Law-&-Order
No rally to be allowed on streets: Home Minister
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Thursday said BNP will not be allowed to hold their rally at Nayapaltan on December 10 and the government is thinking about Kalshi field as an alternative venue.
“No anarchy will be allowed in the name of rally and no rally will be allowed on streets,” the minister told reporters after visiting the police members who sustained injuries during Wednesday’s clash at city’s Rajarbagh Central Police Hospital.
Replying to a question he said Kalshi field is being considered as alternative venue and BNP will receive full assistance from police in this regard.
Read more: BNP executed its plan at Nayapaltan yesterday: Quader
“There is no objection if you (BNP) hold peaceful meetings, rallies but if you vandalise, harm life and assets the law enforcers will not sit idle. It is their job to give people protection,” he added.
Regarding the police drive at Nayapaltan yesterday, the home minister said that the operation was conducted considering the situation.
Read more: Man in Argentina jersey during BNP-police clash in Nayapaltan identified as Ansar member
“Police recovered 15 unexploded hand grenades, rice, pulse and firewood from BNP office. We don’t understand why should rice, pulse, firewood should be brought for a political rally,” he said.
“I’ve heard BNP had prepared to take position for an indefinite period in Nayapaltan area. They have no more plan to hold a rally,” he added.
Man in Argentina jersey during BNP-police clash in Nayapaltan identified as Ansar member
A man — in an Argentina football team jersey — who was seen shooting at BNP activists during a clash with police on Wednesday has been identified as a Bangladesh Ansar member.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch Chief Mohammad Harun Ur Rashid confirmed the information to UNB today.
He said, “The Ansar member was on duty under the Paltan model police station that day.”
When asked whether any action will be taken against the Ansar member for not maintaining dress code, he said, “Why should we take action? Even I perform duty in civil clothing. When putting our lives at risk, law enforcement officers can wear any type of clothing.”
read more: It’s an unjustified action of police: Fakhrul on Nayapalton clash
Meanwhile, police filed three cases at Shahjahanpur, Motijheel and Paltan police stations against 553 BNP activists and over 2400 unnamed people in connection with Wednesday’s clash with BNP that left one person dead and many injured.
So far 500 people have been arrested in this regard.
The accused were alleged of keeping explosives at the BNP party office, attacking police and sabotage.
After the clash, 473 BNP leaders and activists were arrested from the party’s central office and surrounding areas who were named in this case.
Read more: 1 killed in police-BNP clash at Nayapaltan; Over 150 leaders, activists held
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday claimed that two leaders of their party’s student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal were killed and over 100 others were injured in an attack by police when bullets were fired in front of their party’s Nayapaltan central office.
The detained leaders included BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Publication Secretary Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie.
Appellate Division gets 3 more judges
Three judges of the High Court have been appointed as judges to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday, raising the number of total judges in the Appellate Division to nine.
The newly appointed judges are Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam, Justice Md Abu Zafor Siddique and Justice Md Jahangir Hossain.
Read more: 3 new Appellate Division Judges take oath
The Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Ministry issued a gazette notification in this regard on Thursday after President Abdul Hamid appointed them.
The appointment of the judges will come into effect once they take oath.
Currently, there are six judges in the Appellate Division, and Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique administered their oath at 4:00 pm on Thursday.
Drive inside BNP head office was against attempts for subversive activities, says DMP Commissioner
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Khandker Golam Faruq said on Wednesday that a drive was conducted in the BNP’s Nayapaltan head office on information that they stored rice, pulse, sticks and cocktails.
“Today was an office day. They demonstrated there without any prior permission. SWAT and M-16 have been used against their attempt of committing subversive activities,” he told reporters.
He made the remark while replying to questions from journalists at an emergency press conference at the DMP Media Centre.
The DMP commissioner said the BNP men exploded cocktails from their party office and for that the drive was carried out.
“We beefed up security by increasing the number of police. It was an official day, and they (BNP) didn’t take prior permission to hold the rally”, he said.
Replying to a question whether a BNP activist was killed, the police officer said that they could not confirm the information.
“I was in a meeting. It has to be looked into,” he said.
