BANGLADESH

Chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission Ghulam Rahman has urged the media to identify the multi-level marketing (MLM) companies that are cheating people out of their millions.

"Please publish reports in the media against the MLM companies that are deceiving the people exploiting their belief. We'll take steps against all of them," he said while talking to journalists at his office on Wednesday.

Regarding Destiny-2000 Limited, an MLM company, he said a large number of people are involved with it but a few cunning people are looting the assets of the people.

"Some people are looting and laundering money in the name of MLM to rob general people and it should be prevented."

The anti-graft body on Wednesday quizzed three more officials about the reported fraudulence and irregularities by Destiny and its 37 associate organisations.

They are its directors Sajjad Hossain, Mezbah Uddin Swapan and Irfan Ahmed Sani.

Earlier on Apr 4, the ACC started the investigation into the irregularities of Destiny.

Several newspapers recently published reports on the company's alleged involvement in several irregularities, including illegal banking and collecting money from people through cheating.

On May 14, a Dhaka court issued a warrant of arrest for Destiny-2000 Chairman, Boishakhi Media Limited Managing Director and two other officials after businessman MNH Bulu, a shareholder of Boishakhi Media, filed a case against them.

On Apr 1, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce Ministry decided to request the Finance Minister and the Bangladesh Bank Governor for action against Destiny-2000 and such other MLM companies.

A Bangladesh Bank inquiry recently found proof of illegal banking by Destiny Multipurpose Co-operative Society, a sister concern of Destiny-2000.

The National Board of Revenue froze five bank accounts, including that of Destiny Chairman Mohammad Rafiqul Amin, on Apr 25.

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has questioned the necessity of forming a probe commission to look into Grameen Bank's activities since its birth.

In a statement, Yunus on Wednesday said he was afraid that the bank's future would be at stake if the government exerted more influence on the bank.

"I believe without doubt that Grameen Bank's future will be endangered if the government reinforces its role in the bank affairs by changing its legal structure," he said in the statement.

"Has Grameen Bank done any major misdeed that needed (the government) to initiate this probe?" he asked. "I am saddened at hearing the news."

The government on May 16 formed the commission to review the ownership of Grameen Bank and 54 related social businesses that Yunus still heads, 14 months after Yunus was removed as its Managing Director.

The Bank and Financial Institutions Division of the Ministry of Finance in a circular announced the institution of the panel under 'The Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956' .

The committee will look into changing the structure of the profitable network of ventures that include Grameen Bank's stakes in Bangladesh's biggest mobile-phone company Grameenphone and recommend ways to ensure good governance, transparency and accountability of the microcredit NGO and how to bring it within the reach of state regulatory agencies.

The commission will identify the institutional strengths, weaknesses and constraints in the Grameen Bank's operation and review the purposes, legal status and operations of the institutions, companies and enterprises established by it.

The commission will also comment on the microcredit NGO's ownership and composition of its Board of Directors specifying qualifications for such membership. It will report to the government in three months.

Yunus added: "I am now enormously worried about the possibility of Grameen Bank being put under government control. I fear even to anticipate the course that Grameen Bank will take if it is made a government institution."

In the wake of several incidents of police attack on journalists, senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed said on Wednesday the government lost control over the law enforcers.

"The State Minister for Home has asked journalists to stay away from police. Such remarks after the brutal behaviour of police prove that the government has no control over them," said Moudud, a BNP Standing Committee Member. "They (government) have failed to run the country."

State Minister for Home Shamsul Hoque Tuku on Tuesday suggested journalists to keep safe distance from police when they are on duty to avoid any tussle with them.

"Many untoward incidents can be avoided if newsmen keep themselves away from police when they are on duty in a chaotic place," he said.

Moudud reacted over the remarks while placing wreaths on BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's grave at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar to mark his 31st death anniversary.

The BNP and its associate organisations, led by Chairperson Khaleda Zia, placed wreaths on the grave in the morning.

Moudud said Awami League did not believe in democracy.

"It was Ziaur Rahman who returned the country to the path of democracy from one-party rule in 1975," he said.

"Our leader Khaleda Zia gave democracy an institutional shape through the 12th Amendment of the Constitution. But the government has violated the people's right to vote by annulling the caretaker government system through the 15th Amendment," he added.

Moudud also reminded that Khaleda would announce fresh agitations from a rally in Dhaka on June 11 if the demand for restoring an election time caretaker government is not met by the June 10 deadline.

Asked what type of demonstration could be announced, Moudud said, "The programmes are yet to be finalised. It will be decided on June 9 or 10."

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 has reprimanded the Daily Sangram's reporter covering the tribunal for publishing report having 'false' and 'misleading' information about a witness.

Day's proceedings of the first International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday began with the head of the three-strong tribunal, Justice Nizamul Huq, feeling 'sorry' over twisted facts in the news report.

The tribunal expressed disappointment over the news report after prosecution counsel Zead-Al Malum brought it to its attention.

On May 29, the Daily Sangram carried a news report titled "Witness Sheeru Bengali himself stands accused in cases of forgery, fraud and misappropriation."

"What does the headline mean? What do you want to convey by this sentence?" asked Justice Huq as he talked to Shahidul Islam, reporter of the Daily Sangram, a Jamaat-e-Islami mouthpiece.

Shahidul stood speechless as the justice continued reading parts of the report after the headline.

"The witness No. 3 is a fake freedom fighter," Justice Huq read out from the report as he termed the statement 'a dangerous statement to make'."

He wondered from where the reporter had received the information when neither the defence nor the prosecution had to say anything like this.

"Does a newspaper have the authority to deliver such a verdict?" Justice Huq asked. He also ordered the reporter of the newspaper to publish a corrigendum on the 'facts' given in the report.

Sirajul Islam alias Sheeru Bengali, is the third witness in the case filed against BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowhdury, who is facing charges on 23 counts of the crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

During the defence's cross-examination on May 28, Sheeru Bengali had said that he did not have a freedom fighter's certificate.

"Having no certificate does not mean a fake freedom fighter," said Justice Huq, who also urged cooperation from the media in holding a smooth trial.

Until the lunch recess, Mizanul Islam, defence counsel of Delwar Hossain Sayedee, continued with cross-examination of the investigation officer in the case for the 14th straight day on Wednesday.

The cross-examination will resume on Thursday at the tribunal formed to try genocide and other crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

On Apr 26, in its first conviction for contempt of court, the tribunal sentenced the Daily Sangram editor-publisher and its Feni correspondent to a token prison term and fined them Tk 5,000 each.

The conviction followed publication of a report on Apr 2 in the newspaper covering an event in which certain lawyers of Feni Bar Association had stated that the tribunal was partisan.

The Home Minister on Wednesday sprung to the defence of the under-fire police force, claiming its behaviour is 'far better' now than before.

Shahara Khatun said reforms were underway to make the force 'pro-people'.

She made the comment only a day after police were accused of sexually assaulted a young woman and beating journalists at the Judges' Court premises in Dhaka.

"There are 141,000 police personnel in the country. I would not say all are good (well behaved). But we are working to make them pro-people," Sahara said.

