Habiganj, Aug 22 (UNB) – A court here on Thursday awarded life imprisonment to four people in two cases lodged in connection with a clash that killed three people at Puran Patharia village in Baniachang upazila in 1998.

Additional District and Session’s Judge SM Nasim Reza also fined the convicts Tk 10,000 each and in case of failure to pay the fine, they will have to serve two more years in jail.

The lifers are Torab Ali, Suruj Mia, Ali Mohammad and Korom Ali of the village.

According to the prosecution, two groups of people -- one led by Ali Mohammad and the other by Korom Ali -– had long been at loggerheads over property-related dispute.

As a sequel of the dispute, both the groups locked into a clash on September 29, 1998 that left three people -- Nur Mohammad of Ali Mohammad group, and Shamsul Haque and Afil Uddin of Korom Ali group dead.

Ali Mohammad lodged a case accusing 100 people over the killing of Nur Mohammad while Atiqunnesa filed another case against 46 people over the murder of Afil Uddin and Shamsul Haque.

In the Afil and Shamsul killing case, Torab Ali, Suruj Mia and Ali Mohammad were given life imprisonment while Korom Ali was awarded life in prison in the Nur Mohammad murder case.

Dhaka, Aug 21 (UNB) – The High Court on Wednesday sought a report containing the details, including names, of the 11 investigation officers appointed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to deal with 33 cases against Jaha Alam who languished in jail instead of the real accused.

The bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader passed the order after the ACC submitted a report before it stating that departmental cases were filed against the 11 IOs.

It also asked the national anti-graft body to mention as to why they were sued, fixing August 28 for the next hearing.

Khurshid Alam Khan stood for the ACC while Advocate Md Asaduzzaman moved for Brac Bank and Advocate Sheikh Md Jakir Hossain represented Sonali bank.    

On July 16, the HC directed the ACC to submit a detailed report on the steps taken by it against the officials who were responsible for Jaha Alam’s ordeal.

Before that, ACC’s internal probe body filed a report on July 11 to the HC stating that their investigating officers were responsible for the false implication of Jaha Alam and accused Brac and other banks of misleading the investigation.

On March 6, the court sought detailed documents of 33 cases, in which Jaha Alam was incarcerated, and bank statements as affidavits within April 10.

After languishing in jail for three years instead of the real accused in the corruption cases, Jaha Alam was freed from jail on February 4 as the High Court acquitted him.

Jaha Alam was released after the High Court issued a suo moto order and asked the ACC to submit case documents in the form of affidavits.

The jute mill worker had been in jail since February 2016 in ACC cases for misappropriating Sonali Bank money. The real accused, Abu Salek, is absconding.

Dhaka, Aug 20 (UNB) – Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said both Bangladesh and Myanmar are “fully ready” to resume the repatriation of Rohingyas to their homeland but some Rohingya leaders and NGOs are reportedly discouraging them to return.

“We’ve heard some Rohingya leaders emerged there. They don’t want the return of any Rohingya (to their homeland). They’re trying to stop returnees. Some INGOs and NGOs are instigating them (Rohingyas),” he told a small group of reporters at his office in the afternoon.

He said Bangladesh wants to see Rohingyas’ return to Rakhine State as soon as possible. The two countries are trying to resume the repatriation in a small scale from Thursday.  

“We want the safe and secure return of the Rohingya and free mobility in their own region. Myanmar has agreed on that,” Dr Momen said adding that many Rohingyas are willing to go back.

The Foreign Minister mentioned that Rohingyas are looking for mainly citizenship and they, as per their demand, will not go until the citizenship is given.

“Myanmar is saying it’s a process,” Dr Momen said adding that Rohingyas will get cards after their return and then they have a process of getting citizenship.

On July 29, Bangladesh handed a fresh list of 25,000 Rohingyas from around 6,000 families to Myanmar for verification before their repatriation to Rakhine State.

With the latest list, Bangladesh has so far handed the names of around 55,000 Rohingyas to the Myanmar authorities and around 8,000 of them have been verified.

Dr Momen said Myanmar only cleared 3,450 Rohingyas for beginning repatriation. “We want them to go back as soon as possible.”

He said peace in the region will be hampered if their stay becomes longer in Bangladesh. Peace in the region depends on peaceful resolution of Rohingya problem, Dr Momen added.

