[🇧🇩] The fate of big guns/beneficiaries of Awami League after the student revolution

[Saif]

Benazir sued in case filed over 2016 death in ‘crossfire’

A Joypurhat court has ordered legal action against nine individuals, in connection with the death of Shafinur Islam Shafin in a ‘crossfire’ incident while in RAB custody in 2016.

www.newagebd.net

Benazir sued in case filed over 2016 death in ‘crossfire’
United News of Bangladesh . Joypurhat 28 October, 2024, 21:09

Benazir Ahmed | Collected photo

A Joypurhat court has ordered legal action against nine individuals, in connection with the death of Shafinur Islam Shafin in a ‘crossfire’ incident while in RAB custody in 2016.

The family of the deceased is now claiming that Shafin’s was a victim of extrajudicial killing.

The accused include the then-director general of the Rapid Action Battalion, Benazir Ahmed, who retired as IGP, and then-Police Superintendent Molla Nazrul Islam.

The directive comes as part of a case filed eight years after the incident, seeking justice for the death.

The case was filed on Sunday by Nazrul Islam, father of the deceased, from Chokmohan village in Joypurhat’s Sadar upazila.

In total, the case involves 25 accused individuals, with the court initially focusing on the first nine named in the complaint.

Senior District and Sessions Judge Md Mojibur Rahman instructed that legal measures be taken against the nine, ordering the Police Superintendent to report back within 24 hours.

In addition to Benazir and Nazrul, the others against whom the court ordered action include Major Hasan Arafat of the Joypurhat AB camp, deputy assistant director Md Firoz Ali Khan, sub-inspector Enamul Haque, DAD Mahfuzar Rahman, SI Debashish Nandi of Sadar Police Station, RAB Naik Habibur Rahman and constable Mehedi Hasan.

According to the case details, the incident began on September 26, 2016, when members of the Joypurhat RAB camp arrested Shafinur Islam Shafin around 9:00pm from Uttara area in Dhaka.

Approximately one month later, on the night of October 25, at around 9:30pm, Shafin was reportedly shot and killed at an abandoned paddy field owned by Helal in Dadaura Nandigram, Joypurhat Sadar upazila.

Plaintiff's lawyer, Adv Mahfuzur Rahman Helal, informed the press that the court had acknowledged the allegations against the first nine accused and had ordered the Joypurhat SP to take legal action accordingly. The court mandated that the SP update it on the steps taken within a 24-hour period.

Speaking over the phone, SP Muhammad Abdul Wahab confirmed said, ‘Legal action is being taken as per the court’s directive.’​

 

[Saif]

Ex-DMP boss Golam Faruk under ACC scanner

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday decided to launch an inquiry against former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner and additional inspector general of police Khandaker Golam Faruk over allegations of amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 3,000 crore...

www.newagebd.net

Ex-DMP boss Golam Faruk under ACC scanner
Staff Correspondent 29 October, 2024, 00:12

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Monday decided to launch an inquiry against former Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner and additional inspector general of police Khandaker Golam Faruk over allegations of amassing illegal wealth worth Tk 3,000 crore.

The commission formed an inquiry team led by assistant director Rakibul Hayat, asking it to carry out a probe over the graft allegations, said its deputy director Aktarul Islam.

According to the allegations, Faruk abused his power during his service tenure to illegally amass Tk 3,000 crore from all over the country even from remote areas.

Bangladeshi citizen Faruk is also a holder of the green card which is a Permanent Resident Card for immigrants in the United States. His wife’s brothers and sisters are also permanent residents of the USA, according to the primary allegations brought against Faruk.

The former police officer allegedly laundered illegal money worth Tk 2,500 crore to the USA through close relatives, while with the rest Tk 500 crore he bought assets, including land, apartments and houses, in different parts of the country and kept deposits in several banks.

Most of these assets he had bought in the names of his wife Sharmeen Akhtar Khan and other close relatives and family members, according to the allegations.

