United News of Bangladesh

A case has been filed in connection with violent clashes between two factions of Tabligh Jamaat at the Biswa Ijtema ground in Tongi over control of the venue, police said. Maulana Zubair's follower M Alam Hossain filed the murder case on Thursday evening against 29 people at the Tongi West Police Station, naming Syed Wasiful Islam as the main accused. Iskander Habibur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Tongi West Police Station, said Mufti Muaz bin Noor, a follower of Maulana Saad Kandlavi, was arrested in connection with the violent clashes on Thursday night. He added that the police operation to apprehend other suspects is ongoing, but declined to provide further details about the accused to protect the integrity of the investigation. Earlier, four people were killed and 40 others injured in a clash between two factions of Tabligh Jamaat at the Biswa Ijtema ground in Tongi early Wednesday. The deceased included Amirul Islam Bachhu, 70, from Kishoreganj, Bilal Hossain, 60, from Faridpur, and Tajul Islam, 70, from Bogura. The identity of the fourth victim remains unknown. According to Commissioner Nazmul Karim Khan of Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP), the violence erupted when followers of Maulana Saad attempted to enter the venue, prompting a counter-attack by supporters of Maulana Zubair around 3 am. Meanwhile, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury warned that those responsible for the violence would be held accountable.

The High Court has observed that the August 21, 2004 grenade attack case should be sent to the Home Ministry for a fresh investigation by a qualified and expert agency to ensure justice. The HC bench of Justice AKM Asaduzzaman and Justice Syed Enayet Hossain made the remarks while delivering the full text of its verdict on Thursday. The HC also directed the concerned office to forward a copy of this order to the Home Ministry for appropriate and necessary action. "It is a heinous, tragic incident in the history of this country, where many people lost their lives, including then Awami League leader Ivy Rahman. The killings need to be investigated properly and independently to ensure justice, which has been completely absent in this case until today. In this context, we believe the case should be referred to the Ministry of Home Affairs to take necessary steps and initiate a fresh investigation by a proper and expert agency to ensure the proper administration of justice," said the High Court bench. HC questions validity of canceling Channel I journalist’s press accreditation On December 1, the bench overturned the verdict of a lower court in two cases filed over the August 21 grenade attack, acquitting all convicts, including BNP's Acting Chairperson Tarique Rahman and former state minister for home affairs Lutfozzaman Babar. The court also declared the charge sheet in the case “illegal.” The bench delivered the judgment after holding a hearing on death references (trial court documents for confirmation of capital punishment) and appeals filed by some of the convicts of the cases. The grenade attack, a shocking incident, occurred on Dhaka's Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004. At least 24 people, including Awami League’s women affairs secretary and late President Zillur Rahman’s wife Ivy Rahman, were killed. Three hundred others were also injured. Sheikh Hasina survived but suffered hearing impairment. On October 10, 2018, a Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal issued a verdict in one of the cases (pertaining to murder and explosives). The tribunal sentenced 19 people, including Lutfozzaman Babar and former deputy education minister Abdus Salam Pintu, to death. Besides, 19 others, including BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman, were handed life imprisonment sentences, while 11 accused received various terms of imprisonment and fines.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in a crackdown on Thursday caught two brokers red-handed and took action against two corrupt staff for their involvement in bribery related to national identity card (NID) services of the Election Commission. A team of ACC conducted an enforcement operation at the Election Commission (EC) office in Dhaka’s Agargaon, targeting a network of corrupt staff and brokers who were allegedly involved in bribery related to NID card services. The members of the ACC’s enforcement team went undercover as service seekers and found evidence of bribery. 400,000 pending NID applications to be settled in 3 months: NID DG The operation was prompted by allegations that several staff members of the EC Secretariat and its National Identity Registration Wing, and members of law enforcement were involved in taking bribes for different NID services like personal data corrections and smart NID card printing. During the seven-hour operation, the four-member team, headed by ACC Deputy Director Atiqur Rahman, discovered that computer shop owners and brokers around the Election Commission office were demanding bribes in exchange for facilitating NID services. “Two brokers were detained red-handed during the operation, and two employees of the Election Commission were found to be directly involved. Immediate action was taken against the two employees for their involvement,” said an ACC release this evening. The enforcement team leant that an internal investigation, earlier conducted by the Election Commission, also confirmed that several employees within the Commission and its related projects were involved in bribery. 3 detained for bank robbery attempt in Keraniganj The team will now place a detailed report to the ACC, reviewing the collected documents and evidence. Team member and ACC Assistant Director Ashif Al Mahmud told reporters that they started the operation at 11 am today and found the bribery allegation to be true. "A network of bribery transactions has been created. From computer shopkeepers, Ansar members, brokers, policemen to the staff of the EC are involved in the network. We’ve primarily identified those who are involved," he said. About the ACC’s operation, Director General of EC’s National Identity Card (NID) Wing ASM Humayun Kabir said the detained persons are not from the EC, but rather brokers. He said they were trying to find out if anyone from the EC’s side is involved in the irregularities.  

