised several motorcycles and vehicles parked on the court road. On November 30, Jamal Uddin, father of Alif, filed a case against 31 people. Another case was filed against 116 identified people and 400-500 unidentified people in connection with carrying out attacks of lawyers and vandalism. Khane-e-Alam, brother of Alif, filed the case. 70 lawyers were made accused in the case.

A Khulna court on Monday sent eight members of Khulna Bar Association to jail in a case filed during the July uprising. Khulna Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Sharif Hossain Haidar passed the order after rejecting their bail petitions. Appellate Division upholds HC's dismissal of 5 labour cases against Dr Yunus Those sent to jail are Al-Amin Ukil, former member of Khulna Metropolitan unit Jubo League, Tamal Kanti Ghosh, a Swechasebak League leader, Abdul Kuddus, Sohel Pervez, Sumonto Kumar Biswas, former Chhatra League leader Sheikh Shamim Ahmed and Saidur Rahman Tutul and Mehedi Hasan. Two arrested in connection with attack on Elephant Road businessman Emam Hossain, member of the Khulna Bar Association, filed a case against 28 people including former president of Khulna Bar Association and also the president of Sadar upazila unit AL Saiful Islam in connection with their alleged involvement in attacking students during the student-led movement in Khulna, said Advocate Nurul Hasan, a counsel of the plaintiff. Among the accused, 23 people secured bail for six weeks from the High Court. 3 muggers arrested from Dhaka’s Pallabi: DMP AL leader Saiful, General Secretary of Sadar upazila unit Awami League Tarik Mahmud, District unit AL general secretary Sujit Kumar Odhikari, Anisur Rahman Paplu and Advocate Jesmin Parvin Joly went into hiding.

Police have arrested two persons in connection with the attempted murder of businessman Ehteshamul Haque on Elephant Road in the capital on Sunday. The arrestees were identified as Asiful Haque Asif, alias Jhontu (32), and Md Kawsar Mridha (24). According to New Market police, the incident occurred near the western corner of ECS Computer City (Multiplan Center) at Elephant Road around 10:40 pm on Friday (January 10). A group of miscreants equipped with sharp weapons attacked Ehteshamul Haque, leaving him critically injured. During the attack, Md Wahidul Hasan Dipu, president of the Elephant Road Computer Traders Association, also came under attack by the same group when he exited the market in his car from the market’s ground floor. Both victims were rushed to nearby Popular Medical College Hospital in Dhanmondi, where Ehteshamul Haque remains under treatment. A case was filed with New Market Police Station naming 10 people and 20-25 unnamed others. The case statement alleged that the attackers had been extorting traders at the market and threatening those who refused to pay tolls. Acting on intelligence and CCTV footage, a police team led by Assistant Commissioner (New Market Zone) Tariq Latif arrested Kawsar Mridha from Jagannath Saha Road at noon around 12:00 pm on Sunday. Later, Asiful Haque was arrested from a mess near Hazaribagh Girls' School at around 1:00 pm on the same day, said Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the DMP Talebur Rahman. Further legal proceedings are underway, and efforts to apprehend other suspects continue, he said.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on Sunday sent police constable Mohammad Sujan Hossain, an accused in a case over the killings of seven people during the anti-government movement in Dhaka’s Chankharpul area on August 5, to jail after showing him arrested. A bench of three-member judges led by ICT Chairman Justice Md Golam Mortuza Mozumder passed the order following a hearing in this regard, said prosecutor BM Sultan Mahmud. However, no lawyer for the police constable stood at the court. Prosecutor Sultan said the case was filed against Sujan with Shahbagh police station on charge of killing seven people during the anti-government on August 5. On January 1, the prosecution submitted a petition seeking an arrest warrant for Sujan, who was arrested earlier, and to produce him before the court on Sunday, he said, adding that the court issued the arrest warrant later. Read: BNP lodges complaints with ICT over 2276 crossfires,153 enforced disappearances As per the order, the accused was produced while the court set January 23 for submitting a progress report of the case, the prosecutor said. A video footage shows that the constable, who was posted at Armed Police Battalion during the movement, was firing indiscriminately from several angles at the protesters in Chankharpul area on August 5. Later, the video footage went viral on social media, triggering several criticisms.

The High Court has directed the authorities concerned to take effective steps to mitigate air pollution in Dhaka and implement nine previous directives within seven days. The bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury passed the order on Sunday and asked the authorities to submit report to the court by January 26.      Senior Advocate Manzil Morshed, representing the petitioner, appeared before the court alongside Advocates Sanjay Mondal and Salim Reza, while Deputy Attorney General Tanim Khan represented the state.  The petition was originally filed in 2019 by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) seeking urgent action to combat air pollution in the capital. Environment Adviser seeks Chinese cooperation in air quality management Following the petition, the court issued a rule and asked the authorities to form an expert committee and take preventive measures.  Despite some progress in reducing air pollution by mid-2023, Dhaka recently topped global rankings for poor air quality again due to lax enforcement of court instructions, said Advocate Manzil Morshed.  The court reiterated its nine-point directives for immediate implementation:  Those are covering soil, sand and waste transported by trucks or other vehicles, ensuring construction materials such as soil, sand and cement are covered, sprinkling water on roads regularly by city corporations and ensuring compliance with tender conditions for road and construction works.  Seizing vehicles emitting black smoke, halting the movement of vehicles past their permissible lifespan under the Road Transport Act, closing illegal brick kilns and shutting down unlicensed tire factories and ensuring proper disposal of market and shop waste by the city corporation were among those.  Advocate Morshed said although the court’s directives had been partially implemented consistent failures have allowed air pollution to reach alarming levels again. 