With his illegal money Faruk built Ghatandi Alhaj Khandkar Hyder Ali Memorial High School on several bigha of land and also constructed a three-storey luxurious building at his village home in Tangail.

Of Faruk’s three brothers, one Khandkar Habibur Rahman Selim has Tk 50 lakh in several banks, while his wife has land property worth about Tk 30 crore in her name, as per allegations.

Another brother, Khandkar Suruj, owns a motor parts shop worth around Tk 3 crore at Bhuapur bus stand in Tangail, while he and his wife possess land worth Tk 25 crore.

Another brother, Khandkar Firoz, alias Kalu, owns land worth Tk 2 crore and has about Tk 40 lakh in banks.

Faruk’s younger sister and her husband also own huge wealth, as per allegations.

Faruk allegedly amassed wealth worth Tk 200 crore during his tenure as an assistant commissioner of police in Chittagong in 1993–1995.

He illegally amassed Tk 150 crore during his term as superintendent of police in Thakurgaon in 2004–2006. He also amassed Tk 300 crore illegally during his tenure as police super in Mymensingh in 2009–2012, and also made another Tk 500 crore in illegal earning during his tenure as Rangpur Range deputy inspector general of police.

During his tenure as Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner, the former police official allegedly secured Tk 1,450 crore in illegal income.

The police arrested former police commissioner Khandaker Golam Faruk on Saturday from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital just before he was due to fly for Bangkok on a personal trip.

A number of cases were filed against him after then prime minister Sheikh Hasina had resigned and fled to India amid a student-led mass uprising on August 5, bringing the downfall of the Awami League regime.​

 

[Saif]

Former agri minister arrested in Dhaka

Former agriculture minister Abdus Shahid was arrested in the capital’s Uttara area yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Former agri minister arrested in Dhaka

Abdus Shahid

Former agriculture minister Abdus Shahid was arrested in the capital's Uttara area yesterday.

A team of police arrested Shahid him from a house at Sector-10 of Uttara, Hafizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Uttara West Police Station, told The Daily Star.

Shahid, former lawmaker from Moulvibazar-4 and also former chief whip of the Jatiya Sangsad, is accused in several cases filed with Uttara west and other police stations, said the OC.

In September this year, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) decided to launch an inquiry against Shahid on charges of abusing power, engaging in various irregularities, and amassing wealth through corruption.​

 

[Saif]

Govt should bust nexus of tycoons close to Hasina

POWERFUL business tycoons, who had been close to the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, have swindled $17 billion off the banking sector, as the Bangladesh Bank government has said in an interview with the Financial Times, during the 15 years of the authoritarian regime of the Awami League...

www.newagebd.net

Govt should bust nexus of tycoons close to Hasina
30 October, 2024, 00:00

POWERFUL business tycoons, who had been close to the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, have swindled $17 billion off the banking sector, as the Bangladesh Bank government has said in an interview with the Financial Times, during the 15 years of the authoritarian regime of the Awami League. The central banker is reported to have said that the tycoons worked with the military intelligence agency in this. He has also alleged in the interview that the agency facilitated the takeover of major banks which led to the systematic transfer of the money out of Bangladesh. This is said to be the biggest robbing of banks by any international standards that would not be possible without intelligence officials pressuring the chiefs of the banks into compliance. The money was swindled out in loans given out to new shareholders and inflated import invoices while the government during the 15 years pursued a development model frenziedly obsessed with growth in gross domestic product and per capita income that have hardly benefitted people at large. What is further disparaging is that the S Alam Group alone is involved in the laundering of at least $10 billion. All this is but a fraction of the whole illicit capital flow.