Three robbers were detained by law enforcers in connection with an attempted robbery at  Jinjira branch of Rupali Bank in Dhaka's Keraniganj on Thursday afternoon. The detainees—Nirob, Riafat, and Arafat—were detained after their surrender, said Mazharul Islam, officer-in-charge of South Keraniganj Police Station. They were later taken to the RAB 10 headquarters for questioning. Journalist Turab killing: Ex-ADC of Sylhet Police Dastagir placed on 5-day remand OC Mazharul Islam mentioned that a press conference would be held later to provide further details to the media. Meanwhile, bank manager Shekhar Mondal declined to comment on the incident. No casualties were reported, and the bank is currently assessing the extent of any damages, the OC added. Earlier, the robbers entered the bank disguised as customers around 2 pm and held the bank staff hostage at gunpoint.

A Sylhet court on Thursday placed former additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) Sadeq Kawsar Dastagir on a five-day remand in connection with the killing of journalist ATM Turab during the anti-discrimination student movement. Sylhet Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abdul Momen ordered the remand while Dastagir was produced before the court. Advocate Abdur Rob, lawyer for the plaintiff, said that a seven-day remand had been sought and the court granted five days. HC summons Naogaon Public Prosecutor for ‘derogatory remarks’ about Senior Judicial Magistrate  A team of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) arrested Dastagir from Sherpur district on Wednesday. Another accused in the case, Constable Ujjal, was arrested in Dhaka on November 17 and is currently in jail following a five-day remand. The murder case was filed by the deceased’s brother Abul Hasan Md Azraf on August 19. The case named 18 individuals, including former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan and several high-ranking police officials, along with 200 to 250 unnamed individuals.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday filed a case against 58 individuals, including the son of S Alam Group Chairman Mohammad Saiful Alam, for embezzling Tk 1,092 crore from the Chaktai branch of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited (IBBL) in Chattogram. The accused include Ahsanul Alam, son of S Alam Group chairman; 34 bank officials, including former IBBL managing director and directors; as well as owners of borrower companies, ACC Deputy Director (Public Relations) Aktarul Islam told UNB. ACC launches investigation against Obaidul Quader, ex-secretary ABM Aminullah ACC Deputy Director and investigation team leader Md Yasser Arafat filed the case with ACC coordinated office Chattogram-1. The accused include Ahsanul Alam, Fasiul Alam, Kazi Shahidul Alam, Sirajul Kabir, Joynal Abedin, former director Md Selim Uddin, former vice-president Tanvir Ahmed, nominee director Syed Abu Asad, Chaktai branch head and assistant vice-president Monzur Hasan, Chaktai branch manager Ahsan Ullah, and the proprietor of Murad Enterprise, Gulam Sarwer Chowdhury. S Alam Group Chairman accuses Bangladesh Bank of “intimidation”, cites international protections The case statement said that the Chaktai branch of the bank disbursed Tk 966.65 crore in loans to Murad Enterprise on November 23, 2021, without receiving valid documents. The loan was approved in just six days without conducting a proper investigation after the company opened an account at the branch, it said.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Thursday decided to launch an investigation against former road, transport and bridges minister and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and former secretary ABM Aminullah Nabi. ACC spokesperson Aktarul Islam told UNB that ACC took the decision to investigate the complaint against Obaidul Quader and ABM Aminullah. The complaint sent to the ACC director general (special investigation) said that the process of purchasing 137 buses for the 20km specialized-lane from airport to Gazipur was halted as the former minister and the then secretary wanted to purchase the buses through a company of their preference. They delayed the entire process after failing to do that. Gazipur resident and businessperson Jannatul Baki sought information in this regard under the Right to Information Act on July 25. However, the BRT authorities said they were unable to provide any information.  Although six companies took part in the first tender, there was not enough competition. So, questions were raised regarding the competitiveness of the second tender where the number of participants was two. At the same time, the cost of the project was growing exponentially as the dollar exchange rate at the time was Tk 106 during the first tender.

