law-order
Youth arrested for raping girl in Manikganj
Police on Friday arrested a youth on charge of raping a 12-year-old girl at a fair in Singair upazila of Manikgaj district, said police.
The arrestee was identified as Sharif Miah, 22, son of Md Shahidullah of Khaserchar village in the upazila.
Safiqul Islam, Officer-in-charge (OC) of Singair Police Station, said the teenager was working with her parents at their makeshift snacks shop at a four-day fair organized marking the holy Ashura in the Khaserchar area.
Sharif, also a tea seller of the fair, took the girl to an orchard of papaya in absence of the victim’s parents at the shop and raped her over the night, said he.
Read: Hubby 'confesses' to killing female doctor at Dhaka hotel
Though the parents looked for her the entire night, she returned home in the morning and disclosed the matter to them, the OC also said.
“The accused was arrested from the Khaserhcar area when we came to know about the incident through Dhalla police camp, he said adding that the victim was also sent to Manikganj Sadar Hospital for medical test.
The victim’s father filed a case against the accused under Women and Children Repression and Prevention Act at the police station, added the police officer.
Hubby 'confesses' to killing female doctor at Dhaka hotel
The husband of the 28-year-old female doctor found dead in a
Dhaka hotel room has confessed to killing her, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said on Friday.
"During sustained interrogation, Rezaul Karim Reza told us that he took his wife, Dr Jannatul Nayeem Sritika, to the hotel on the pretext of celebrating her birthday and then stabbed her before sliting her throat," said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director, legal and media wing, at Rab headquarters.
Reza was arrested on Thursday night by members of Rab-2 and 7 from the Muradpur area of Chattogram city.
On August 10, Sritika's body was recovered from the fifth-floor room of Family Service Apartment in the Panthapath area of the capital.
Also read: Dhaka hotel murder: Slain doctor's boyfriend arrested from Chattogram
Sritika was undertaking gynaecology training from Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) after completing her MBBS from Moghbazar Community Medical College.
Next day, a case was filed at Kalabagan police station accusing Reza, following a complaint from the victim's father.
Reza, who works as a senior executive at a private company, hails from Cox’s Bazar. Rab recovered Reza’s blood-stained clothes, his mobile phone and his wife's cell phone from his possession, post-arrest.
According to Reza’s confession, Reza and Sritika grew close to each other after meeting on social media in 2019 and got married secretly in 2020. As their families were not informed about the marriage, they used to meet at different hotels in the city.
"Sritika and Reza often used to fight over the latter's extra-marital affairs as counseling and discussions on the matter failed to resolve the issue. As the marital feud grew, Reza planned to murder his wife to get rid of her," said the Rab officer.
Also read: Woman doctor's body found with throat slit in Dhaka hotel
On August 10, Reza took her to the hotel to celebrate her birthday, got into a planned fight and then stabbed Sritika with a knife and later slit her throat, according to Rab.
Following the crime, the accused left the hotel room locking the door from outside and fled to Chattogram by bus, said Rab.
Legal action against the accused is underway, said Commander Khandaker.
Dhaka hotel murder: Slain doctor's boyfriend arrested from Chattogram
The suspect in a case filed over the murder of a female doctor at a Dhaka hotel was arrested from the port city Chattogram Thursday.
The arrestee Rezaul Karim Reza was the boyfriend of Dr Jannatul Nayeem Sritika (28). Rezaul, a banker, was fired from his job recently. He checked into Family Service Apartment opposite Square Hospital in Panthapath with Jannatul Wednesday.
A case was filed over the murder earlier at Kalabagan Police Station after the female doctor's father Mohammad Shafiqul Islam lodged a complaint against Rezaul, said Saiful Islam, officer-in-charge of Kalabagan Police Station.
On information, a team of the elite force arrested Rezaul from Chattogram city, Al-Amin, assistant superintendent of police (media) of Rapid Action Battalion-7, said.
Read: Woman doctor's body found with throat slit in Dhaka hotel
Police Wednesday night recovered the body of Jannatul with her throat slit from the fifth floor of the Family Service Apartment. There were marks of knife wounds on her body. Police suspected that Rezaul fled after killing Jannatul.
Jannatul was undertaking gynaecology training from Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) after completing her MBBS from Moghbazar Community Medical College.
IGP for 'flawless, foolproof' security arrangements on August 15
Police have pulled up their socks to mitigate any threat on August 15 – the 47th Martyrdom Anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and National Mourning Day August 15.