The central bank governor has said that intelligence officials forced members on bank boards to sell their shares at gunpoint to the S Alam Group chief, with one bank after another facing coercive takeover. All this cannot have happened without the involvement of ranking government leaders. Most of the activities of the group was suspicious and questionable. Yet, nothing could then be done to stop such happenings. This suggests the intensity of the influence that the S Alam Group enjoyed on the government. And, all such incidents left the economy high and dry. The interim government, installed on August 8 after the deposed prime minister had fled to India on August 5, has the repatriation of the money thus laundered high on its agenda. The government has now sought international assistance to investigate overseas assets of Sheikh Hasina’s associates. It has, therefore, become imperative that the government should go all out to repatriate the money that has been laundered in all such cases and hold to justice all the offenders. The government should also hold to justice all the people and quarters involved in the offences. The government should arrest chiefs of all the banks and the people and quarters concerned in the Bangladesh Bank, which is the regulator of the banking sector, and interrogate them to get a clear picture of how the offences have happened for an insight into ways to stop their recurrence and bring to justice others who were also involved.

The interim government should, therefore, recover the stolen funds that have left dozens of bank mostly bankrupt and the economy dry. It should also hold to justice people in the nexus, still at large on both the private and the public side, to stop the recurrence of such scams.​

 

[Saif]

5 ex-ministers on remand

Dhaka metropolitan magistrate courts on Wednesday placed 10 people, including five former ministers, of the ousted Awami league government on different terms of remand in different cases...

www.newagebd.net

5 ex-ministers on remand
Staff Correspondent 31 October, 2024, 00:02

Dhaka metropolitan magistrate courts on Wednesday placed 10 people, including five former ministers, of the ousted Awami league government on different terms of remand in different cases.

Dhaka metropolitan magistrates Md Shariful Rahman and Md Imran Ahmed passed the orders after police produced them before the courts seeking remand for interrogation.

The former ministers are former minister Md Abdus Shahid, law minister Anisul Huq, food minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, shipping minister Shahjahan Khan, and information minister Hasanul Huq Inu.

The others remanded are former lawmaker Haji Mohammad Salim, former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al Mamun, former army officer Ziaul Ahsan, and Dhaka University Chhatra League’s general secretary Tanvir Hasan Saikat and Swechchhasebak League leader Sheikh Jamal.

Former minister Md Abdus Shahid was placed on a 4-day remand in a case lodged over the murder of bus driver Alamgir Hossain on August 5.

The police produced Shahid who was arrested at Uttara on Tuesday night, before the court and pleaded to place him on 10-day remand in the case filed with the Uttara West police station.

Anisul was placed on eight-day remand, five days in a case with the Shahbagh police station, and three days in a murder case with the Badda police station.

Sadhan Chandra and Shajahan were each remanded for three days in cases filed with Mohammadpur and Jatrabari police stations respectively, while Inu was remanded for five days in a murder case with the Dhanmondi police station.

Former IGP Mamun was put on three-day remand in a case with the Dhanmondi police station and an additional four days in a case with the Bangshal police station.

Additionally, Ziaul, Haji Salim, and Saikat were each placed on five-day remand in cases filed with New Market, Chawkbazar, and Dhanmondi police stations, respectively.

On the other hand, Dhaka additional chief metropolitan magistrate Jiadur Rahman placed Swechchhasebak League leader Sheikh Jamal on two-day remand over the murder of Juba Dal leader Shamim in 2023.

Anisul was arrested on August 13 at Sadarghat while police detained Inu on August 26 from Uttara.

Shajahan was arrested in Dhanmondi on September 5, and Sadhan Chandra was taken into custody in the Bashundhara Residential Area on the night of October 3.

Former army officer Ziaul was detained on August 16 in Khilkhet, and Chhatra League leader Saikat was apprehended on August 14 in Nikunja.

On September 1, Haji Salim was arrested at Bangshal in Old Dhaka, and former IGP Mamun was arrested on the night of September 3.​

 

[Saif]

Ex-minister Abdus Shahid arrested with huge cash, foreign currency

Police early on Wednesday arrested former agriculture minister Md Abdus Shahid from the city’s Uttara area with huge cash, foreign currencies and 990.50 grams of gold. A team of Uttara Pashchim Thana rounded up Abdus Shahid, also a former lawmaker of Moulovibazar-4 constituency, from his res

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Ex-minister Abdus Shahid arrested with huge cash, foreign currency
BSS
Published :
Oct 30, 2024 20:50
Updated :
Oct 30, 2024 20:50

Police early on Wednesday arrested former agriculture minister Md Abdus Shahid from the city’s Uttara area with huge cash, foreign currencies and 990.50 grams of gold.

