United News of Bangladesh

A tribunal in Barishal on Sunday convicted a man and sentenced him to death for killing his wife in 2013. Judge of Barishal Woman and Child Repression Tribunal Md Rakibul Islam handed down the punishment. The convict Sohrab Hossain Akon, 35, is a resident of Muladi upazila of Barishal district. The court also sentenced him to seven years in jail for concealing the body of his wife after murder. According to the prosecution, Sohrab married Lima Begum in 2013 forcibly, even keeping Lima’s first husband hostage at gunpoint. She was forced to divorce her first husband. Sohrab also used to torture her since her marriage over Tk 2 lakh as dowry. After failing to realise the dowry money, Sohrab strangulated Lima to death on December 1, 2013 and concealed the body. Doly Begum, sister of Lima, filed a murder case on December 13, 2013. Sohrab may appeal against the verdict at a higher court.

A Dhaka court on Sunday acquitted BNP senior leader Gayeshwar Chandra Roy in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) amassing wealth beyond known source of income. Judge of the Dhaka Special Judge Court-3 Quamrul Hasan Khan passed the order. SM Mafidul Islam, deputy director of ACC filed the case with Ramna Police Station on January 5, 2009 - just days after the deposed Awami League regime won the first of three successive elections. According to the prosecution, Gayeshwar showed two houses in his wealth declaration — a six-storey building in Rayerbazar, Dhaka with a stated construction cost of Tk 40.80 lakh and another house built on inherited land in Keraniganj with a reported cost of Tk 15.04 lakh. However, the ACC found the total construction cost to be Tk 25,36,505  (Tk 25 lakh-plus) more than what was reported, based on assessments from the Public Works Department, identifying it as illegal wealth. Besides, electronic appliances worth Tk 58,600 were found at Gayeshwar’s residence, which were not declared in his asset statement and were deemed to be beyond his known sources of income. Besides, during 2004–2005, as a ruling party leader, Gayeshwar allegedly took Tk 2.61 crore from Abdul Monem Ltd and Reza Construction abusing his power — an amount the ACC claims was illegally acquired. The total amount of his alleged illegal assets, including house construction, electronic goods and money obtained through misuse of power, stands at Tk 2.86 crore. ACC submitted the charge sheet against Gayeshwar on July 5, 2009.  

A Dhaka court on Sunday ordered the seizure of six flats in Chattogram owned by former land minister in the Awami League government, Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, and machinery belonging to eight companies linked to him. The order came from Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Md Sabbir Foyez following a petition filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Deputy Director Moshiur Rahman, ACC informed. This is the latest in a series of asset seizures and account freezes in the graft investigation against the former minister. On August 28, the court ordered the freezing of 120 bank accounts of Saifuzzaman and his associates. Earlier, on July 9, it froze the beneficiary owner (BO) accounts of 26 individuals connected to him, while the court froze shares worth TK102.85 crore in 23 companies owned by Saifuzzaman and his family on March 9 and ordered the seizure of 957 bighas of land. Earlier, on March 5, it froze 29 bank accounts that recorded transactions of TK 5.26 crore. Last year, on October 7, the court also imposed a travel ban on Saifuzzaman and his wife, Rukmila Zaman, after the ACC alleged that the former minister laundered thousands of crores of taka abroad. According to ACC findings, Saifuzzaman allegedly purchased 350 houses in the United Kingdom, 228 in the United Arab Emirates, nine in the United States, and other properties in several countries, alongside amassing significant illegal assets at home.

Detectives have arrested former Awami League MP from Shariatpur-1 constituency BM Mozammel Haque from the capital’s Niketan area. Deputy Commissioner of DMP’s Media and Public Relations Division Muhammad Talebur Rahman said tipped off, a team of DB Gulshan Division conducted a drive and arrested Mozammel around 2:45 pm on Sunday. 17 arrested in joint drive at Geneva Camp According to DB sources, Mozammel, also organising secretary of AL central executive committee, is an accused in at least eight cases including one murder case during the July movement. Mozammel was elected a member of parliament in the 9th national election held on December 29, 2008, and was re-elected uncontested in the 10th national election in 2014.