Read more: Govt has staged the Nayapaltan clash to foil Dec 10 rally: Mirza Fakhrul
Asked why police attacked the BNP men and party office, which was seen on a video footage, he said “I don’t know how much footage you have seen; I didn’t see it.”
“So far, I know, their rally is on December 10. Today was an official day. They were holding the rally by blocking the road. They gathered and held rally by stopping traffic despite no scheduled programme. This is not lawful. They did not do the right thing,” he said.
About arrest and harassment of the BNP leaders and activists, the commissioner said that he had no idea about anything like this.
The DMP Commissioner also said that they beefed up security in the city to ward off any untoward incident centring the Christmas Day.
Earlier on Wednesday afternoon, the BNP activists gathered in front of the head office and started chanting slogans at Nayapaltan. Sensing that the situation could turn volatile, police asked the party members to leave the area immediately. This resulted in a heated argument and at one point, police started beating the activists with batons to disperse them.
Taking shelter in nearby lanes, BNP activists started throwing brickbats in return. To quell the protesters, police fired tear gas and rubber bullets towards them, which injured around 50 people.
Read more: 1 killed in police-BNP clash at Nayapaltan; Over 150 leaders, activists held
Falling sick due to inhaling tear gas, some 200 activists took shelter inside the BNP office. Later, police conducted a drive inside the office and arrested about 100 activists along with party leaders like Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed and Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie.
In another development, police obstructed Mahmudur Rahman Manna-led Ganatantra Mancha at the Nightingale Intersection of the capital from advancing towards Naya Paltan.
It’s disappointing, no headway in probe in a month, says Fardin’s father
Fardin was murdered in a planned way but the investigating agencies failed to make any progress even after one month, said slain Buet student Fardin Noor Porosh’s father Kazi Nuruddin .
“It was a pre-planned murder, but the probe committee could not identify anyone till now. It is disappointing that the investigating agencies failed to make any progress even after one month,” he said on Tuesday at a human chain on Buet campus.
General students of Buet formed the human chain in front of Buet Shaheed Minar and paraded the campus demanding quick probe into the murder. Family members of Fardin, whose body was recovered from the Shitalakhya River on November 7, joined the human chain.
They criticised the law enforcement agencies for their delay in investigation.
Read more: Law enforcers have made progress in Fardin murder probe: Rab
Students and Fardin's father also expressed regret about the role of Buet administration and sought the Prime Minister’s interference in this regard.
Students said they are still in confusion as they have found different types of news regarding this murder and different statements from different law enforcement agencies.
Expressing disappointment, they said it has been one month of Fardin's murder but the mystery of this murder is yet to be debunked and the killers are yet to be identified.
They demanded quick probe and due punishment to the culprits within a short time.
Fardin was a 3rd year student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology’s civil engineering department and a resident of Qutubpur area in Narayanganj's Fatullah.
Read more: 'He was murdered': Fardin's father demands justice
Police recovered Fardin’s body from the Shitalakhkhya river, behind a cotton mill at Siddhirganj, on November 7, three days after he went missing.
Sheikh Farhad, a physician at Narayanganj General Hospital where the autopsy was done, said there were several injury marks on Fardin’s head and body.
Fardin’s father, filed a case in connection with his son’s killing with Rampura Police Station on the same day and the case was later transferred to Detective Branch (DB) Police.
Haji Salim gets bail in corruption case
The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court today granted bail to Awami League lawmaker Haji Mohammad Salim in a corruption case.
A five-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, granted bail to Salim after hearing a leave-to-appeal petition filed by him.
Senior lawyer Syed Ahmed Raza appeared for the petitioner in court while Advocate M Khurshid Alam Khan appeared for ACC.
Read: HC asks ACC to let it know progress of probe against Wasa MD
In 2007, ACC filed the case against Salim. On April 27, 2008, a Dhaka court jailed him for 13 years and fined him Tk 20 lakh. Salim moved the High Court against the verdict.
In 2011, the court overturned his sentence but ACC later appealed against the lower court verdict. Later, the Appellate Division asked the High Court to re-hear the petition.
On March 9 last year, the HC bench of Justice Md Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice AKM Zahirul Huq upheld the lower court order, sentencing Salim to 10 years in jail after hearing a petition filed by ACC.