A team of Uttara Pashchim Thana rounded up Abdus Shahid, also a former lawmaker of Moulovibazar-4 constituency, from his residence at road No-2, sector-10 at Uttara around 4 am today, according to a police press release.

During the raid at Shahid’s Uttara residence, police seized over Tk 3.10 crore, 1,953 US dollars, 1120 Canadian dollars, 1,100 Euro, 5,300 Thai baht, 500 Mexican dollars, 50 Hong Kong dollars, 3000 rupees, 3,117 Qatar real riyal and 990.50 gram (around 85 tolas) gold from his possession, it added.

Police sent Abdus Shahid to a court in Dhaka with a prayer for 10 days remand in connection with a case filed with Uttara Pashchim Police Station over a killing during the anti-discrimination student movement. But, the court granted a four-day remand.

Apart from the cases, Abdus Shahid was also accused in two more murder cases with Uttara Pashchim Thana and one attempted murder case in Moulvibazar.

A process is underway to file a case against Abdus Shahid on charges of possessing foreign currencies illegally under the Special Powers Act while another case under Money Laundering Act for possessing huge money and gold.​

 

[Saif]

Dhaka to work with WHO directly as regional director Saima ‘dysfunctional’

She is a member of the family of the fallen autocrat and it is in question whether she would give her best for the country

en.prothomalo.com

Dhaka to work with WHO directly as regional director Saima ‘dysfunctional’
BSS
Dhaka
Published: 30 Oct 2024, 20: 36

A press briefing by the chief adviser’s press wing at Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on 30 October, 2024. BSS

The government has sent a letter to the World Health Organization (WHO) wishing to work directly with it as its Regional Director for South-East Asia Saima Wazed is “dysfunctional right now”.

“Incumbent WHO Regional Director Saima Wazed Putul is dysfunctional right now. She has been implicated in several criminal cases and financial crimes,” Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Apurba Jahangir told a press briefing at Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka on Wednesday.

He said the Bangladesh government has sent a letter to the WHO so that Bangladesh can directly communicate with it bypassing Saima Wazed.

“The WHO has been informed so that Bangladesh can directly communicate with it – without her mediation and that is why the WHO has been requested to take urgent action to this end,” he said.

Replying to a question, Apurba said as the WHO appoints its regional director, Bangladesh has to communicate with the WHO maintaining liaison with its regional director.

Saima Wazed is a member of the family of the fallen autocrat and it is in question whether she would give her best for the country, he said.

Responding to a query, Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said it is an ethical issue as Saima Wazed was implicated in some financial crimes, while her bank accounts were frozen here.

He said the Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) has been investing her crimes and therefore, working with her is not possible.

The government is seeking to work with the WHO directly and the agency has been requested to inform the Bangladesh government about what measures it is taking to this end, Alam said.

Speaking at the press briefing, Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder said considering a recent report of Dainik Kalbela, the government formed a high-level probe body to investigate the allegation of bribery in appointment of deputy commissioners (DCs).

The committee submitted its probe report to the government, revealing that the allegation was not true, he said.

Azad said now, on behalf of the government, Dainik Kalbela will be requested to review its report and take necessary measures.​

 

[Saif]

পুতুলের মাধ্যমে নয়, ডব্লিউএইচও'র সঙ্গে কাজ করতে চায় সরকার: প্রেস উইং

 

[Saif]

Former minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir arrested

Detective Branch arrested former housing and public works minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury from Dhaka's Nakhalpara area last night

www.thedailystar.net

Former minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir arrested

RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury. Photo: Collected

Detective Branch arrested former housing and public works minister RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury from Dhaka's Nakhalpara area last night.