She gestured to her right leg and said, "Police are now far better than before. My right leg is broken. Such incident also took place [in police action in the past]."

The government will take measures if there was any 'wrongdoings' in the police force, Shahara said.

"I was a political activist on the streets and have been pursuing politics since the Pakistani regime. We took action in the last three and a half years whenever there were wrongdoings in the police. Action will also be taken in future."

She dodged a 'yes' or 'no' answer to a question as to whether the media was the rival of police and government.

"People rush to police in incidents of burglary and robbery, but police don't torture them then."

She further claimed that the government took immediate measures in the incidents of police negligence and inaction.

Responding to a media query about the repression on the journalists by police on the court premises in old Dhaka, Shahara said the government took action soon after the incident. "Investigation is underway and measures will be taken [against those found responsible]."

Police on Tuesday withdrew two Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs) over allegations of sexually harassing a woman at the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court premises.

After a heated verbal exchange, the policemen dragged the young woman to the 'Police Club' on the court premises and sexually assaulted her, according to the lawyers who witnessed the incident.

As the Court Correspondents rushed there on information to have statement from police, they attacked three journalists and two lawyers.

Amid severe criticism, police withdrew ASIs ANuruzzaman Sarker and Amir Afzal Biplob in the evening. Police also formed a panel to investigate the incident.

Last week, police beat up three photojournalists of the daily Prothom Alo, snatched their cameras and cell phones and swore at them while they were taking photos of demonstrations by polytechnic students in Agargaon.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police after primary investigations closed Shahidul Islam, Assistant Commissioner (AC) of Tejgaon zone, and suspended nine policemen.

State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku at a discussion on Tuesday advised journalists to keep a "safe distance" from police while gathering news.

"Journalist can avoid such unwanted incidents if they collect news or take photos by keeping a safe distance from police," he advised.

Home Minister Shahara Khatun on Wednesday claimed that the media twisted the remarks of her deputy.

Earlier, Shahara attended an inter-ministerial meeting on reduction of extortion in the transport sector.

Jahidul Islam Sourav, one of the three arrested on Tuesday over an attack on bdnews24.com journalists, claims himself to be a member of Juba League, youth front of the ruling Awami League.

He also admitted attacking the journalists and office staff of bdnews24.com on Monday night which left two journalists and one staff of the country's first internet-based newspaper seriously injured.

However, Awami Juba League General Secretary Mirza Azam has denied Sourav's claim. "His claim is false," Azam said.

The other two arrestees – Mir Hossain and Ilias Master Sumon – have, however, denied any connection with the incident.

Police presented the trio in front of the press on Tuesday afternoon at the Detective Branch headquarters of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police where Sourav admitted his involvement in the attack.

On Monday night, unidentified assailants stabbed bdnews24.com Sub-Editor Newaz Mohammad Rifaat, Correspondent Salahuddin Wahed Pritom and office staff Ruhul Amin with sharp weapons during an attack which left them with serious injuries.

Police detained the trio from different localities in Mohakhali in separate raids since Monday night until Tuesday afternoon.

DB Additional Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman told reporters, "Sourav was arrested in the morning from his residence in Mohakhali. We also have the names of those who were involved in the attack."

Home Minister Shahara Khatun on Monday night, while visiting the injured at the United Hospital, had said the attackers, whichever political party they are from, would not be spared.

Sourav told reporters that he is a member of the 'Ga unit' of Juba League. He is a Degree first-year student at Titumir College.

However, Mirza Azam told bdnews24.com, "According to the Constitution of Juba League, there is no such organisational infrastructure as 'Ga unit'."

Sourav said that police arrested him from his house at 69/2 at Sakaria Mosque lane at Mohakhali.

Although the injured – Rifaat, Pritom and Ruhul Amin – bore wounds from sharp-edged weapons, Sourav claimed that no one was stabbed during the clash.

Asked if they were not stabbed then where did stabbing injuries come from, Sourav said, "I don't know about any stabbing."

He also named three of his 'seniors' – Imran, Yakub and Saddam – involved in the attack.

He said two of them works at a private electronic products manufacturing firm, but could not give their designations at the firm.

Asked to name other members of the Juba League 'Ga unit', Sourav refrained from answering. But he said, "One of the seniors took my knife."

He made this disclosure right after claiming that the journalists were not stabbed.

Describing the sequence of events leading to the attack, he said, "I was on my bicycle. There was some stuff on the footpath in front of the bdnews24.com's office building."

"As I asked the bdnews24.com staff to remove their stuff, one of them said, 'this is footpath, not road'. I had a heated argument with them. After that I called and informed my seniors about the incident."

Ruhul Amin of bdnews24.com was the man with whom Sourav had the argument in front of the building while keeping an eye on the office stuff kept outside to be shifted to the new location of the office.

On hearing shrieks of Ruhul Amin, journalists from the office had rushed to his aid and captured the assailant and informed police.

Angered at this, some more accomplices of the assailant from nearby areas, armed with sharp-edged weapons, swooped on the journalists.

Sourav claimed that he was captured and beaten up. After a while, his 'seniors' arrived on the scene, after which the attack took a new turn, culminating into stabbing of the journalists.

Meanwhile, speaking with the media, arrestee Ilias Master Sumon said, "I don't know anything about the incident. I've been framed."

The third arrestee, Mir Hossain, also pleaded innocence and denied any involvement in the attack.

DB ADC Masudur Rahman told reporters that police were investigating the reasons of the attack and whether any quarter was to benefit from the incident.

Earlier in the day, bdnews24.com's Human Resources Officer Shahidul Islam filed a case at the Banani Police Station against 15-20 unidentified people over the attack. Police said the trio was shown arrested in the case.

Injured Rifaat, Pritom and Ruhul Amin are still undergoing treatment at the United Hospital at Gulshan. However, doctors have already declared them out of danger.

Meanwhile, journalists across the country have demonstrated and held protest programmes against the attack.

The government will give Tk 200,000 compensation to each of the families of 10 Bangladeshi workers who died due to suffocation during a fire in Bahrain on Sunday.

The decision on giving compensation was taken at an emergency meeting of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment Welfare Board on Tuesday, expatriates' welfare minister Khandakar Mosharraf Hossain told reporters at his Secretariat office.

Besides the financial assistance, the governing will also bear all the expenses of bringing back the bodies from Bahraini capital Manama.

The minister said that the government would try to realise compensation from the companies for which the ill-fated workers worked since they all travelled to Bahrain on legitimate work visas. "We're discussing the matter with the authorities concerned of Bahrain."

The bodies would be brought home from Bahrain by a Gulf Airlines flight since there is no flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines in Bahrain, he said.

Ten Bangladeshi workers died due to suffocation as a fire broke out at a makeshift labour accommodation in East Riffa area, some 30 kilometres from Manama, early on Sunday. The fire originated from an electric short circuit.

Nine of the 10 workers hailed from Comilla and one from Chandpur.

Responding to a query, Mosharraf said autopsy would be conducted after the bodies are brought home if their family members want that.

