United News of Bangladesh

Two air passengers have been detained with a big haul of gold weighing around 17 kilograms at MAG Osmani International Airport, Sylhet, said authorities on Thursday morning. The detainees are Aftab Uddin and Sayeed Ahmed. Details about them could not be known yet.    Officials said the flight ‘BG-252’ of Biman Bangladesh Airlines landed at the airport at 8:26am after departing Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Air passengers on Sylhet-Dhaka route facing severe ticket crisis Wishing not to be named, an intelligence official of the airport said the members of the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and Customs conducted a search drive on suspicion and found the gold in two bags belonging to them. Later, the consignment of gold was seized for evading duty, he said.

A Dhaka court on Wednesday sent former chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Shibli Rubaiyat Ul Islam to jail in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib passed the order in the afternoon and set Thursday for the hearing on remand petitions. According to court sources, Shibli Rubaiyat was produced before the court at around 4:30 pm and the ACC sought a 10-day remand for him. Public Prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir represented the ACC during the hearing. On Wednesday, ACC Deputy Director (money laundering) Md Masudur Rahman filed a case against Shibli Rubaiyat and five others over allegations of bribery and financial irregularities. Ex-BSEC Chairman Shibli Rubayat arrested in Dhaka The other accused in this case include Monarch Holding Corporation Chairman Javeed A Matin, Jhine Bangla Fabrics owner Ariful Islam, and three officials of Mutual Trust Bank PLC’s Dilkusha branch—ex-foreign exchange department in-charge Israt Jahan, Vice President Iqbal Hossain and SEVP Syed Mahbub Morshed. According to the case statement, Shibli Rubaiyat took bribes amounting to Tk 1.92 crore by falsifying a house rental agreement. Additionally, he was accused of orchestrating fraudulent exports by fabricating sales contracts. Bank officials, in collusion with others, reportedly brought $361,000 into Bangladesh without proper documentation and customer due diligence, violating banking norms. Of this amount, Shibli Rubaiyat personally received Tk 1.84 crore.

The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has imposed a fine of Tk 10 lakh on Takaful Islami Insurance Limited, a publicly listed insurer, for irregularities found in its 2022 special audit report. IDRA announced the penalty on Wednesday, saying that the fine was initially set at Tk 14 lakh. However, following a request from the company, the regulatory authority waived Tk 4 lakh after a review hearing. Ex-BSEC Chairman Shibli Rubayat arrested in Dhaka The fine was imposed after IDRA detected multiple violations in the company’s financial and operational practices during the audit. Details of the specific irregularities were not disclosed in the statement. Takaful Islami Insurance, established in 2001, was founded by a group of businessmen and clients of a private-sector Islamic bank. The company began operations with a capital of Tk 6 crore, according to its official website.

Police have arrested three individuals including the main accused in connection with the murder of a woman from Narail who was reportedly lured to Bagerhat on the pretext of marriage, strangled, and her body dumped in a pond with bricks tied to it. The victim, Suraiya Sharmin Drishti, 33, was reportedly in a relationship with Saidur Rahman, 35, one of the arrested suspects. The other two arrestees are Azizur Rahman Nayan, 32, and Shahidur Rahman, 45, both residents of Joypur village in Fakirhat, Bagerhat. Police arrested the suspects from different locations on Wednesday afternoon. Body of missing woman recovered from Bagerhat pond According to Fakirhat Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) SM Alamgir Kabir, Drishti had been in a relationship with Saidur Rahman for three years. On January 31, she travelled to Fakirhat to marry Saidur and stayed at the house of Azizur Rahman Nayan, her friend’s husband, where Saidur also arrived later that evening. However, the marriage could not take place that night as planned. Drishti was strangled to death that night. Around 4 am on February 1, the suspects tied bricks to her body and dumped her in a pond in Joypur village under Nalda-Moubhog union, Fakirhat upazila. Police recovered Drishti’s body on Tuesday after being alerted by locals. Her mother had filed a general diary (GD) at Narail Sadar Police Station on February 1 after losing contact with her daughter. Drishti, an outsourced worker at Narail Sadar Hospital, was married to Mahfuzur Rahman and had a ten-year-old daughter. Drishti’s mother later filed a murder case with Fakirhat Police Station, naming Saidur Rahman and Azizur Rahman as the accused. OC Alamgir Kabir said that the suspects are being interrogated.