Police did not specifically say in what case Muktadir was arrested, however, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Additional Commissioner (Detective Branch) official Rezaul Karim Mallik told journalists that there were several cases against him.

Muktadir Chowdhury is a former Awami League MP from Brahmanbaria. He was first elected in a by-election in 2011. He was a fourth-time MP from Awami League.

He said Muktadir will be produced before a court on Friday with a remand prayer for further questioning.​

 

[Saif]

Court issues travel bans on Union Bank MD Mokammel, ex-JP MP

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court on Thursday issued international travel bans on eight people, including Union Bank managing director ABM Mokammel Hoque Chowdhury, former Taxes Appellate Tribunal member Ranjit Kumar Talukder and his wife Jhumur Majumder over allegations of amassing...

www.newagebd.net

Court issues travel bans on Union Bank MD Mokammel, ex-JP MP
Staff Correspondent 31 October, 2024, 18:15

Mokammel Hoque Chowdhury and Ranjit Kumar Talukder

Dhaka Metropolitan Senior Special Judge Court on Thursday issued international travel bans on eight people, including Union Bank managing director ABM Mokammel Hoque Chowdhury, former Taxes Appellate Tribunal member Ranjit Kumar Talukder and his wife Jhumur Majumder over allegations of amassing illegal wealth.

The other five are former Awami League lawmaker Habib Hasan of Dhaka-18 constituency, his wife Shamima Habib, their son Abeer Hasan Tanim and daughter Sonia Hasan Tonni, and former Jatiya Party lawmaker Md Nurul Islam Talukder.

Acting Judge Md Ibrahim Mia of the court issued the travel bans following separate petitions submitted by the Anti-Corruption Commission, said ACC public prosecutor Mahmud Hossain Jahangir.

ACC in the petitions sought travel bans on them for the sake of fair inquiry, and it also mentioned that they may flee the country if the bans are not issued.

The court issued a travel ban on ABM Mokammel Hoque Chowdhury following a petition submitted by ACC deputy director Masudur Rahman seeking.

According to the petition, Mokammel was abusing the power of his post during the laundering of Tk 5,000 crore to Barclays Bank in the United Kingdom by family members of the S Alam group.

It also mentioned that Mokammel amassed a huge amount of wealth at home and abroad through abusing power and corruption.

Besides, the court issued a travel ban on former Taxes Appellate Tribunal member Ranjit Kumar Talukder and his wife Jhumur Majumder following a petition submitted by ACC assistant director Khorshed Alam.

ACC mentioned in the petition that the commission is conducting an inquiry against Ranjit Kumar over allegations of amassing illegal wealth through taking bribes and embezzling money through various corruption.

Among the assets, Ranjit bought agriculture lands, flats, and plots with his ill-gotten money, while his wife Jhumur Mojumder possessed 22 fixed deposit receipts worth Tk 3.50 crore at different branches of Bangladesh Commerce Bank.

The court also issued a travel ban on former AL lawmaker Habib Hasan, his wife, and children over an allegation of amassing illegal wealth.

According to the allegation, Habib and his family members amassed illegal wealth through extortion in the transport sector and embezzling government money.

Habib also laundered money abroad and bought property in Canada in the name of his son Abeer Hasan, according to the allegations.

Meanwhile, the court also imposed a travel ban on former Jatiya Party lawmaker Nurul Islam Talukder of Bogura-4 constituency following a petition of the ACC.

ACC mentioned that Nurul Islam embezzled money from different government development projects through abusing his power as a lawmaker.