First Secretary of Bangladesh High Commission in Bahrain Mohammad Ibrahim said on Monday that after the post-mortem examinations, the Bahrain government said that the Bangladeshis had died in their sleep from carbon monoxide poisoning created from the smoke.

Earlier, Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa ordered an urgent investigation into the tragedy and directed the ministries of interior, labour, and municipalities and urban planning affairs to look into the causes and ensure that such incidents do not recur.

Prince Khalifa offered his condolences to the bereaved families and instructed the authorities concerned to send back the bodies to Bangladesh soon.

Bolts of lightning killed four people, including two of a family, in Nababganj of Dinajpur district on Wednesday.

Nababganj Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Jahidul Islam told  that the incidents occurred around 8am.

Asiya Begum, 37, and her neighbour Abdul Gafur's eight-year-old son Naimul Islam of Boalmari village under Binodnagar Union Parishad were killed on the compound of Gafur's house, the SI said.

Another thunderbolt hit a house at Chamunda village under Joypur Union Parishad, killing Razia Begum, 40, and her brother Atikul Islam, 35, who were inside the house, he added.

The driver of a microbus and all 11 passengers, nine of them are relatives, died when it collided head on with a speeding bus in Keraniganj near the capital early Wednesday.

Police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) said the accident took place at Rajendrapur area around 6am.

South Keraniganj Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Sakhawat Hossain told bdnews24.com that the bus of Sakura Paribahan was on its way to Dhaka when the collision occurred with the microbus that was heading toward Mawa for Shariatpur.

RAB-10 official Mohammad Kashem told bdnews24.com that they recovered bodies of 10 people from the spot and two others, critically injured, died while being taken to the Mitford Hospital in Dhaka.

Nine passengers of the microbus were family members and relatives of Zakir Sarder, the Chairman of Arshinagar Union Parishad, the police official said.

They were on their way to Shariatpur to enjoy the summer vacation at Zakir's house, he said.

The deceased were identified as Zakir's wife 'Baby', 47, their daughter 'Lubab', 12, his sister 'Neena', 47, her son 'Babu', 21, Zakir's sister 'Razina', 33, her husband South East Bank official 'Lenin', 38, their son 'Yaas', 8, and daughter 'Ishra', 2, Zakir's niece 'Tazria', 12, and housemaids 'Khushi' and 'Moni', and the driver Sohel Rana.

Zakir's cousin Khokan Sarder told reporters at the hospital that Zakir's three sisters lived in Indira Road and used to spend the summer holiday at Zakir's house in Shariatpur every year.

The hospital's emergency ward doctor Masudur Rahman told bdnews24.com that three passengers of the bus injured in the accident took first aid and left the hospital.

The vitamin 'A' plus campaign will be observed on Saturday across Bangladesh.

At least 22 million children aged between 6 months and 5 years will receive life-saving vitamin A doses while over 19 million children between 2 and 5 years of age will receive an additional de-worming tablet.

Briefing journalists at the Secretariat, Health Minister AFM Ruhal Haque said health workers and volunteers from 140,000 sites –health centres, schools, and bus, lunch and train stations –will distribute those doses.

Bangladesh has been conducting vitamin A campaign since 1974 as vitamin A deficiency causes night blindness and increases the risk of diseases like measles and diarrhoea, a major cause of childhood deaths.

According to government estimates, vitamin A doses save the lives of more than 30,000 children annually in Bangladesh, while reducing illness in tens of thousands more.

Because of the campaign, night blindness— also a sign of severe malnutrition among children—has declined significantly from 3.7 percent two decades ago to 0.04 percent at present, a 2009 survey shows.

"Our target is to bring it (night blindness) to zero level," the minister said, adding 'red' colour vitamin A capsule will be given to the children between 1 and 5 years of age while children between 6 and 11 months will receive 'blue' coloured capsule.

During the campaign, he said, volunteers will also spread messages of benefits of exclusive breastfeeding until six months into the birth of a child that can cut 13 percent deaths of children under 5.

As worm infection causes blood loss and retards children's growth, a de-worming tablet has been included in the campaign in 2004.

Bangladesh conducts two vitamin A supplementation campaigns each year, with the next one likely in October.

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) received the viscera report of the second autopsy of journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi on Tuesday.

"We got the report on Tuesday morning. It will help us in the investigation," RAB spokesperson M Suhayel told bdnews24.com.

He, however, declined comment on what was in the report.

After the second post mortem of Sagar and Runi on Apr 26, Qazi Gholam Mokhlesur Rahman, the doctor who conducted it, said many parts could not be checked properly as the bodies of the journalists, killed on Feb 11, decomposed.

Maasranga Television News Editor Sagar and ATN Bangla Senior Reporter Runi had been killed in their own flat at Rajabazar. Runi's brother filed a case with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station against some unidentified people.

As police failed to make any progress in the investigation, the High Court questioned their skills and ordered transfer of the case to RAB.

RAB appealed to the court to redo the post mortem.

Police on Tuesday arrested three people in connection with an attack on bdnews24.com journalists on Monday.

All the arrestees -- Jahidul Islam Sourov, 20, 'Hossain', and 'Ilias' -- are residents of the capital's Mohakhali area, DMP's Additional Deputy Commissioner for Media and Community Service Masudur Rahaman told bdnews24.com.

Banani police detained them from different areas in Mohakhali in separate raids since morning, he said.

Officer-in-Charge of Banani Police Station Mamun-ur-Rashid said bdnews24.com's Human Resources Officer Shahidul Islam filed a case against 15-20 unidentified people over the attack.

"We have accepted the case. The investigation is underway," he said.

On Monday night, unidentified assailants stabbed bdnews24.com Sub-Editor Newaz Mohammad Rifaat and Correspondent Salahuddin Wahed Pritom with sharp weapons. Several others, including office staff Ruhul Amin, suffered injuries in the attack apparently by a group of local goons.

They are being treated at the United Hospital at Gulshan.

Journalists across the country have condemned the attack and demonstrated demanding arrest of the attackers.

Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC) has proposed launching a simpler quota system arguing it is not possible to select eligible candidates fairly under the current quota system.

According to the annual report of the PSC for 2011 presented in Parliament on Sunday, the implementation of the current policy regarding the quota system is 'very much complex, difficult and requires (too) much time'.

"It is almost impossible to select eligible candidates following a 100 percent perfect way for the complexity in the current quota system. It is warranted to simplify the current quota system to select candidates through BCS (Bangladesh Civil Service) examination.

"Otherwise, it is not possible to be free from the complexities to implement the current quota system," the report said.

It proposed appointment of candidates in quotas for freedom fighters, women and small ethnic groups by categorising them nationally. "The complexity will increase if they are appointed on the basis of districts, divisions or size of population."

"Such posts can be distributed among the candidates in line with the merit list," the report said.

PSC Chairman A T Ahmedul Haque Chowdhury told , "Whatever is in the district quota, it should not create any hindrance."

"In many cases, candidates from other quotas get fewer appointments through this [district] quota. As a result, we face problems to meet the conditions of the quota system."

"It becomes difficult to select eligible candidates," he added.