Responding to a question, Dr Momen said China is very much involved in it and is helping Bangladesh convince Myanmar to take back their nationals.

Earlier in the day, he discussed the Rohingya repatriation issue with visiting Indian External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar at a bilateral meeting.

On Rohingya issue, Jaishankar said they agreed that the “safe, speedy and sustainable” return of Rohingyas to their place of origin in Rakhine is in the national interest of the three countries -- Bangladesh, Myanmar and India.

“We reaffirmed our readiness to provide more assistance for the displaced persons in Bangladesh and to improve socioeconomic condition in Rakhine State,” he said.

The Indian minister appreciated the humanitarian gesture of Bangladesh in supporting a large number of displaced people from Rakhine and assured India’s continued support for their safe, speedy and sustainable return to Myanmar.

Bangladesh is now hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas and most of them entered the country since August 25, 2017. Bangladesh and Myanmar signed the repatriation deal on November 23, 2017.

On January 16, 2018 Bangladesh and Myanmar inked a document on “Physical Arrangement”, which was supposed to facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their homeland.

The “Physical Arrangement” stipulates that the repatriation will be completed preferably within two years from the start.

The first batch of Rohingyas was scheduled to return on November 15 last year but it was halted amid unwillingness of Rohingyas to go back for lack of a congenial environment in Rakhine.

Dhaka, Aug 20 (UNB) – The High Court on Tuesday granted bail for four weeks to the Mohammadpur thana unit president of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) in a case filed over snatching sacrificial goats before Eid-ul-Azha in Mohammadpur area of the city.

The HC bench of Justice Obaidul Hassan and SM Kuddus Zaman passed the order when the BCL leader, Mujahid Azmi Tanna, surrendered before the court and sought bail.

Anjuman Ara Begum who stood for Tanna said they filed a bail petition on August 18.

On August 11, senior warrant officer of Rapid Action Battalion-2 M Farukh Hossain filed the case with Mohammadpur Police Station against nine people, including Tanna.

According to the case statement, five goat traders brought a total of 212 goats in a truck from Jashore and Jhenaidah to the capital in the morning of August 11 to sell those ahead of Eidu-ul-Azha.

When they reached Babar Road in Mohammadpur, they were taken to Jahuri Mahalla along with their truck and kept confined to a club there.

Later, a patrol team of Rab rescued the traders along with the truckload of goats.

They also detained three alleged snatchers – Yasir Arafat, Jahidul Islam and Mohammad Raihan -- from the spot and handed them over to police.
 
Later, they were placed on a three-day remand when they confessed to their crime, said Sajib Ghosh, investigation officer of the case.

He said BCL men set up a makeshift cattle market by their office at Babar Road and they used to extort money from traders after holding them hostage. “Traders were also forced to take goats to their haat,” he said.

Dhaka, Aug 19 (UNB) – The High Court on Monday wants to know the details of when the police SP of Barguna briefed media that Ayesha Siddika Minni had given a confessional statement over the murder of her husband Rifat Sharif.

The HC bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman asked the lawyer of Minni ZI Panna Khan to submit the details in affidavit form by 2pm on Tuesday, clarifying whether the briefing actually took place before or after the statement Minni gave under Section 164 of the CrPC.

The interrogation of Minni, how she has shown arrested, produced before the court after her arrest, her time in remand, mode of interrogation while she was in remand, should all be mentioned in the supplementary report, it said.

On August 8, the High Court refused to grant bail to Ayesha Siddika Minni in a case filed over the killing of her husband Rifat Sharif.

A bench of Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman denied bail to Minni saying that the court can issue a rule seeking explanation as to why she won’t be granted bail, but can’t grant her bail right now. The court said that they have to examine the confessional statement of the accused in the case. 

Minni’s legal team withdrew the bail petition at that. 

Rifat Sharif, 22, was attacked with sharp weapons near the main gate of Barguna Government College on June 26. Minni appeared to be trying to protect him during the attack.

Police have so far arrested 16 people over the murder. Besides, main accused Sabbir Ahmed alias Nayon Bond was killed in a reported gunfight with law enforcers on July 2.

Police arrested Minni on July 16 over the murder of her husband and was denied bail several times. She reportedly confessed to her involvement in the murder before the court on July 19, two days after her arrest.

On July 31, Minni filed a petition with a Barguna court seeking withdrawal of her confessional statement over the murder.