Nurul Islam was elected as a lawmaker in the 2014 and 2018 parliament elections, but he was defeated in the last parliament election held on January 7 this year.​

 

[Saif]

Former MP Abul Kalam Azad sued in attempted murder case

Ten people, including former Jamalpur-1 MP Abul Kalam Azad, have been sued in an attempted murder case. .District Chhatra Dal Vice President Md Shahadat Hossain filed the case with Jamalpur Sadar Police Station last night, said police. .Besides, 200 to 300 unnamed accused from Awami

www.thedailystar.net

Former MP Abul Kalam Azad sued in attempted murder case

Abul Kalam Azad

Ten people, including former Jamalpur-1 MP Abul Kalam Azad, have been sued in an attempted murder case.

District Chhatra Dal Vice President Md Shahadat Hossain filed the case with Jamalpur Sadar Police Station last night, said police.

Besides, 200 to 300 unnamed accused from Awami League and its affiliated organisations were also accused in the case.

The accused include Abul Kalam Azad, former MP of Jamalpur Sadar ; Safiqul Islam, Group Captain (retd) of Bangladesh Air Force, Jamalpur District AL VP Farooq Ahmed Chowdhury, former Jamalpur municipality mayor Sanawar Hossain Sanu, General Secretary of District Jubo League Farhan Ahmed, and General Secretary of District Chhatra League Nafiul Karim Rabbi.

According to the case statement, during the students-led mass uprising on August 3, when the students were marching towards Bakultala from Mirza Azam intersection area of Jamalpur municipality in the afternoon, the leaders and activists of Awami League and its affiliated organisations attacked them with firearms, locally made weapons, and bamboo sticks.

Faisal Mohammad Atiq, officer-in-charge of Jamalpur Sadar Police Station, said several police teams are working to arrest the accused.​

 

[Bilal9]

Pressure piles on president to step down

The walls seemed to be closing in on President Mohammed Shahabuddin as calls for his resignation grew louder yesterday.

www.thedailystar.net

Pressure piles on president to step down
Students demonstrate in front of Bangabhaban, Central Shaheed Minar, elsewhere in the country

View attachment 9962

The walls seemed to be closing in on President Mohammed Shahabuddin as calls for his resignation grew louder yesterday.

As more and more people joined demonstrations for his resignation, the government yesterday called him out on his "lies" about Sheikh Hasina's resignation as prime minister.

It all began after Manab Zamin on Sunday published an exclusive interview of him saying that he only heard that Hasina had resigned, but there was no evidence of her resignation.

As several hundred protesters under the banners Raktim July 2024 and Shadhinota-Sharbobhoumotto Rokkha Committee attempted to break through the security barriers in front of the Bangabhaban around 8:30 o' clock last night, police detonated stun grenades.

The protesters then chased the police away.

Five people, including two journalists, suffered minor injuries, witnesses said. Police also hit the protesters with batons and used tear gas shells.

Army personnel were seen trying to calm the situation.

At around 11:30pm, Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam, two of the most influential organisers of the student movement against discrimination, arrived and requested the protesters to leave, promising that a change would come in two days.

By midnight, most of the protesters left.

Hasnat told the protesters that he would talk to political parties in the presence of the army chief, and by Thursday, choose someone who could be the president.

Sarjis said, "We will discuss and appoint a person to an important post like that of the president. If emotion wins over strategy, we as well as the country will get hurt in the long run."

Unless a rational decision is made by Thursday, "we will join you on the streets".

On Sunday, Manab Zamin's political magazine Janatar Chokh ran an interview of President Shahabuddin with its Chief Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury.

"I tried [to collect the resignation letter] many times but failed. Maybe she did not have the time," Shahabuddin said.

The following day, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul termed the president's remark a lie and that the president's comments were akin to misconduct and if he stuck to his guns, the government should reconsider his position.

According to section 57(a) of the constitution, the prime minister's office shall become vacant if he/she resigns from the office at any time by handing the resignation letter to the president.

Yesterday, Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Apurba Jahangir told a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy that the interim government agreed with Asif's statement.

He, however, stated that the government was yet to make any move to remove Shahabuddin.

Earlier in the day, student leaders demonstrated at the Central Shaheed Minar. They threatened to take to the streets if the government failed to meet their demands within this week.

