United News of Bangladesh

The Traffic Department of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has filed 3,251 cases for various traffic rules violation in  the capital over the past two days till Friday evening. During the operations, 102 vehicles were dumped, and 43 vehicles were towed for non-compliance with traffic regulations, said Deputy Commissioner (media) of DMP Talebur Rahman . ACC grills ex-BFIU chief Masud Biswas The drives were carried out on Thursday (January 16) and Friday (January 17) as part of the DMP’s ongoing efforts to ensure traffic discipline in Dhaka city, he added. The Traffic Division said such operations will continue to uphold traffic regulations in the metropolitan area.  

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has started quizzing former head of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) Masud Biswas who was arrested by detectives on Saturday. Masud will be produced before a court after initial interrogation, said ACC’s public relations officer Akhtarul Islam. ACC started an investigation against Masud Biswas over graft allegation during the interim government’s tenure. ACC files cases against ex-railway minister Zillul Hakim, wife and son According to the complaints, Masud facilitated irregularities taking bribes from top corrupt officials during the previous government’s tenure. He had a silent role in the laundering of TK 92,000 crore in 24 major cases, including the Hallmark and Bismillah Group scandal. Besides, allegations surfaced that the Cash Transaction Report (CTR) was not verified by the BFIU with Masud being identified as the primary figure behind this oversight.  

Allegations have been lodged with the International Crimes Tribunal against 41 people, including Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and former military advisor Tarique Ahmed Siddique, over the killing of Dr Fayez Ahmed, Naib-e-Ameer of Lakshmipur district Jamaat-e-Islami, who was shot dead at his residence. The accused also included former Home Minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, former Additional Director General of the RAB Ziaul Ahsan, and former CEO of the RAB-11 Tarique Sayed Mohammad. The victim’s son, Dr Hasanul Bannah, submitted the allegation of crimes against humanity at the office of the court’s chief prosecutor, said plaintiff’s lawyer Abdus Sattar Palowan. According to the allegations, an armed group in a vehicle displaying Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) stickers arrived under Dr Foyez’s house in the Temuhani area of the district headquarters around 12:30 am on December 13, 2013. The group forcibly broke open the gate and entered the victim’s home. Read: BNP lodges complaints with ICT over 2276 crossfires,153 enforced disappearances They dragged Dr Foyez from his room on the second floor to the rooftop of the three-storey building, where they assaulted him, striking his head, face and other parts of his body with the butts of their firearms. As per the accusations, Tarique Sayed Mohammad shot Dr Foyez in the knee, causing severe bleeding. To ensure his death, the attackers threw him off the rooftop. They then transported his body to the Sadar Hospital morgue. Read more: ICT issues arrest warrants against Sheikh Hasina, 10 others The death of Dr Foyez, a widely respected humanitarian physician in the district, sparked nationwide outrage and condemnation.

The High Court has extended the status quo on Nagad’s administrator until the final order is made, thus preventing Bangladesh Bank-appointed administrator and management board from taking any fresh action beyond regular business operations. The order was issued on Wednesday (Jan 15) by a bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debasish Roy Chowdhury, which also stated that a final verdict on the matter will come by January 30, 2025. Earlier on December 18, 2024, the High Court imposed a two-week status quo on all activities of the administrator appointed in Nagad. When contacted, Assistant Attorney General Muzahedul Islam Shahin has said a writ petition concerning Bangladesh Bank and Nagad is currently under judicial consideration, and a status quo order is in place regarding Nagad. Govt condemns attack on ethnic minority students in Dhaka Barrister Muhammad Nawaz Jamir, representing Nagad, said, “The Honorable High Court has issued an order maintaining status quo on administrative activities concerning Nagad. This restricts any new decisions from being implemented until the final judgment is rendered. The court also observed that Bangladesh Bank has engaged in several illegal actions. Once the final judgment is delivered, these actions will be reversed, and appropriate legal measures will be taken.” Led by Barrister Muhammad Jamiruddin Sircar, some other senior lawyer Advocate Md Abul Kalam Khan (Daud), Advocate Md Ziaur Rahman and Advocate Md Jamilur Rahman represented Nagad during the hearing. The legal dispute began in September soon after the Bangladesh Bank appointed Muhammad Badiuzzaman Dider as Nagad’s administrator on August 21, 2024. The banking regulator also dissolved Nagad’s previous board and reconstituted it with the beneficiary group of the competitor company. The Bangladesh Bank did all these things in Nagad under the Payment and Settlement System Act 2024, although that act was not gazetted till that time. Challenging all these activities, Md Shafayet Alam, an executive director of Nagad, filed the writ petition with the High Court. After the hearing, the High Court also issued a rule nisi, questioning the legality of the administrator’s appointment. Meanwhile, the High Court on Wednesday extended the status quo on all internal affairs of Nagad’s administrator.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old youth over raping a 10-year-old flower seller under the Shahbagh metro rail station in the capital. Ramna Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Md Tarekul Islam said the youth, named Raihan, was arrested on Wednesday night. Hearing screams, passersby came forward and detained the youth, he said. The girl was rescued with serious injuries and admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. The girl lives with his grandmother in Shahbagh area and sells flowers. A case will be filed, added the OC.