In the current quota system, freedom fighters' sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters get 30 percent, women 10 percent, small ethnic groups five percent and those under district quota get 10 percent jobs in the civil service.

Of the 6,455 people appointed through the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th BCS examinations, 1,145 were appointed from freedom fighters' quota, 897 from women's quota, 61 from small ethnic groups' quota and 960 from districts' quota, the report said.

The PSC also proposed increasing the age limit of candidates of the posts of assistant professor, associate professor and professor of government colleges.

"Most of the eligible teachers of the government colleges cannot apply for the posts due to the age limit," the report said.

30 percent women in past five BCS

According to the PSC report, 10,581 people were appointed through the past five BCS examinations (26th to 30th BCS).

Of them, 70.05 percent are male and the rest female.

A total of 703 or 66.13 percent male and 360 or 33.87 percent female were appointed through the 26th BCS, 2,417 or 74.62 percent male and 822 or 25.38 percent through the 27th BCS, 1,520 or 69.41 percent male and 670 or 30.59 female through the 28th BCS, 1.232 or 71.54 percent male and 490 or 28.46 percent female through the 29th BCS, and 1,623 or 68.57 percent male and 744 or 31.43 percent female through the 30th BCS.

Ten Bangladeshi workers died of suffocation from heavy smoke as a fire broke out at their rented house in Bahrain early Sunday.

Muhammad Ibrahim, Bangladesh’s first secretary (labour) in Bahrain, confirmed the deaths.

All the victims are from Comilla, he added.

Of them, one is identified as Syed Ahmed, son of one Abdul Jalil of Sadar upazila in the district.

The fire originated from an electric short circuit at 4:00am at a house in Rifa, 30 kilometres off the capital Manama, where the victims used to live, Ibrahim said.All the 10 died on the spot as billowing smoke engulfed their residence, he added.iremen rushed to the scene after having information from the neighbours of the deceased.The firemen had to break the wall to enter their house, and by that time the workers died of suffocation, Ibrahim added.

There was little arrangement for ventilation in that house,” he said. Labour department has already checked the fingerprints of the deceased and found that they entered Bahrain legally.The bodies were kept at a local hospital in Rifa.

The High Court on Monday ordered authorities to send detained BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka to the BIRDEM Hospital and asked them why he should not get regular bail.

The bench of Justices Salma Masud Chowdhury and F R M Nazmul Ahsan issued the order and the rule after hearing a bail petition of BNP Vice Chairman Khoka.

Dhaka district's Deputy Commissioner was given a week to respond.

Barrister Moudud Ahmed argued for the former Dhaka Mayor at the hearing. Additional Attorney General M K Rahman and Deputy Attorney General Khandker Diliruzzaman stood for the state.

"The court ordered the jail authorities to immediately send him (Khoka) to the BIRDEM Hospital and issued a rule on his bail. It also asked for submission of a new petition if the doctors at the BIRDEM Hospital advise transferring him to another hospital," Moudud said.

The same bench granted temporary bail to five opposition MPs on Sunday and issued a rule asking why the opposition leaders who appealed for bail should not get regular bail.

A total of 42 leaders of the BNP, its allies and their associate organisations had been sent to jail in a case over torching a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

Thirty-five senior leaders of the 18-Party Alliance, arrested in the case, appealed to the High Court against the May 23 rejection of their bail by a Sessions Judges' Court. The arrested leaders include BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Those who got interim bail from the High Court on Sunday are BNP MPs M K Anwar, Mahbub Uddin Khokan and Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie, and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) MP Oli Ahmed and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) MP Andaleeve Rahman Partho.

The court also said on Sunday that it would hear the petition of Khoka on Monday.

Tejgaon zone Assistant Commissioner of Police Shahidul Islam, closed to the police headquarters for assaulting three journalists on Saturday, has now been put under suspension.

Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmud Khandker confirmed  about the suspension of Shahidul hours after another top police official said Shahidul had been reinstated to active duty.

The move came amidst protests and agitation by journalists demanding arrest of the policemen involved in the beating and awarding exemplary punishment to them.

Earlier in the day, Additional Inspector General (AIG) Shahidul Haque told  "Shahidul Islam, who was closed off to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police headquarters after withdrawal, has been transferred to Rangamati's Betbunia."

On Saturday, some police personnel, including Islam, assaulted three photo journalists of Bengali daily Prothom Alo, who were taking photos of students of Dhaka Mohila Polytechnic Institute during their demonstration at Agargaon.

After a preliminary inquiry on the very day of mishap, authorities withdrew Islam to the police headquarters and suspended nine others. They also formed a probe committee manned by DMP Joint Commissioner Shahabuddin Qureshi and asked for a report on the incident in seven days.

Leaders of various journalists' unions demanded arrest of the police officers involved in the incident and exemplary punishment from an agitation in front of the National Press Club on Sunday.

Five opposition MPs secured six weeks' bail from the High Court in an arson attack case on Sunday, hours before the budget session of Parliament was to begin.

The bench of Justices Salma Masud Chowdhury and F R M Nazmul Ahsan also issued a rule asking the government why all the accused opposition leaders who appealed for bail should not get regular bail.

The government was given seven days to respond to the rule.

Those who got bail are BNP MPs M K Anwar, Mahbub Uddin Khokan and Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie, and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) MP Oli Ahmed and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) MP Andaleeve Rahman Partho.

They had been sent to jail in one of the cases filed under the Speedy Trial Act over torching of a vehicle during a shutdown on Apr 29.

Khandker Mahbub Hossain, former President of Supreme Court Bar Association and Advisor to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, argued for the petitioners while Additional Attorney General M K Rahman stood for the state.

M K Rahman said the court granted bail for six weeks. Mahbub Hossain, however, said the bail was for six months, not six weeks.

Earlier in the day, counsels of the opposition leaders appealed against the May 23 order of the Metropolitan Sessions Judges' Court that rejected bail pleas of the arrested 18-Party opposition alliance leaders.

The BNP had enforced the Apr 29 general strike in protest against the disappearance of one of its organising secretaries M Ilias Ali. Tejgaon police had filed a case under the Speedy Trial Act against the opposition leaders over the incident.

Thirty-three top opposition leaders, including BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Standing Committee Member Anwar, Students Affairs Secretary Annie, Liberal Democratic Party President Oli, and Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) Chairman Partho, had been sent to jail on May 17 following an order by a Dhaka metropolitan speedy trial magistrate after they surrendered in line with a previous High Court order.

BNP Joint Secretary-General Mahbub Uddin Khokan had been granted anticipatory bail until May 21 but he was arrested after the bail expired.

Another BNP Joint Secretary-General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and leader Kamrazzuman Ratan had been arrested earlier.

The other detained leaders include BNP Vice Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Standing Committee Members Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, A S M Hannan Shah, Mirza Abbas and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Joint Secretary-General Aman Ullah Aman, Organising Secretary Fazlul Haque Milon and International Affairs Secretary Nazim Uddin Alam.

Jatiya Ganatantrik Party President Shafiul Alam Prodhan and NPP Chairman Sheikh Shawkat Hossain Nilu had also been sent to jail in the same case.

BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, standing war crimes trial at the International Crimes Tribunal-1, on Thursday called the second witness in his case a 'Beadab' (impudent) person.

Salauddin, facing charges on 23 counts of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, shouted at the witness, Mohammad Salimullah, when the witness tried to make a statement minutes before the defence completed his cross-examination.

"Saqa (abbreviated form of Salauddin Quader used widely in the media) Chowdhury…" said Salimullah trying to make a statement that invited Salauddin's wrath just before the court went into lunch recess.

After the recess, the third witness in the case, Sirajul Islam Prokash, gave his deposition for about two hours until 4pm.

Earlier, day's proceedings at the ICT-1, formed to try crimes against humanity during the Liberation War, had barely started when defence counsel Ahsanul Haq Hena made a complaint against the  reporter covering the ICT-1 over a news report published on May 23.

"Mr. Emran (the reporter) should be reprimanded," Hena appealed to the tribunal, adding, "I pray for an action against this man."

The defence counsel provided the court copies of the report titled "Good's Hill was Al-Shams headquarters."

"'On many occasions, I have seen him (the witness) talking to beautiful girls and taking them to unknown destinations holding their hands,' said Ahsanul Haq in one of his 'unprofessional remarks' as a counsel'," was the line the counsel was objecting to.

Hena was specifically objected to the use of word 'unprofessional'. Until the court ended its day's proceedings, Hena appealed for action against the reporter at least thrice.

Justice Nizamul Huq, chief of the three-member tribunal, said, "Though the reporter thinks your behaviour was unprofessional, he should not have used the word. This is unprofessional."

In a general message to the journalists, the justice urged all to be cautious about the words they use while reporting the trial proceedings.

"...Don't hurt anybody. You say the same thing, but say it in a soothing language" was the advice of the justice to the reporters in general.

"How they (journalists) will make maal (money) if they don't write in this fashion? They (journalists) earn money even from police," Salauddin quipped at this stage.

Minutes before the tribunal sat after the lunch recess, sitting in the dock Salauddin said, "Journalists can't even spell ethics, let alone maintaining ethical standards in their reporting. How can you (Hena) expect journalists to comprehend what ethics stands for when even judges don't know what it is all about?"

Hena argued that the media could not report all that was said in the court. According to him, news reporting should be limited to the recorded proceedings.

The Defence counsel continued for several minutes as the tribunal tried to pacify him. He took some time and began cross-examining the second witness for the third consecutive day when he lost his temper yet again.

It was time again for Justice Huq to intervene: "You cannot make gestures that could hurt the witness."

"Didn't he hurt me?" came the question from Hena in response to the remark of the justice.

On Wednesday, during the cross-examination, Hena lost his temper repeatedly as Salimullah, in reply to a question said that his (Hena) father Advocate Zahurul Haq was the convener of Cox's Bazar chapter of the Peace Committee, a platform floated during the Liberation War to collaborate with the Pakistani army.

"Mr Hena, You should control your anger and temper," the tribunal chief cautioned Hena once again on Thursday.

"I am a human being, not a cow," replied the defence counsel.

"A human being should know what is good for him," said the justice.

At one stage of cross-examination, Hena described the witness as a 'completely frustrated man'. The tribunal refused to record the statement, and he went by the decision.

During Salimullah's cross-examination, Hena, who also hails from Chittagong as the accused and the witness, went on shooting teasing posers at the witness, prompting the prosecution to raise objections repeatedly.

"There is no legal basis to torture a witness in the name of cross-examination. They (the defence) are doing this in a planned way. They are doing so not only for the sake of this case, but to send a message across that if someone becomes a witness, s/he will be questioned in this very fashion for several days," prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum had objected under a similar situation on Wednesday.

The deposition of the third witness will continue on Sunday.

The International Crimes Tribunal–1 is scheduled to announce its verdict on Monday on whether Jamaat-e-Islami chief Matiur Rahman Nizami would be indicted for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War.

ICT-1, trying crimes of 1971 Liberation War, on May 3 set May 28 for delivering its decision on Nizami's indictment.

Tribunal chief Mohammad Nizamul Huq had fixed the date after Nizami's counsel Abdur Razzaq concluded his argument moving a discharge petition against the prosecution's move seeking Nizami's indictment.

The prosecution has brought 15 charges against Nizami including crimes against humanity and genocide covering murder, rape, arson and loot.

However, the absence of a specific charge against Nizami for allegedly masterminding the execution of intellectuals of Bangladesh days before the Pakistan Army surrendered on Dec 16 1971, became more conspicuous as the defence counsel did not have to utter a single word in that regard as he refuted every charge against his client.

Nizami is widely alleged to have been instrumental in masterminding and executing a plan that would cripple the potentials of a newborn country substantially.

Razzaq had argued in support of the discharge petition that president of the Islami Chhatra Sangha, the Jamaat's student wing, Nizami believed in Pakistan and its sovereignty. "He was a Pakistani, 100 percent."

The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has greeted Wasfia Nazreen for conquering the summit of the Mount Everest as the second Bangladeshi woman.

The 29-year-old Bangladeshi mountaineer reached the top of the peak early in the morning on Saturday.

After inaugurating online tax payment system in Dhaka, Hasina said women of Bangladesh were proving their abilities.

Wasfia conquered the Mount Everest a week after Nishat Majumder had scaled the peak as the first Bangladeshi woman.

The prime minister said the people of Bangladesh were proud of Wasfia's bravery.

"I, along with the people of the country, am proud as Wasfia hoisted Bangladesh's red and green flag on the tallest peak of the word as a Bangladeshi woman," she said.

She expressed hope that Wasfia's achievement would encourage the next generations.

Awami League Presidium member and Deputy Leader of Parliament Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury also greeted Wasfia.

"Wasfia's achievement proves that Bangladeshi women are advancing," she said in a statement.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Saturday suspended nine policemen on charges of assaulting three journalists, who were covering the demonstrations by students of a polytechnic institute at Agargaon in the capital.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media and Community Services) Masudur Rahman also told  that the move came after a preliminary probe into the incident.

He said that a one-member probe committee has been formed to further investigate the occurrence.

The suspended police officials are Sub-Inspector Jahirul Islam, Deputy Sub-Inspector Shafiqur Rahman and Nazmul Islam, Constables Motiur Rahman, Abdur Razzak, Mohammad Shahjahan, Mohammad Joynal, 'Ratan' and 'Jahangir'.

The authorities have also withdrawn Tejgaon Zone Assistant Commissioner Shahidul Islam immediately after the incident on Saturday, DMP Tejgaon Zone Deputy Commissioner Imam Hossain told .

Students of Dhaka Women's Polytechnic Institute (DWPI) demonstrated blocking the Rokeya Sharani for around two hours from 11am in protest against 'downgrading' rank of diploma engineers.

Three journalists of Bengali daily Prothom Alo were assaulted by police while covering the incident.

Prothom Alo photographer Khaled Sarker told journalists that some police personnel, not in their uniforms, attacked a photo journalist of the daily when he tried to snap a photo of the demonstrators at Agargaon.

Khaled and another journalist of the daily were assaulted, too, when they tried to save the photo journalist, he alleged.

