Clinton to visit Dhaka May 5

DHAKA NEWS

Dhaka, Apr 26 US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will arrive in Bangladesh on May 5 on a two-day trip, the State Department announced on Thursday.

She will travel to Bangladesh on May 5- 6 before rounding off the two-nation South Asia tour in India on May 7-8. Clinton will depart Washington D.C. on Apri30, it added.

In Dhaka, Secretary Clinton will meet senior government officials and civil society representatives to review "robust US-Bangladesh cooperation across the full range of political, economic, and security matters".

Clinton's sudden decision to visit Bangladesh and India came as a surprise as a stopover in Dhaka was not on her initial Asia itinerary that was primarily meant to attend the fourth round of US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue in Beijing on May 3-4.     

Bashundhara chief faces arrest

DHAKA NEWS

A Dhaka court on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant against Bashundhara Group Chairman Ahmed Akbar Sobhan Shah Alam and two others in a case filed against them for misappropriating Tk 2.63 crore.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Shamsul Islam passed the order as Shah Alam, also the chairman and managing director of East West Properties Development Ltd, a concern of Bashundhara Group, and the two other accused did not appear before the court despite the court duly summoned them.

The two other accused are Mahbub Morshed Hasan, vice-chairman of East West Properties Development Ltd and Shah Alam’s son Sadat Sobhan who is also a director of the company.

The court, however, granted bail to another accused Towhidul Islam, the deputy managing director of the company, as he surrendered earlier seeking bail in the case.

Another Dhaka court on December 18 last year summoned Shah Alam and Sadat, Morshed and Towhidul to appear before the court on February 20 on fraud charges.

North South University Chairman Mohammad Shahjahan filed the case accusing the four for embezzling the money Tk 2.63 crore.

11,573 BCS hopefuls get nod for exam

DHAKA NEWS

The 11,573 Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) applicants of 33rd batch who failed to make online payments due to server shortcomings of Teletalk for appearing the examination will now be allowed to sit for examination.

The officials of Public Service Commission (PSC) took the decision at a meeting held at its office in line with a High Court order, a senior PSC official told on Wednesday.

The applicants are given time from 8:00am of April 29 to 10:00pm of May 2 to pay their fees of the examinations.

The 33rd BCS hopefuls failed to make payments due to server shortcomings even after filling in forms online by the April 7 midnight deadline.

The PSC refused to consider their application and did not issue admit cards forcing the civil service aspirants to go to the HC order.

On April 15, the HC following their writ petition stayed for three weeks the process for holding the 33rd BCS examinations.

PSC has fixed June 1 for holding preliminary test of the 33rd BCS examinations.

In response to the petition, the HC also issued a rule upon the authorities concerned to explain in a week why the circular issued on February 29 for holding the 33rd BCS examinations should not declared illegal.

The PSC chairman and its exam comptroller, the cabinet secretary, the Tetetalk managing director and its general manger (marketing) have been made respondents to the rule.

Earlier, 20 candidates for the BCS examinations jointly filed the writ petition with the HC saying that they have deposited money, filling BCS application forms through Teletalk for appearing the examinations.

But the authorities have not issued admit cards for them, the petitioners said.

Adv AKM Fayez, counsel for the petitioners, earlier told the court that several thousands of BCS candidates have not got admit cards due to technical problem of Teletalk.

He prayed to the court to direct the authorities concerned to give his clients scope so that they can participate in the BCS exams.

Mojahid denied bail in grenade attack case

DHAKA NEWS

A Dhaka court on Wednesday rejected the bail petitions of Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid, an accused in the August 21 grenade attack cases.

Judge Shahed Nuruddin of Speedy Trial Tribunal-1 passed the order after a lengthy hearing on the bail petitions filed by Mojahid.

Earlier in the day, counsels of six accused in the cases cross-examined Sharif Faruq Ahmed, the then sub-inspector of Motijheel Police Station and also the complainant of the cases.

The court later fixed April 30 for the next hearing of the cases.

Twenty-four people including Awami League leader Ivy Rahman were killed and around 200 others injured in the grisly grenade attack on an AL rally at Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21 in 2004.

The then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped the attack.

BACKGROUND

After the grisly grenade attack in 2004, two cases were filed in connection with the attack – one under explosive substances act and the other for killing people.

In 2008, the CID submitted charge sheets against 22 people including former BNP deputy minister Abdus Salam Pintu and 21 Huji men including militant kingpin Mufti Hannan.

On July 3 last year, 30 more people including BNP's Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman, former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar, BNP chairperson's political secretary Harris Chowdhury and Mojahid were made accused in the supplementary charge-sheets.