The Airport Armed Police Battalion (APBn) detained a man with 2,009 pieces of yaba tablets concealed inside his body on Wednesday evening. The detainee was identified as Md. Shah Alam Sheikh, 41. Ex-NBR member Matiur's wife sent to jail Acting on a tip-off, a team from the APBn conducted a drive in the northern area of the Balaka Building at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and detained him. During interrogation, he admitted that he was carrying the yaba tablets. Later, 2,009 pieces of yaba were recovered from inside the rectum of the detainee. He was transporting the yaba tablets on a domestic Bangladesh Airlines flight (BG-434) from Cox’s Bazar to Dhaka. ACC sues Shamim Osman, wife, brother-in-law A case was later filed against him under Section 36(1), Subsection 10(b) of the Narcotics Control Act 2018 at the Airport Police Station. Authorities said that Alam Sheikh has been involved in drug trafficking and sales for a long time.

Layla Kaniz, wife of former National Board of Revenue (NBR) member Matiur Rahman and a former upazila parishad chairman, has been sent to jail on corruption charges. Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Zakir Hossain Galib issued the order on Wednesday, ACC prosecutor Mir Ahmed Ali Salam confirmed. Earlier, ACC Assistant Director Md Ismail, also the case investigator, had sought a seven-day remand for further questioning. However, the court denied the remand plea and scheduled a hearing for January 19. Goat scandal: Ex-NBR member Matiur Rahman, wife arrested The ACC's remand application stated that Kaniz, a former government employee, abused her position to unlawfully acquire and trade a substantial amount of placement shares. Investigators are seeking to determine if others were involved in these transactions.  The petition also mentioned the need to investigate her unexplained wealth and gather further details through questioning. On January 6, the ACC filed the case accusing Kaniz of amassing illegal assets worth Tk13.01 crore and concealing additional assets worth Tk1.53 crore. ACC sues Shamim Osman, wife, brother-in-law Earlier, Matiur Rahman and his wife were arrested from Bashundhara in the capital by the Detective Branch (DB) of DMP on Tuesday, police confirmed on Wednesday.  

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has filed a case against former Narayanganj-4 lawmaker Shamim Osman and his family members for illegally amassing wealth and engaging in money laundering. ACC Deputy Director Jalal Uddin Ahmed filed the case at the ACC’s Narayanganj district office on Wednesday. Shamim Osman’s wife, Salma Osman Lipi, who is the chairperson of K Telecommunications Limited, along with the company’s Managing Director and Shamim’s brother-in-law, Tanvir Ahmed, have been named as accused in the case. They are alleged to have laundered and embezzled over Tk 193 crore.

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC has disconnected the illegal gas connection at Mubtadi Washing Factory, a large washing plant located on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway in Manikganj as part of ongoing drive against illegal gas connections across its command areas. According to Titas Gas, the owner of the factory Md. Shafiqul Islam, was illegally using gas by installing two unauthorised service lines – one 02" (approximately 100 feet) and one 01" (approximately 300 feet) – from the existing 10" × 50 PSIG distribution line on the west side of the Dhaka-Aricha highway. A boiler with a capacity of 500 kg and nine dryers in the factory were using gas at a load of 3,300 cubic feet per hour, all through illegal connections. Titas Gas officials capped the illegal service lines and filed a general diary (GD) with the Savar Police Station regarding the matter. Titas Gas PLC has been conducting drives to identify and sever illegal gas lines since the new managing director took charge. Titas employees, cops attacked during drive against illegal gas line As part of the ongoing campaign, Titas Gas, led by an executive magistrate, has been carrying out operations in areas including Keraniganj, Kamrangirchar, Munshiganj, Narayanganj, Savar, Tongi, Gazipur, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, Gulshan, Mymensingh, Meghnaghat, and Narsingdi. Between September 2024 and January 14, 2025, a total of 19,077 illegal gas lines including 149 industrial, 94 commercial, and 18,834 residential connections were disconnected. Besides, 44,700 burners were disconnected, and 95 kilometers of pipeline were removed as part of the operation.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested five members of a mugging gang from Dhaka’s Kadamtali area. The arrestees are Mohammad Akter Hossain, 45, Harunur Rashid, 50, Kamal Hossain, 45, Mohammad Nuruddin, 48, and Mohammad Hanif, 55, said DC Media of DMP Talebur Rahma on Wednesday. 3 arrested over ex-Khulna councillor murder in Cox's Bazar Eleven mobile phones, a Hiace car, and a power bank, were seized from them at the time. Acting on a tip-off, the Anti-Illegal Arms and Canine Team of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit of DMP conducted the operation around 2:00 am on Wednesday. Primary interrogation revealed that the gang had been active in the capital for over a year. They had targeted people in the Sayedabad, Jatrabari, Rayerbagh, and Signboard areas of Dhaka, looting valuables before dividing the stolen money among  themselves. They also sold the snatched mobile phones in Gulistan. Five members of mobile phone theft gang arrested in Dhaka  The interrogation further revealed that the gang was responsible for snatching from more than 500 people. Several cases have been filed against the arrestees at the Kadamtali Police Station. DMP will take further legal action against the arrestees.