Read: Haji Salim: From jail to hospital
On February 10 this year, the HC released the full text of the verdict, asking Salim to surrender to a trial court concerned in 30 days. Salim surrendered before a Dhaka court on May 22. Later that day, a Dhaka court sent him to jail rejecting his bail petition.
With this bail order, there is no bar for Haji Salim to walk out of jail, said his lawyer Ahmed Raza.
HC asks ACC to let it know progress of probe against Wasa MD
The High Court has asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to submit an update on the ongoing investigation against Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) on Tuesday.
Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order on Monday after hearing a writ petition challenging the legality of the Taqsem’s appointment as Wasa MD since 2009.
Advocate Khurshid Alam, ACC lawyer, said that he will inform the court about the progress of the probe on Tuesday.
Read: HC: Writ petition filed challenging Taqsem Khan’s appointment as Wasa MD
Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman, a former prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal filed the writ petition challenging the legality of Taqsem’s appointment as MD of Wasa alleging flawed process in hiring him.
Seven officials including LGRD secretary, public administration secretary were made respondents to the writ petition.
Barrister Suman said Taqsem has been serving as Wasa MD for the last 13 years since 2009.
During his tenure he has raised the water price to Tk 15 per unit from Tk 6 per unit. He has remained in his post despite allegations of corruption against him, he said.
In 2009 he was appointed after rewriting and rigging his exam result as it was required to have 20 years of experience for that position and he had no such relevant experience, said Suman.
Read: HC Chamber Judge asks Wasa MD to submit salary statement
“His appointment letter mentions that the authority is requesting to maintain caution while examining and considering contractual appointments in future. Which means there was some sort of rigging that happened yet his tenure was extended later,” he explained.
The writ petition was filed as his recruitment process needs to be probed, he said.
Taqsem’s tenure as Wasa MD has been extended three times after his 2009 contractual appointment for three years, he said.
Law enforcers can’t avoid responsibility over militants’ escape: Rab
Law enforcement agencies certainly cannot avoid their responsibility in the escape of two convicted militants from police custody, Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of Rab’s legal and media wing, said on Monday.
The Rab commander said this while responding to questions from reporters at the Rab media centre in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar.
Read: Militants flee Dhaka Court: Red Alert issued, says Home Minister
It would have been possible for the law enforcers to take action or prevent the escape if they had received information from the intelligence agencies earlier. “That’s why law enforcers cannot avoid responsibility.”
Asked whether the two militants have already left the country, Moin said that he cannot say anything about that right now.
“We are examining the CCTV footage of their movement at various places,” he added.
Read: Police announce Tk 10 lakh for each death row convict who fled a Dhaka court today
On November 20, two members of the banned militant outfit Ansar-al Islam – Abu Siddique Sohel and Moinul Hasan Shamim – who were sentenced to death in publisher Faisal Arefin Dipan's murder case, were whisked away from police custody at Dhaka Chief Judicial Magistrate court arena.
They also tried to snatch two other accused, Arafat and Sabur, but failed. Police filed a case against 20 people in this connection.
August 21 grenade attack: HC starts hearing on death references, convicts’ appeals
The High Court on Monday started the hearing on the death references and appeals of the convicts in a murder case over the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004.
The hearing started at the HC bench of Justice Sahidul Karim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman in the morning.
State counsel Attorney General Abu Mohammad (AM) Amin Uddin gave his statement on the death references at the court.
Read more: ‘Should I hold dialogue with Khaleda, Tarique who wanted to kill me with grenade attack?’
A Dhaka court on October 10, 2018, sentenced 19 people, including former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar, to death in the case.
The others who were sentenced to death are then DGFI Director Major General (retd) Rezzakul Haider Chowdhury, then NSI Brigadier General (retd) Abdur Rahim, Mohammad Hanif, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, Sheikh Abdus Salam, Abdul Mazed, Maulana Shawkat Osman, Mahibullah alias Mafizur Rahman, Maulana Abu Taher, Maulana Abu Sayeed, Mohammad Jahangir Alam, Abul Kalam Azad, Mainuddin Sheikh alias Abu Zandal, Ujjal alias Ratan, Hossain Ahmed Tanim, Sheikh Abdus Salam and Abdul Malek.