The High Court has summoned Naogaon Public Prosecutor Abu Zaid Md Rafiqul Islam for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Senior Judicial Magistrate Tariqul Islam. The High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Debashish Roy Chowdhury passed the order on Wednesday along with a contempt of court rule, taking suo moto notice of the issue. HC finds 15th amendment conflicting, clears path to restore caretaker govt PP Rafiqul Islam has been asked to appear before the court on January 6 to explain his actions, according to Deputy Attorney General Tanim Khan. Earlier in December, Senior Judicial Magistrate Tariqul Islam submitted an application to the Registrar General in this regard, which was signed by seven magistrates. HC order declaring ‘Joy Bangla’ as national slogan suspended Later, when the petition was brought to the attention of the Chief Justice, he directed that the contempt of court case be sent to the relevant bench for further action.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police arrested two more staff members of the Public Service Commission (PSC) in connection with question paper leak. The arrestees have been identified as Md Abdul Azim, 49, an Office Assistant in the Advertisement Department, and Rupan Chandra Das, 44, a sweeper.  They were arrested from in front of the PSC headquarters in the capital’s Agargaon area on Tuesday, said CID’s Special Superintendent (Media Wing) Azad Rahman. Mother, daughter poisoned to death: Man arrested in Dhaka During the operation, law enforcement officials recovered two mobile phones, question papers from various PSC exams, admit cards, bank cheques, and cash from their possession. A case was filed on July 9, 2024, at Paltan Model Police Station in connection with the question paper leaks. So far, a total of 22 individuals have been arrested in the case. ACC files cases against ex-MPs Nizam Hazari and Naimur Rahman Durjoy over acquiring illegal wealth During initial interrogations, the arrested suspects admitted to their involvement in leaking question papers for various recruitment exams, including the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) and PSC exams, in exchange for money over the past several years.  

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Wednesday filed separate cases against former Feni-2 MP Nizam Uddin Hazari, and former Bangladesh cricket team captain and former Manikganj-1 MP Naimur Rahman Durjoy on charges of acquiring illegal wealth. The cases were filed on Wednesday after the primary investigation, ACC Director General (Prevention) Md. Akhter Hossain said. Primary investigators show evidence of unusual transactions amounting to Tk 548.8 crore in 82 bank accounts linked to Nizam Hazari. Of this, the ACC alleges Tk 187.2 million constitutes illegal wealth. The case was lodged at the ACC Integrated District Office, Dhaka-1, by Deputy Director Mohd. Nurul Huda. Charges have been brought against the accused under Sections 27(1) of the ACC Act 2004, 4(2), 4(3) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2012 and 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1947. The statement said that Nizam Hazari deposited TK 280.14 crore and withdrew TK 268.66 crore in 82 bank accounts. He has TK 12.61 crore deposited in his bank account. On the other hand, the case against Naimur Rahman Durjoy was filed at the ACC's Integrated District Office Dhaka-1 by Director Md. Abul Hasnat on charges of acquiring illegal assets of TK 11.21 crore. Charges have been filed against Durjoy under Section 27 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004, Sections 4 (2) and 4 (3) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2012, and Section 5 (2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947. The statement mentioned that the former cricketer and former MP received TK 42.2 crore from Manikganj Power Generation Limited through abuse of power. The ACC launched its probe into the financial dealings of both former MPs last September. As part of the investigation, the commission summoned records of bank accounts held by Durjoy and his wife, Farhana Rahman, on September 26. Nizam Uddin Hazari, who won the last three parliamentary elections using the boat symbol, is accused of acquiring illegal wealth, buying land and commercial buildings in various districts including Dhaka and Feni under his own name, and laundering money abroad.