Of the 51 accused, 32 including Babar and Mojahid are now in jail and one was released on bail. Tarique and 18 others are absconding.

ICT Rejects SQ Chy's Discharge Plea

DHAKA NEWS

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Wednesday rejected BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's petition seeking discharge from the charges of his involvement in crimes against humanity committed during country's Liberation War in 1971.

The three-panel tribunal headed by Justice Nizamul Huq also turned down another petition of the detained BNP leader which sought some changes to his indictment order.

Salauddin who is now facing 23 specific war crimes charges present in the tribunal dock during the day's hearing.

Khaleda Gives govt 4 More days to Trace Ilias

DHAKA NEWS

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has threatened to go for tougher programme from Sunday if the government fails to find out missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali by Saturday.

"There is no doubt that the government has done it. So, it is the responsibility of the government to return him to his family," she said at a press conference Tuesday evening.

The main opposition party will stage countrywide demonstrations on Thursday and organise the same programme at upazila sadars on April 28 to press home its demand.

BNP will announce fresh agitation programme on Saturday if Alias Ali is not traced by the day.

The former prime minister was addressing the crowded press conference at her Gulshan office after wrapping up their nationwide dawn-to-dusk hartal for a third consecutive day on Tuesday.

M Ilias Ali, a former lawmaker and organising secretary of the party, and his driver went missing around midnight of April 17.

On Wednesday, police found Ilias' private car abandoned near his Banani residence in the capital.

US concerned at Ilias disappearance

DHAKA NEWS

The United States on Tuesday expressed concern over the disappearance of BNP leader M Ilias Ali and called on all sides to work together to find him out.

“First of all I join everyone the concern of disappearance of anyone. It may be to anyone and it is violation of basic human rights,” said US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan Mozena.

Replying to a question, he said, “This is a frightening experience not for the person but also for the families.”

The US diplomat was talking to a selected group of journalists at his Gulshan residence in the afternoon.

IO gets Permission to exhume Sagar-Runi’s Bodies

DHAKA NEWS

A Dhaka court on Tuesday granted permission to the investigation officer to exhume the bodies of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and his wife Meherun Runi for second autopsy.

Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Bikash Kumar Saha passed the order after Assistant Superintendent of Police Abu Zafar, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the petition to his court in the morning.

After the court sent the matter to the Dhaka district magistrate Monoj Kumar Roy on Tuesday to take next course of action, he assigned executive magistrate Md Shahiduzzaman to take necessary steps for exhuming the bodies.

The executive magistrate will now fix a date for exhuming the bodies.

Sagar, news editor of private TV station Maasranga, and Runi, a senior reporter of another TV channel ATN Bangla, were killed in the small hours on February 11 at their rented apartment in the capital's West Razabazar.

Earlier on April 18, the High Court expressed frustration over the Detective Branch's failure in identifying the killer(s) of the journalist couple and ordered to shift the case to Rapid Action Battalion (Rab).

8,000 sued over Sylhet Violence

SYLHET NEWS

Over 8,000 people were sued in two cases filed in connection with Monday’s fierce clashes between pro-hartal pickets and law enforcers during a countrywide hartal at Bishwanath upazila of Sylhet.

Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion and police conducted an overnight raid till early Tuesday at different parts of the upazila and arrested 40 persons in connection with the cases.

Dev Dulal, a sub-inspector of Bishwanath Police Station, filed one case Monday night with the police station against 5,000 people naming 100 BNP leaders and activists on charges of attacking police during the hartal.

Md Kamal Hopssain, Bishwanath upazila nirbahi officer, filed another case Monday night under Speedy Trial Tribunal Act with the same police station against 3,000 unnamed people.

A tense situation has been prevailing in and around the upazila headquarters following the clash.

Rab, police and Border Guard of Bangladesh personnel have been deployed in the area to fend off any untoward incident.

Police raid Hannan Shah Residence

DHAKA NEWS

Police Tuesday morning conducted a 30-minute search at the Mohakhali DOHS house of BNP Standing Committee Member Brig Gen (retd) Hannan Shah but to no avail.

None was arrested nor could the law enforcers find any evidence of something illegal there during the raid, said Imtiaz Hossain, deputy police commissioner (DC) of Mirpur division, reports our Sylhet correspondent.

Describing the raid, the DC said a team of police cordoned off the house of the BNP leader since 1:00am following an intelligence report that a secret meeting was going on there.

They entered the house of the BNP leader around 6:00 in the morning as Hannan did not allow them to search his house till morning, he added.

After nearly 30-minute search, they came out of the house finding nothing suspicious, the police official said.