All of the condemned convicts were also fined Tk 1 lakh each.
Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and 18 others were sentenced to life in prison.
On October 28, the same year, the case documents along with the judgment copy was sent to the High Court for it to approve the death sentence of the accused.
The death reference wing of the High Court scrutinized and prepared the paper book of the respective case, which implies the case is ready for hearing.
On August 16, last year, the paperbook of the grenade attack case reached the Supreme Court.
Then the Attorney General applied to the Chief Justice for a speedy hearing of the death references and appeals.
Read more: August 21 grenade attack planned in Hawa Bhaban: Joy
August 21 grenade attack case trial
On August 21, 2004, a grenade attack was carried out on an Awami League rally at Bangabandhu Avenue when the BNP-Jamaat alliance was in office. Sheikh Hasina, then leader of the opposition, was apparently the target.
Although Sheikh Hasina fortunately escaped the attack unhurt, her hearing was affected badly.
At least 13 grenades were thrown from the rooftops of a nearby building soon after Sheikh Hasina had finished her speech at the rally.
Then the two cases -- one under the Explosive Substances Act and another for murder -- were filed in connection with the grenade attack.
The then BNP-led government formed a one-member investigation committee comprising of High Court Justice Jainul Abedin on August 22, 2004.
As the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was later assigned to deal with the cases, they made a cooked-up story of Joj Mia and arrested him with 20 other people in connection with the incident in June 2005.
During the remand period, CID collected a false confession from Joj Mia, in which he said that he had taken part in the grenade attack in exchange of Tk 5000 following the orders of his big brothers.
Read more: Will seek Tarique’s capital punishment in grenade attack case: Quader
On June 11, 2008, CID assistant police superintendent Fazlul Kabir submitted two separate charge-sheets in the two cases, accusing 22 people, including Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami operations commander Mufti Abdul Hannan and Abdus Salam Pintu, where Joj Mia was proven not guilty.
A court on August 3, 2009 ordered further investigation into the cases following petitions filed by the prosecution after the Awami League came to power.
In July, 2011, a supplementary charge-sheet was submitted accusing 30 more people, including Tarique Rahman, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, Abul Harris Chowdhury and the Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.
Of the charge-sheeted accused, Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, and militant leaders Mufti Abdul Hannan and Sharif Shahedul Alam alias Bipul--were dropped from the cases as they had been executed after convictions in other cases.
Sabotage case: 7 including Jubo Dal leaders Tuku, Nayan remanded
A Dhaka court on Sunday placed seven persons, including the president and vice president of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal, the BNP's youth front, on four days' remand each in a sabotage case filed at Paltan model police station.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Shafi Uddin pronounced the order after investigation officer Sub Inspector Bijan Kumar Biswash of Paltan police station produced the accused before court and sought seven-day remand for interrogation.
The remanded are- Jubo Dal President Sultan Salahuddin Tuku , Vice President Noor Islam Nayan Mokhles Mia, Mosharof Hossain Khokan, Joj Mia, Farid Uddin Rana and Md Abdullah.
Read more: Jubo Dal president, VP arrested while returning from Rajshahi rally
Senior advocate Borhan Uddin appealed for bail of the accused seeking cancellation of the remand.
The defense lawyer said the government is indiscriminately filing cases against BNP activists and leaders fearing the December 10 rally of BNP in Dhaka.
Police are also arresting the BNP activists in these false cases and seeking remand, he said in his appeal.
Dhaka Metropolitan public Prosecutor Abdullah Abu represented the state during the hearing.
According to the complaint, the accused brought out a torch procession at the city's Paltan area illegally, gave provocative statements against the government, vandalized vehicles and injured police members in an attack.
Read more: BNP leader Ishraque comes under attack by BCL in city
SI Kamrul Hasan filed a case against 30 people including BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and also accused 150 more anonymous people in this regard at Paltan police station.
On December 3, around 11 pm, Jubo Dal leader Tulku and Nayan were arrested from the capital's Amin bazar area while returning from BNP’s Rajshahi divisional rally.