The three journalists were taken to the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station later, he said. They took treatment from the Pangu Hospital after they were freed, Khaled added.

The journalists were later transferred to Trauma Centre for better treatment. Information Minister Abul Kalam Azad visited them there.

Bangladeshi woman mountaineer Wasfia Nazreen conquered the summit of the Mount Everest early Saturday as part of her 'Bangladesh on Seven Summits' campaign, one of her associates said.

Wasfia, 29, reached the highest peak of the Mount Everest at 6:41 am, associate Korvi Rakshand told  in an email.

This is for the first time a solo Bangladeshi woman with no other team members has led an expedition to the top of the world after she started her journey on March 26 to mark the Bangladesh's 40th year of independence.

Her victory came within a week of Nishat Mazumder's expedition to the world's tallest mountain as the first Bangladeshi woman.

Nishat had ascended to Everest's 8,850-meter-high (29,035-foot-high) summit on May 19 from the northern side of the mountain in Nepal with M A Mohit, the second Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest.

The indomitable Wasfia on Saturday reached the South summit with American guide Chris Klinke and two sherpas Nima Gyurme Dorje and Kusang Sherpa, according to the expedition's Facebook fan page 'Bangladesh On Seven Summits'

Rakshand said Wasfia called from her satellite phone from the Everest summit immediately after she got there.

"We got our independence, but we, women, are still fighting for freedom. This is to the women of Bangladesh who brave their lives everyday for freedom, peace and equality," Rakshand quoted Wasfia as saying.

As part of the Bangladesh on Seven Summits campaign, she has successfully complete two continents, the previous one being Aconcagua, the second highest of the Seven summits and the highest point outside the Himalayas.

On Dec 16, she reached the near-seven kilometer peak of Aconcagua in Argentina.

Wasfia had dedicated that victory to the struggle of the martyrs of 1971, calling on greater recognition for the contribution of the women who had participated and suffered in the War.

Musa Ibrahim, the first Bangladeshi to reach the highest peak, congratulated Wasfia in a Facebook post.

"She did it, many congratulations to Wasfia. Again, I am saying, this is (the) time for the women of Bangladesh. They rocked and proved: YES, WE CAN DO IT," he said.

Wasfia's 2012 Everest trip was sponsored by Bangladesh's Citybank Ltd as the lead sponsor, and Renata Ltd and Kazi Farms Ltd as co-sponsors. The expedition was supported by Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Himalayan Climate Initiatives (HCI) and Nepal's Everest Women's 7 Summits Eco-Action Team (EW7SEA).

Wasfia started 'Bangladesh on Seven Summits' foundation in July 2011. As part of this effort, she has already climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa.

A new treatment has been introduced in Bangladesh to lower blood pressure using a technique called renal denervation to patients with 'difficult' hypertension.

The National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute started offering the sophisticated procedure from Saturday when they claimed successful application of the technique on three patients.

Studies suggest 20 to 25 percent Bangladeshi suffer from high blood pressure, of them 10 to 20 percent cannot control it despite lifestyle measures and taking medicines in adequate dosage, a condition doctors call difficult or resistant hypertension.

The new procedure evolved three years back in Europe is seen as the 'only' modern way of managing the difficult high blood pressure that put patients on the risk of stroke, heart attack, kidney failure and severe eye complications.

"A fine tube or catheter is passed into the femoral artery in the groin and traced into the arteries supplying the kidneys," Dr Dhiman Banik of the Institute who took the training of the procedure told .

"The catheter is advanced into each kidney artery in turn and then cauterise the nerves supplying the kidneys.

"It results in interruption of important signals that cause high blood pressure, and lowering of blood pressure starts within weeks," Dr Banik said. "It takes about 30 minutes and requires an overnight stay in the hospital."

The Institute operated three patients for free on the inaugural day while Dr Banik said they might charge Tk 150,000 even after subsidy as because of costly equipment and catheter that each patient needs to buy.

Dr Banik said global studies showed no serious complications in any of the patients treated with renal denervation so far.

"In 1 percent cases it may block the artery of the kidney," he said, adding, "A patient already having symptoms of artery blockage cannot be brought under the procedure."

A clinical trial published in the medical journal, The Lancet, in 2010 demonstrated that renal denervation is both 'highly effective and very safe'.

At present it is estimated that there are almost 1 billion people worldwide with hypertension, the majority in the rich economies.

Due to lifestyle changes, however, it is believed that by 2025, there will be 1.5 billion patients with hypertension globally with three quarters coming from the developing world.

Experts suggest increasing levels of physical activity, weight loss and restricting salt intake to control blood pressure.

All major roads and highways of Bangladesh would be expanded to four lanes within the next 20 years, so says a Communications Ministry master plan.

A copy of the 'Road Master Plan' was officially handed over to Communications Minister Obaidul Quader on Tuesday, Roads Division Secretary M A N Siddique told bdnews24.com adding that this is the first long-term plan of this kind.

The plan also suggests building a number of new bridges and puts more emphasis on the maintenance of the existing roads, instead of the prevalent practice of prioritising construction of new roads.

"The plan has been made taking into account 20-year projections of population, traffic and demand for roads," the Secretary added.

The Roads and Highways Department will implement the plan under the supervision of the Communications Ministry and funding from the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The plan would soon be put up on the Communications Ministry website.

Good's Hill, the hilltop residence of BNP MP Salauddin Quader Chowdhury charged with war crimes, was used by Al-Shams as their headquarters in Chittagong during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, recounted a witness as Salauddin's defence cross-examined him on Wednesday at the International Crimes Tribunal-1.

Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and his father Fazlul Quader Chowdhury also received money from the then Pakistan government to distribute it among the members belonging to Rajakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams, paramilitary outfits which helped Pakistan Army in 1971 to carry out killings of Bangladeshi people, the witness added.

ICT-1, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 War of Independence, is trying Salauddin on 23 charges of crimes against humanity.


"As far as I know, Good's Hill was the headquarters of Al-Shams," said Mohammad Salimullah, the second witness in Salauddin Quader Chowdhury's case, as defence cross-examined him for the second consecutive day.

Replying to another question posed by the defence on funding of Al-Shams and the two other paramilitary auxiliary forces by the then Pakistan government, Salimullah said, "Probably, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and his father Fazlul Quader Chowdhury distributed the money."

Earlier, on Sunday, while giving deposition, Salimullah mentioned that a red jeep was used to bring 'pro-liberation people and beautiful girls' to Good's Hill as 'prisoners' in 1971.

During the cross-examination, defence counsel, Ahsanul Haq, lost his temper repeatedly as Salimullah, in reply to a question, said that Ahsanul's father advocate Zahurul Haq was the convener of Cox's Bazar chapter of Peace Committee, another platform floated during the war to collaborate with Pakistan army.

"In my service life I always experienced that it is the lawyers who irritate the witnesses. But, this is for the first time I am experiencing that a witness is irritating a lawyer," said Judge Zaheer Ahmed, adding, "In this case, the witness is enjoying while the lawyer seems helpless."