Inspector General of Police (IGP) Benazir Ahmed Thursday directed chiefs of all police units to make flawless and foolproof security arrangements for all events during the day.
All metropolitan police commissioners, range deputy inspector generals and district superintendents of police participated in the meeting.
The IGP asked them to ensure maximum security for the president, the prime minister, other important persons and diplomats during the National Mourning Day events and their movements.
Benazir also asked the police officials to keep vigilance on the National Mourning Day events so that no one can create chaos and no rumour can be spread through social media.
Read: IGP urges police officials to work for people’s welfare
"We have to take adequate precautions and security measures based on intelligence reports about militants and banned militant outfits as well as other terrorists," he added.
Also, the IGP directed the officials to strengthen and intensify police patrols and asked beat police officers to ensure their presence physically and vigilance during the National Morning Day events.
Additional IGPs Md Mainur Rahman Chowdhury, M Khurshid Hossain; DIG (Operations) Md Hyder Ali Khan and other police officers were present at the meeting.
Case filed over female physician’s killing at Dhaka hotel
A case has been filed over the killing of a female physician at a hotel room in Dhaka.
The case was filed at Kalabagan police station after victim’s father Mohammad Shafiqul Islam lodged a complaint against her lover Rezaul Karim Reza, said Saiful islam, Officer-in-Charge of Kalabagan police station.
“Rezaul was a banker but recently he was suspended. Efforts are on to arrest him as soon as possible,” said the OC.
Also read: Woman doctor's body found with throat slit in Dhaka hotel
The body of Jannatul Nayeem Sritika ,28, who was undertaking gynecology training from Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) after completing her MBBS was recovered on Wednesday night.
OC Saiful Islam, said. "There were marks of knife wounds on her body."
The manager of the hotel was detained and police suspected the doctor's boyfriend fled after killing her.
Also read: DMCH interns go on strike
August 21 attack: Legal notice served seeking Tk 10 crore as compensation for Joj Mia
A legal notice has been served to 11 people seeking Tk 10 crore compensation for Joj Mia who served four years jail term without committing any crime in August 21 grenade attack case.
Supreme Court lawyers Mohammad Humayun Kabir and Mohammad Kausar sent the notice on behalf of Joj Mia on Thursday through registered post saying it has violated his fundamental rights.
Then home affairs state minister Lutfozzaman Babar, then home affairs secretary, then IGP Md Khoda Baksh Chowdhury, former Assistant Superintendent of Police and investigation officer of the case Abdur Rashid, Munshi Atiqur Rahman, former special superintendent of police Md Ruhul Amin, were among the recipients of the notice, they said.
Also read: AL pays homage to August 21 martyrs
The notice also sought formation of an investigation committee to identify the involvement of government officials in illegally jailing Joj Mia.
It asked to collect the compensation money from the officials concerned if they found guilty.
The notice has asked to respond after taking steps in this regard within 15 days of receiving the notice. The two SC lawyers said they will move to High Court with a writ petition for necessary legal action in this regard if they do not respond.
Also read: Aug 21 grenade attack case appeal hearing to start this year: Minister
Why govt didn't seek info of Bangladesh money in Swiss banks: HC
The High Court (HC) on Thursday order the government and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to explain why the government didn’t seek information of deposits of Bangladesh money in the Swiss banks.
The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the suo moto order and asked them to submit the report by next Sunday.
ACC lawyer Khurshid Alam Khan and state counsel Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik were present in the court.
Read:Estimate of Bangladesh money in Swiss Banks is “purely speculative”: Swiss Envoy
Sitakunda depot fire: HC orders formation of probe body
The High Court (HC) on Wednesday ordered the formation of a committee headed by a professor of Chemical Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) to investigate the depot fire at Sitakunda in Chattogram.
The court asked the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources to form the committee with other experts.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo passed the order after hearing of a writ petition.
The committee will submit their report by three months, it said.
The court also issued a rule questioning why the deceased's family and injured victims of the depot fire should not be paid adequate compensation.
In another rule, the HC wanted to know why the negligence of the authorities concerned should not be declared illegal and legal action will not be taken against the culprits through proper investigation of the depot fire.
The rule also sought explanation as to why instructions should not be given to designate places for chemical storage and show the quantity of chemicals and type of chemicals to be stored in the depot.
Read: Probe body finds owners, monitoring authority responsible for Sitakunda depot fire
At the same time, the court also asked why the fire service authority was not provided with modern equipment.