No evidence of sexual harassment has been found in the medical report over the alleged rape of an indigenous girl in Khagrachhari district, said Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Sunday. He made the statement following a meeting of the law and order core committee at the Secretariat. It has already been proved that the collaborators of the fascist elements hatched conspiracy to create unrest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts over the alleged rape of the girl and by placing a beard on the demon’s face in the Durga Puja mandap to destabilise the communal harmony, the adviser said. He said, “While the Durga Puja idol was being made in a neighbouring country, reports emerged showing our respected Chief Adviser being portrayed in a derogatory manner, and his connection is also seen in the act of placing a beard on the demon’s face.” After eight days, Section 144 to be lifted in Khagrachhari The adviser praised the law enforcement agencies and intelligence services for actively monitoring the situation, working alongside the Puja committees to prevent the conspiracies. On September 23, the eight-grader girl was allegedly raped by three youths in Khagrachhari Sadar upazila, triggering criticism. On the next day, the victim’s father filed a case against three unidentified people with the police station concerned. Later, the police, with army assistance, arrested a suspect, Shoyon Sheel, who is now in custody for interrogation. Unrest broke out when protests demanding punishment began under the banner of ‘Jumma Chhatra Janata,’ including indefinite road blockades. On September 27, the local administration imposed Section 144 for an indefinite period amid escalating tensions. Khagrachhari Violence: 1, 000 unidentified people sued in 3 cases On September 28, at least three people were killed and several others injured as protesters clashed with law enforcement at Ramessu Bazar in Guimara upazila during the indefinite blockade. Later, a five member panel was formed to investigate the incident. October 1, police filed three separate cases against 1,000 unidentified people over the recent violence in Khagrachhari Sadar and Guimara upazilas for attacks on law enforcers and murders.

Robbers looted around 22 bhories of gold from a jewelry shop in Paschim Dashra area of Manikganj sadar upazila and assaulted the jeweler late Saturday night. Police said two robbers entered ground-floor shop ‘Abhi Alankar’ in Pandav Bhaban around 12:15am. They threatened jeweler Shuvo Das placing a sharp weapon on his neck and looted gold jewelry worth around Tk 36 lakh breaking a locker. When Shuvo tried to resist, the robbers stabbed him with the weapon, leaving him seriously injured. Later, he was rushed to Manikganj Sadar Hospital. Additional Superintendent of Police and officials from the police station concerned visited the scene and started an investigation. Officer-in-charge of Manikganj Police Station SM Aman Ullah said they are investigating the incident and drives are on to arrest the suspects.

The body of an 18-year-old youth was recovered from Dhanmondi Lake in the capital on Sunday. The deceased was Omar Faruk, son of Abdul Quddus Molla of Hazaribagh Bou Bazar Tanery Mor. Locals spotted the body floating in the lake around 7:30am and informed police, said Officer-in-Charge of Dhanmondi Police Station Kashainu Marma. Police later retrieved the body and sent it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for postmortem. Quoting the family, the OC said Omar Faruk had left home on Friday after an argument with his father over his irregular participation in the family fish business and had been missing since then.

Seven suspects were arrested in connection with the attack on an additional police superintendent when a team attempted to resist extortion from vehicles in Narsingdi Sadar upazila. Earlier, in-charge of town police outpost Sohel Ahmed filed a case naming five people and 25 to 30 unidentified ones with Sadar Police Station on Saturday night. Extortionists attacked a police team in Arshinagar area of the town when they attempted to stop extortion from vehicles and detained two extortionists on Saturday. The miscreants attacked Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Anwar Hossain, leaving him injured. Other police personnel and locals rescued the injured officer and took him to Narsingdi Sadar Hospital and later he was transferred to Central Police Hospital in Dhaka. A video showing a man carrying a stick hitting the police official went viral on social media. Superintendent of district police Menhajul Alam said they were verifying the involvement of the arrestees in this incident. He also said that details of the investigation will be shared later as efforts are on to arrest the remaining suspects.

A man was arrested in connection with setting fire to a passenger bus and opening fire in Dhaka’s Senpara Parbata area on Friday, according to the army. Suspect Nesar Uddin was arrested from the Rupnagar Eastern Housing area on Saturday following a complaint filed by the owners of the affected bus, said army officials during a press briefing. “Based on Nesar’s information, we are conducting operations to arrest another suspect, Pintu,” the army statement said. According to initial reports, Nesar and Pintu allegedly led a group of miscreants who set fire to a bus belonging to Alif Paribahan on Friday morning. The attackers also reportedly opened fire during the incident and physically assaulted the bus driver and his assistant.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Gazipur has arrested a robbery gang leader named Monir from Dhaka’s Sabujbagh area. CID officials said they recovered six cocktails, several robbery tools, and a looted mobile phone from his possession. A press briefing was held at the Gazipur CID district and metro office on Saturday afternoon. Special Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Shahed Mia said the arrest followed a major robbery that took place on October 2 in the Dhirashram area of Gazipur city. During the robbery, the gang tied up and beat the house members before looting gold ornaments, cash, and mobile phones worth about Tk 23 lakh. CID’s Gazipur district and metro teams conducted a special drive and arrested Monir around 1:30 am from Nandipara of Sabujbagh area in Dhaka. During interrogation, Monir confessed to his involvement in the robbery. Police also found that he faces several other cases in Dhaka and Narayanganj. CID has sent him to court, seeking a seven-day remand for further investigation.