An apparently irritated Ahsanul Haq replied, "I have not seen such a shrewd (witness) in my life."

Zaheer reminded the counsel that he was becoming angry often.

Ahsanul tried to calm his temper after the judge's remark, but he lost it soon.

"On many occasions, I have seen him (witness) talking to beautiful girls and taking them to unknown destinations by holding their hands," said Ahsanul Haq in one of his 'unprofessional remarks' as a counsel.

Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum objected and said, "It has no legal basis to torture a witness in the name of cross-examination. They (the defence) are doing this in a planned way. They are doing this not only for this case, but to send a message that if someone becomes a witness s/he will be questioned in this way for days."

During the cross-examination, Ahsanul, who is also from Chittagong as the accused and the witness, tried to attack the witness from different angles.

At one stage, he asked questions about the whereabouts of Salimullah's wife during the 1971 liberation war, triggering exchange of heated words between the defence and prosecution.

Soon Justice Nizamul Huq, chief of the three-member tribunal formed to try crimes against humanity during 1971 liberation war, intervened.

"This is a very bad sound. If it happens again, we won't allow anyone to enter the court," he said.

At one point, Ahsanul questioned authenticity of the witness' deposition that while in confinement at the Good's Hill the witness had heard dogs barking.

"No Muslim will keep domesticated dog at his house. It's impossible," said Ahsanul.

"Mr Chowdhury kept a herd of dogs in fear of freedom fighters," replied Salimullah.

As the day's proceedings neared its end, the tribunal requested the defence to keep in mind that the case proceeding is not delayed unnecessarily.

The court adjourned the cross-examination at 4pm, when the prosecution continued alleging that the defence was wasting time by repeating irrelevant questions.

"The trial has begun 40 years later. Let them take their time. He (the counsel) won't be able to save the war criminals," said Salimullah as he was leaving the dock.

At least 11 people were killed and 10 others injured as a bus skidded and fell into a roadside ditch at Ullapara upazila in Sirajganj district on Wednesday.

The accident took place around 12:30pm when a bus of M K Paribahan plunged into a water-filled ditch in Raninagar area on the Sirajganj-Pabna Highway, leaving 11 passengers dead on the spot, Officer-in-Charge of Solonga Police Station Obaidul Haque told .

The injured were admitted to Sirajganj Sadar Hospital and other local clinics.

Abdur Rahman, a station officer of Ullapara Fire Brigade, said they recovered 11 bodies from the spot.

Six of the deceased were identified as Aiyub Ali (32), son of Noor Hossain of Chakbirampur village of Royganj upazila in Sirajganj, Mohammad Alam (30), son of Abdul Sheikh of Kurigati village of Dhunat upazila in Bogra district, Chan Mohammad (36), son of Shamsul Sheikh, Abdur Razzak (20), son of late Abdus Samad, Shah Alam (22), son of Abul Kashem, and Golam Hossain (22), son of Abdul Ali of the same village.

OC Obaidul Haque said that all the deceased were farm workers who cut paddy during the Boro season. The victims were going to Pabna from Sirajganj.

Eight bodies have been handed over to their relatives while three others have been kept at the Hatikumrul Highway Police Outpost.

Preparation was underway to file a case, the police officer added.

The police on Wednesday recovered bodies of four newborn babies from a roadside dustbin at Jatrabari in the city.

Sub-inspector of Jatrabari Police Station Emran Hossain told  that they recovered the bodies at noon on getting information from local people.

Police suspect that the babies might have been given birth through abortions at one of the nearby clinics and later thrown into the dustbin.

"Recovering bodies of four infants from one place is a very rare incident. We're looking into the matter," the police officer added.

Number of coercive abortions has risen over the years in the country.

Former commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) S M Sabbir Ali has said then State Minister for Home Lutfuzzaman Babar had asked him not to speak out about the involvement of the members of National Security Intelligence (NSI) in the 10-truck arms haul.

Sabbir made this statement in his deposition before the judge of Special Tribunal-1 SM Mujibur Rahman, also the Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions judge, on Wednesday in connection with the much-talked-about arms haul case.

The former CMP chief said Babar, then Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shahudul Haque, chief of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) Sadique Hasan Rumi and then chief of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) Anwarul Iqbal had sat in a meeting at Dampara Police Line the next day of the arms seizure.

Sabbir said he himself and then CMP Deputy Commissioner (Chittagong Seaport Zone) Abdullah Hel Baki were present at the meeting.

"At the meeting, we informed the minister and the DIG about the involvement of the NSI officials in the arms haul. Then the state minister for home had asked us not to do or speak out anything on the issue," he added.

Sabbir said the minister informed them (Ali and Baki) that a committee had been formed to investigate the incident.

The former CMP official claimed that they got no help from the high officials of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL) during the investigation.

"During the investigation, we're confirmed that Akbar Hossain, one of the NSI field officers, had hired the trucks and cranes to unload the arms from fishing trawlers and to transport those. He could not be interrogated as we could not find him."

The day's proceedings resumed with the deposition of the former CMP commissioner, who is now on retirement. He also gave his deposition on Tuesday. The proceedings continued until 5.10pm with one hour intermission at 2.15pm. The hearing will resume in the same court on Thursday.

Sabbir told the court on Wednesday that then Home Secretary Omar Faruk, also chief of the five-member probe committee, least bothered even to record his (Sabbir) statement during visits of the investigation committee.

"When I told (Faruk) him about the involvement of high officials of NSI including its chief Abdur Rahim, he sidestepped the issue without making any remark", he added.

After his deposition, the counsels of the accused cross-examined Sabbir.

The background

On Nov 15, the court had framed formal charges against 11 accused, all named in the supplementary chargesheet, in connection with the biggest-ever arms seizure in Bangladesh to date.

Police had seized 10 trucks of arms and ammunition from the CUFL jetty in the port city on April 2, 2004. Around 1,500 wooden boxes containing submachine guns, AK-47 assault rifles, submachine carbines, Chinese pistols, rocket shells and launchers, hand grenades and bullets were seized.

The cache was believed to be meant for Indian separatist outfit United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA).

Two cases were filed the next day with Karnaphuli police -- one under the Special Powers Act and the other under the Arms Act.

In 2004, investigators submitted the first chargesheet against 45 persons in the smuggling case, and 43 people in the arms case. Four persons, accused in both cases, have since died.

Fifty-two accused were charged in the case filed for smuggling firearms and 50 in the arms case in the supplementary chargesheet submitted on June 26 this year.

Two accused – ULFA leader Paresh Barua and former additional secretary of industries Nurul Amin – are yet to be arrested.

Nearly 1.5 million residents of Keraniganj, Dohar and Nababganj areas around the capital have been out of electricity since Tuesday night when a fire broke out at Hasnabad Power House in Narayanganj.

"There is no way to restore power supply until Thursday noon," Rural Electrification Board Chairman Moin Uddin said.

The fire that broke out at 7:45pm raged for over half-an-hour before it could be brought under control, cutting off electricity supply to the three upazilas and some areas of Mushiganj's Shirajdikhan.

Irrigation pumps and small factories in the areas have remained inoperative.