Home Secretary, Disaster Management and Relief Secretary, Industries Secretary, Commerce Secretary, Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defense, Chittagong Port Authority Chairman, Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram, Chairman and Managing Director of Smart Group, BM Container Depot were made respondents to the rule.
On June 29, Supreme Court Lawyer Barrister Mohammad Humayun Kabir Pallab, Barrister Mohammad Kawsar, Barrister Mohammad Majeedul Quader and AKM Faisal Haque filed the writ petition on behalf of ‘Law and Life Foundation’ and ‘CCB Foundation’.
The writ petition sought necessary directives to pay compensation of Tk 2 crore to each deceased's family and Tk 50 lakh to each injured victim of the depot fire.
The formation of an inquiry committee comprising of explosives experts, proper action against the culprits were also sought in the writ petition.
As per the writ petition, at least 51 people were killed in a fire at BM container depot in Chattogram’s Sitakunda on June 4. The deceased included 10 firefighters. Over 200 people were injured in the fire.
Besides, firefighters were unable to control fire caused by chemical due to lack of necessary training and modern equipment, it said.
Earlier, the Law and Life Foundation Trust and the CCB Foundation had served separate legal notices seeking compensation for the victims, said Barrister Pallab.
Post-LDC Bangladesh: Pharmaceutical experts for amendment of Patent Act 2022
Pharmaceutical experts Wednesday called for the amendment of the Bangladesh Patent Act 2022 in line with the changing scenario for the local pharmaceutical industry after the country's LDC graduation.
Also, they advocated a close collaboration between the government agencies and the private sector in the process.
The pharmaceutical experts made the call during the seminar "Preparedness of Pharmaceutical Sector for LDC Graduation" organised by the Support to Sustainable Graduation Project of the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) in Dhaka Wednesday.
At the event, Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman called for engaging lobbyist firms in the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the continuation of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver for Bangladesh after its graduation.
He also emphasised the quick operationalisation of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) parks and called for immediate closure of the obsolete mailbox system, created in 2008 for patent application submission.
ERD Secretary Sharifa Khan called for a stronger partnership between the public and private sectors to prepare the pharmaceutical industry for the post-graduation phase.
Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana assured that the government would work in close collaboration with the private sector to amend the current patent law.
Bangladesh Association of Pharmaceutical Industries (BAPI) President Nazmul Hassan said the issues of affordability and public health should be taken into consideration while granting patents under the law of the country.
Read: JS passes Bangladesh Patents Bill, 2022
BUILD Chair Nihad Kabir emphasised enhancing Bangladesh's legal expertise for the effective formulation and implementation of intellectual property rights-related provisions.
Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Rizwan Rahman said the government needs to set up a biotech park and a genome valley to facilitate biotechnological research. He also called for giving incentives to the pharmaceutical sector like the apparel sector.
Senior Vice-President BAPI and Incepta Pharmaceuticals Managing Director Abdul Muktadir called for negotiation with the WTO for the extension of the TRIPS transition period related to pharmaceutical products for Bangladesh until January 1, 2033, even if the country graduates from the LDC status.
Mohammad Towhidul Islam, professor of law at Dhaka University, said Bangladesh may request the WTO for a country-specific TRIPS waiver.
The pharmaceutical sector of Bangladesh has witnessed exponential growth over the last few decades. The TRIPS waiver for LDCs under the TRIPS agreement is one of the key drivers of such impressive growth.
So, appropriate measures following an action-oriented roadmap are critical to tapping these opportunities and shielding against the erosion of waivers under the TRIPS agreement in the wake of Bangladesh's LDC graduation in November 2026.
BNP volunteer wing leader lands in jail over 'defamatory remarks'
A leader of BNP's volunteer wing in Narail was remanded to judicial custody on Tuesday in a case filed against him under the Digital Security Act for allegedly making defamatory remarks against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The accused has been named as Kazi Tariqul Islam, 42, the joint convener of Lohagra Upazila Swachhsevak Dal, the volunteer wing of BNP in Narail.
Earlier on Monday morning, police arrested Tariqul from his house in Parshalnagar village of Lohagara upazila, said Sheikh Abu Hena Milon, officer-in-charge of Lohagarh police station.
According to a local administration statement, the Swachchasevak Dal leader made offensive remarks against Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on his Facebook page in the wake of the recent fuel price hike.
Later the matter came to the notice of the administration. "A case was subsequently filed against him under the Digital Security Act," it said.