They said the president lost his moral authority to stay in office.

In another development, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul and Information Adviser Nahid Islam held a half-hour long meeting with Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed at the latter's Supreme Court office around 2:00pm, said Aziz Ahmed Bhuiyan, SC registrar general.

He did not say what was discussed at the meeting.

As per section 106 of the constitution, if at any time it appears to the president that a question of law has arisen, or is likely to arise, which is of such a nature and of such public importance that it is expedient to obtain the opinion of the Supreme Court upon it, he may refer the question to the Appellate Division for consideration and the division may, after such hearing as it thinks fit, report its opinion thereon to the President.

PROTESTS IN DHAKA AND OUTSIDE

In the capital, demonstrations in front of the Bangabhaban started in the afternoon and the Gulistan road was blocked in the evening.

Protesters under the banner Shadhinota-Sharbobhoumotto Rokkha Committee marched from Dhaka University campus towards the Bangabhaban, reports UNB.

Police stopped them at the High Court Mazar intersection, but they managed to march to the Bangabhaban. They attempted to stage a sit-in inside the Bangabhaban, but the members of law enforcement agencies barred them.

The demonstrators then held a rally outside.

Another group, Raktim July 24, organised a separate sit-in there, demanding the president's removal, the UNB reports.

There were demonstrations in other parts of Dhaka and in different other districts.

In the morning, a group of around 15 protesters gathered near the Bangabhaban, chanting slogans denouncing the president.

Saied Ahmed Sarker, one of the demonstrators, said they also demanded a ban on the Awami League and Chhatra League.

In Barishal, school, college, and university students held a rally at the Ashwini Kumar Hall, demanding the president's resignation and a ban on Chhatra League.

Rajshahi University students demonstrated on the campus.

Similar protests were held in Jhenidah, where students took to the streets around 4:30pm.​

Why couldn't this president keep his incoherent thoughts to himself and preserve his izzat/honor for a few months?

This is not very hard to do.

Now they will have to deport his tush over to Australia, where he can live out the rest of his days as an insignificant nobody. Truly foolish.

 

[Bilal9]

Govt should bust nexus of tycoons close to Hasina

POWERFUL business tycoons, who had been close to the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, have swindled $17 billion off the banking sector, as the Bangladesh Bank government has said in an interview with the Financial Times, during the 15 years of the authoritarian regime of the Awami League...

www.newagebd.net

Govt should bust nexus of tycoons close to Hasina
30 October, 2024, 00:00

POWERFUL business tycoons, who had been close to the deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina, have swindled $17 billion off the banking sector, as the Bangladesh Bank government has said in an interview with the Financial Times, during the 15 years of the authoritarian regime of the Awami League. The central banker is reported to have said that the tycoons worked with the military intelligence agency in this. He has also alleged in the interview that the agency facilitated the takeover of major banks which led to the systematic transfer of the money out of Bangladesh. This is said to be the biggest robbing of banks by any international standards that would not be possible without intelligence officials pressuring the chiefs of the banks into compliance. The money was swindled out in loans given out to new shareholders and inflated import invoices while the government during the 15 years pursued a development model frenziedly obsessed with growth in gross domestic product and per capita income that have hardly benefitted people at large. What is further disparaging is that the S Alam Group alone is involved in the laundering of at least $10 billion. All this is but a fraction of the whole illicit capital flow.

The central bank governor has said that intelligence officials forced members on bank boards to sell their shares at gunpoint to the S Alam Group chief, with one bank after another facing coercive takeover. All this cannot have happened without the involvement of ranking government leaders. Most of the activities of the group was suspicious and questionable. Yet, nothing could then be done to stop such happenings. This suggests the intensity of the influence that the S Alam Group enjoyed on the government. And, all such incidents left the economy high and dry. The interim government, installed on August 8 after the deposed prime minister had fled to India on August 5, has the repatriation of the money thus laundered high on its agenda. The government has now sought international assistance to investigate overseas assets of Sheikh Hasina’s associates. It has, therefore, become imperative that the government should go all out to repatriate the money that has been laundered in all such cases and hold to justice all the offenders. The government should also hold to justice all the people and quarters involved in the offences. The government should arrest chiefs of all the banks and the people and quarters concerned in the Bangladesh Bank, which is the regulator of the banking sector, and interrogate them to get a clear picture of how the offences have happened for an insight into ways to stop their recurrence and bring to justice others who were also involved.