Police arrested 25 people during a special anti-crime operation at Mohammadpur in the capital  on Tuesday. A team led by Deputy Commissioner (Tejgaon Division) Md. Ibne Mizan conducted the drive between 2:00 pm and 11:00 pm and arrested them, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Assistant Commissioner (Media) Jahangir Kabir. Among those detained were identified drug dealers, professional muggers, terrorists, thieves, and wanted criminals, according to Mohammadpur police. 2 ‘drug dealers’ arrested with 50 kgs cannabis in Dhaka Law enforcers also recovered illegal drugs and locally made weapons during the operation. The arrestees, including a juvenile offender, were sent to court in connection with relevant cases, police said.

Detectives have arrested two alleged members of a drug syndicate along with 50 kilograms of cannabis and a pickup van used for drug transportation from the capital’s Dakshin Basabo area early Wednesday. The arrestees were Md Ibrahim,26 and Md Shipon Hossain. Tipped off that a group of drug dealers would be handing over illegal cannabis near Basabo Bishwa road Flyover on Atish Dipankar Road a DB team conducted a drive in at 5:05 am. DMP files 1,569 cases for violating traffic rules During the operation, DB officials arrested Ibrahim and Shipon with 50kg of cannabis worth around Tk 10 lakh and a pickup van used to transport the contraband drug, said AC media of Dhaka Metropolitan Police(DMP) Jahangir Kabir A case was filed against the arrestees under the Narcotics Control Act with Sabujbagh Police Station, he added. Ex-BSEC Chairman Shibli Rubayat arrested in Dhaka

The High Court (HC) has acquitted 47 convicts including nine death row ones in a case filed over attempt to kill former prime minister Sheikh Hasina in Pabna around 30 years back. An HC bench consisting of Justice Muhammad Mahbub-ul-Islam and Justice Hamidur Rahman passed the order on Wednesday, said Barrister Kaisar Kamal who stood for the defendants at the court. Earlier on January 30 this year, the court held a hearing on a petition submitted by the convicts and the death reference, and set February 5 to deliver its judgment. Lawyer Kaisar said a Pabna court sentenced nine people to death, 25 to life term and 13 others to 10 years in jail in 2019 for attack on Sheikh Hasina. All the convicts were leaders and activists of BNP and the sentences were politically-motivated , he said. Khaleda Zia, 35 others acquitted in Cumilla sabotage case According to the case statement, a group of BNP men led by leader Jakaria Pintu opened fire targeting Sheikh Hasina to kill her when she was travelling to Saidpur from Khulna by Rupsa Express on September 23, 1994. Later, the then Ishwardi police station’s Officer-in-Charge Nazrul Islam filed a case in this regard. The Criminal Investigation Department submitted a chargesheet against 52 accused on April 3 in 1997 after investigating the case. Khaleda, Tarique acquitted in Zia Orphanage graft case Five out of the accused were exempted from the charges as they had died. On July 3 in 2019, the Pabna court handed down the verdict. Later, the death references were sent to the HC while the convicts submitted a petition with the court seeking acquittal.  

The Traffic Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has filed 1,569 cases for breaching traffic rules during a drive conducted across the city. Additionally, 110 vehicles were dumped, and 52 were towed during the operation on Tuesday, according to a regular statistics served from the Traffic Division. The DMP vows to continue drive to bring back discipline on the city streets.

Former chairman of the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) Shibli Rubayat-Ul-Islam has been arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP). DMP Additional Commissioner and DB chief Rezaul Karim Mallik confirmed the arrest, stating that Shibli was detained from his residence in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi around 10:30 pm on Tuesday. Passports of ex-BSEC chairman Shibli Rubayat, 8 others cancelled Shibli, who is also a professor at Dhaka University, was arrested in connection with cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), the DB chief added.

Dhaka, Feb 4 (UNB)-Bangladesh Bank has filed a fraud case against Mobile Financial Service Provider (MFSP) company Nagad. Arif Hossain Khan, Executive Director of the central bank said that the central bank's Payment Systems Department has filed the case against Nagad on charges of financial irregularities of Tk 645 crore. The case has been filed against 24 people, including 9 officials of the Bangladesh Postal Department. The accused include the former Managing Director of Nagad Tanvir A. Mishuk and a former Director General of the Postal Department. Officer-in-Charge of Motijheel Police Station Mezbah Uddin told reporters that the Bangladesh Bank has filed a case against Nagad on charges of fraud. After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5, the interim government appointed an administrator to Nagad. Independent audit clears Nagad of allegations Allegedly, there are irregularities in the management system of Nagad. The audit revealed several financial irregularities in Nagad, such as creating e-money worth Tk 6.0 billion without depositing cash in the bank. In addition, an unauthorized withdrawal of Tk 1,711 crore of government allowance from 41 distributor accounts has also been identified. It has been reported that the central bank has taken legal action based on the revelation of these irregularities.