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested three alleged burglars in connection with the theft of gold from a jewelry shop in Dhanmondi’s Shimanto Shambhar market here. The arrests were made during raids in different parts of Cumilla from Thursday to Saturday, DB Joint Commissioner Mohammad Nasirul Islam said at a press briefing at the DMP media centre on Sunday. Based on information provided by the arrestees, the detectives also recovered 50 bhori of stolen gold from a jewelry shop in Cumilla, he added. On January 3, members of the gang broke into the shop by cutting its shutter and stole around 159 bhori of gold within eight minutes, Nasirul said. Factional clash in Anti-Discrimination Students Movement in Dhaka leaves 9 injured The shop owner filed a case with Dhanmondi Police Station in this regard. Analysing CCTV footage, investigators identified the suspects. Nasirul confirmed that eight to nine individuals were involved in the crime, and efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining culprits.

Law enforcers have launched a hunt for the pirates who seized an oil tanker and looted 350 metric tonnes of furnace oil, authorities said on Sunday, three days after the incident. The tanker was carrying over 360 metric tonnes of furnace oil when it was attacked on Friday in Dhaleshwari-Shitalakkhya confluence near Char Mukterpur in Munshiganj. No arrest has been made until today and law enforcers are yet to recover the looted oil. The oil tanker, heading towards Gazipur from Narayanganj, was seized in the confluence around 6am on Friday. The armed pirates ambushed the running ship ‘OT Bin Zaman-1’ near the spot (confluence) while it was taking a turn. The six crew members, including the captain, were overpowered at gunpoint and their mobile phones and other valuables seized. The pirates blindfolded the crew with black cloth, locked them in the engine room, and took control of the tanker. After looting 350 MT out of 360.036 MT of furnace oil, worth around Tk 3.5 crore, the hijackers abandoned the tanker, owned by King Fisher Shipping Company, near the Meghna Bridge around 8:30pm and fled the scene. Summit Group is the owner of the furnace oil. Read: French destroyer in EU mission rescues 29 mariners from oil tanker stricken in Red Sea attacks The vessel's captain Saizul Islam said they had set sail from Summit Power in Narayanganj’s Madanganj area at 6am on Friday to deliver it to Summit Power in Gazipur. He said that six masked pirates with arms boarded the vessel initially and called one by "Dalim" during the attack. Fazlul Ahmed, manager of the shipping company, said that they lost contact with the ship, prompting them to alert the law enforcement.

A clash broke out between two groups of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement over a dispute regarding the Mirpur Thana Committee of the group in Dhaka. Nine individuals were reported injured in the incident. The injured received primary treatment at the emergency department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University (BSMMU) and were later discharged. The incident took place at around 8:30 PM on January 10 at the central office of the organization, located in Rupayan Tower, Banglamotor, Dhaka. Abu Naser, the Deputy Director of BSMMU, confirmed the matter to UNB. Abu Naser stated, "At around 8:30 PM last night, nine injured individuals arrived here. They had cuts and wounds, but none of them required hospitalization. Therefore, they were given primary care and discharged." He also mentioned that the injured individuals were handed over to Hamza Mahbub, the Crisis Management Coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.

The Appellate Division has upheld the High Court's decision to dismiss five labour-law related cases against Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus. A three-judge bench of the Appellate Division, led by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, issued the ruling, rejecting the state’s appeal for permission to challenge the High Court's verdict. During the court proceedings, Additional Attorney General Mohammad Anik Rushd Haque represented the state, while Senior Advocate Mustafizur Rahman Khan represented Dr Yunus. The Appellate Division's full order says that there were no legal flaws in the High Court's ruling and order. As a result, the court found no need for legal problem in the decision, leading to the dismissal of the state’s leave to appeal. Five labour court cases were filed against Dr Yunus in 2019, alleging wrongful dismissal linked to the formation of a proposed trade union during his tenure as Chairman of Grameen Telecommunications. High Court rejects ex-NBR Official Matiur’s writ petition to travel abroad In 2020, Dr Yunus petitioned the High Court for the cancellation of the cases, and the High Court issued a rule to that effect. After the final hearing, the High Court delivered its verdict on October 24, 2024, canceling the proceedings of all five cases. The state subsequently sought permission to appeal the decision, but the Supreme Court dismissed the leave to appeal application on December 8. Senior Advocate Mustafizur Rahman Khan said, "The Appellate Division has issued its full order, dismissing the state’s leave to appeal against the High Court’s ruling. As a result, Prof Yunus and the relevant officials of Grameen Telecommunications at the time have been relieved from the cases, and the legal proceedings against them will no longer have any effect."

Police have arrested three members of a mugging gang from Kalshi of Dhaka’s Pallabi. The suspects, identified as Md. Raihan (21), Md. Shuvo, and Md. Rana Islam (22), were arrested by a team from Pallabi Police Station during an operation around 10:15 pm on Friday, said to Talebur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Saturday. The arrests followed a complaint lodged by Md Anwar Mia, a deliveryman for Transcom Distribution Company. DMP files 3,447 cases for traffic rule violations in 2 days On January 2, while returning with cash collected from deliveries, Anwar Mia was intercepted near the Kalshi intersection rickshaw stand at Bawniyabadh. The assailants, armed with local weapons, forcibly took Tk 65,108 belonging to the company before fleeing. After the complaint was filed, police launched an investigation and used intelligence and technology to track down and arrest the suspects, said the DC. Deaths of 4 family members in Savar: 2 drivers arrested During primary interrogation, the arrestees admitted their involvement in the robbery and confessed to being active members of a professional mugging gang.