The interim government should, therefore, recover the stolen funds that have left dozens of bank mostly bankrupt and the economy dry. It should also hold to justice people in the nexus, still at large on both the private and the public side, to stop the recurrence of such scams.​

This is very important as these tycoons and bank-loan defaulters (S. Alam, Summit Group) will be the ones financing her "attempted" return to power. Whether that "attempt" is successful or not. I think the Govt. should end all involvement with these Hasina supporter entities and also large "known" foreign conglomerates such as Adani/Ambani etc.

 

[Saif]

Shomi Kaiser arrested in Uttara

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested actress Shomi Kaiser in the capital’s Uttara area early today.

www.thedailystar.net

Shomi Kaiser arrested in Uttara

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested actress Shomi Kaiser in the capital's Uttara area early today.

She was arrested around 12:30am during a drive, said Rawnak Jahan, deputy commissioner of the Uttara Division Police, told The Daily Star. The drive was conducted on a tip-off and the arrest was made at a house on Road-6 of sector-4, Rawnak added.

On October 9, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, Shomi Kaiser, folk singer and former lawmaker Momtaz Begum, former minister and actress Tarana Halim, and 13 others were sued for attempting to kill BNP activist -- Syed Hasan Mahmud -- in June 2022.

Mahmud filed the case against Hasina and others with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Belal Hossain.

Rawnak said, "Actress Shomi Kaiser is an FIR listed accused. She will be shown arrested in the case."

Till the filling of this report around 1:00am, police were conducting the drive in the capital's Uttara.

Shomi is the daughter of Bangladeshi novelist, writer and martyred intellectual Shahidullah Kaiser and writer and former parliamentarian Panna Kaiser.​

 

[Saif]

CID launches probe against former law minister's aide

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched an investigation into the alleged money laundering by Toufika Karim, a close associate of former Law Minister Anisul Huq

www.thedailystar.net

CID launches probe against former law minister's aide

File photo: Collected

Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has launched an investigation into the alleged money laundering by Toufika Karim, a close associate of former Law Minister Anisul Huq.

"The CID has started investigating allegations against Toufika Karim, widely recognised as the former minister's 'personal cashier', based on various sources and complaints," said Azad Rahman, special superintendent of police (media) at the CID headquarters.

Through her work in the legal profession, she reportedly became close to Anisul Huq and, allegedly with his support, is accused of establishing a network of illegal syndicates and embezzlement schemes, said a CID press release.

Since 2014, Toufika Karim is alleged to have engaged in activities like file tampering, forgery, job placement without exams, and influencing court verdicts, reportedly collecting large sums of money from defendants in high-profile cases in exchange for securing their bail or altering verdicts, said the CID release.

In 2020, further allegations surfaced that Toufika Karim, through irregular practices in the Dhaka Sessions Judge and Chief Metropolitan Magistrate courts, facilitated the appointment of 18 drivers from the former minister's constituency of Akhaura-Kasba.

Additionally, she held positions as the chairman of Citizen Charter Bank and managing director of Desh TV, reportedly owned by Anisul Huq. Sources allege that with the former minister's illicit wealth, she acquired several overseas properties in Canada, Dubai, and Malaysia as "second homes," according to the CID.

"It is rumoured that Toufika fled the country for Canada on July 26, just days before the Awami League government was ousted from power on August 5," the CID said.

Since money laundering is classified as a predicate offence under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, the CID's Financial Crimes Unit has begun investigating Toufika Karim and associated parties in this regard, said the release.​