"The food products we had in the fridges are all rotting. We've to throw them out," Arifur Rahman Mintu, a resident of Keraniganj's Ati Bazaar, told .

Medical services at local hospitals are being maintained with the help of generators. Kolatia Modern Hospital officials said that they are being forced to spend Tk 8,000 to keep two generators running round the clock.

"No one is ready to say when power supply will be restored," Sayedul Haque Khan Dablu, a resident of Nababganj's Algichar area told .

"The fire caused extensive damage. We're trying to fix it fast," Moin Uddin told . "We're hoping to restore the supply on Thursday."

Keraniganj Model Police Station's Assistant Sub-Inspector Shoheb Ali Khandoker told : "The residents are in dark since Tuesday. But law and order is good."

However, Nababganj Police Station's Officer-in-Charge Masud Karim admitted that they are having problems maintaining law and order because of the outage.

Chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, the largest private sector employer in India, Subrata Roy Sahara arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday on his first-ever official trip.

Sahara is being accompanied by his wife Swapna Roy and around 20 officials in the visit that is expected to see finalisation of an 800 billion rupee investment by the group in Bangladesh.

The delegation touched down at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport around 3:30pm, the group's local public relations agent said in a media release. It added that they drove to Hotel Ruposhi Bangla from the airport.

Sahara is expected to finalise with the government investment in five township schemes near the capital, Dhaka. The PR agent said that the group's founder will discuss potential investment opportunities with government officials, and political and business leaders during his visit.

There is high expectation that its multi-million dollar schemes in low-cost township, health and hospitality sectors would move the nation's competitiveness to a new height.

Details of his tour schedules remained sketchy but the delegation is expected to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, officials of the Board of Investment and Ministry of Public Works during his three-day visit.

The High Court on Tuesday called 'thieves' all those who got plots in Tejgaon commercial area through 'illegal' allocation of lands meant for construction of roads under the Hatirjheel-Begunbari project in Dhaka.

Journalist Shafiq Rehman, former BNP-led coalition government State Ministers Maj (Retd) Kamrul Islam and Ziaul Haque Zia were present when the bench of justices A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Jahangir Hossain made the comment.

All three were summoned to explain how they were allotted the plots. The bench also ordered the Cabinet Secretary to launch high-powered investigation into the affair.

LGRD Secretary Abu Alam Shahid Khan, Law Secretary Ashish Ranjan Das, home ministry's Joint Secretary (Police) Nazim Uddin and External Resources Division Secretary Iqbal Mahmood are to be kept in the investigation committee.

The committee has been told to check whether the plots were given legally, what procedure was followed for allocation and whether environment ministry's clearance was taken and submit a detailed report on their findings.

The Anti-Corruption Commission Director General has also been instructed to check whether there was any corruption during the allocation.

Both the committee and the ACC were told to submit their findings by July 15.

Rehman, Islam and Zia were also ordered to submit a list of their moveable assets in the form of an affidavit to the court by that time.

The bench on May 9 issued a rule on its own volition after Assistant Attorney General Yadiya Zaman produced the two newspaper reports and an essay before the court. It also stayed constructions on the plot, which has never been in the plan of the Hateerjhil-Begunbari project.

The two former State Ministers appeared before the court on May 16 on receiving a summons. The court on that day also asked the former editor of Bengali-language daily Jaijaidin, Shafiq Rehman, to appear before it.

"Those who have grabbed the land are thieves, all are thieves. Those who have owned the land and those who distributed them are all thieves," Justice A H M Shamsuddin Chowdhury said at one point of the hearing.

He continued that the correct method of allocating plots is the way capital development authority RAJUK does, which invites applications through advertisement.

"In this case, you will have to give advertisements too, whether it is in the newspapers or on televisions. Those who will take land without advertisements are all thieves. As this is the property of the people, you cannot take it without informing them."

"We will dig deep into this incident. No matter how powerful, we will not let anyone get away. If there is a single lie in the affidavit, then that will mean a five-year term in prison," the judge said, warning the trio.

A report titled 'Road becomes plot' published in the daily Kaler Kantha newspaper on Feb 27, 2010, another published in the daily Shamakal on Mar 27 the same year styled 'Road project becomes industrial plot overnight' and an essay published in the daily Shamakal by Abu Sayeed Khan led the court to issue the suo moto order.

The Kaler Kantha reported, after turning the 60-feet wide road of Tejgaon industrial area into an industrial plot, each katha of the land was sold for Tk 1.5 lakh as against the existing market value of at least Tk 1 crore.

The court also ordered Director General of Anti-Corruption Commission to explain why the court should not order it to act against those who sold the plots at lower prices only for the sake of completing the procedure.

RAJUK has been asked to explain in two weeks why allocation of land, meant for road, as plots should not be declared illegal and cancelled.

Report on Rehman's 'corruption'

The court also ordered the Bangladeshi High Commission in the UK to file a report on the fund-raising for the flood-affected in Bangladesh by London-based radio Spectrum and how the money was spent.

Shafiq Rehman co-owns the radio station.

It also asked the High Commissioner to include the current state of Scotland Yard's probe into the issue.

The order came after Deputy Attorney General A B M Altaf Hossain pointed out to the court at Tuesday's hearing that the journalist also ran a fund-raising campaign in London for the flood-affected, funds of which never reached Bangladesh.

Police have documented a case against nearly 100 lawyers, naming 29 of them including BNP leader Sanaullah Mia, under the Speedy Trial Act for unleashing vandalism and chaos in a Dhaka court.

Pro-BNP lawyers, under the Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum, had boycotted proceedings at four trial courts in Dhaka demanding release of senior leaders of the 18-Party opposition alliance detained in connection with the Apr 29 arson attack case.

Several lawyers of the forum, reportedly smashed windowpanes of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court and threw black flags into the courtroom of the Metropolitan Judge's Court. They also asked the court to suspend proceedings.

Kotwali Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Mokbul Hossain had filed the case earlier in the day over the vandalism and chaos.

SI Chittoranjan Roy of the same police station told  late on Tuesday night that the case had been documented under the Speedy Trial Act.

Twenty-nine people had been named in the case as accused including former Dhaka Ainjibi Forum president Sanaullah, along with 70 unnamed others, Roy said.

Officer-in-Charge (Investigation) of Kotwali police station Mahbub Hossain had told  in the afternoon that the case was filed accusing 200 unnamed lawyers.

Administrative Officer of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court Syed Shahabuddin had accused several members of the lawyers' forum of knocking violently at the courtroom's door and smashing windowpanes of the room.

On Apr 29, a vehicle was torched near the Prime Minister's Office allegedly by the pickets of the 18-Party alliance during the opposition-sponsored shutdown. Police had filed a case the same day under the Speedy Trial Act at the Tejgaon Police Station accusing leaders of the alliance.

On Monday, the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Speedy Trial Magistrate Mohammad Erfan Ullah took cognisance of charges against BNP Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 44 others in the arson attack case.

It also rejected bail extension plea of BNP Joint Secretary-General and MP Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon in the same case and ordered him into jail. He was on an anticipatory bail granted by the High Court until May 21.

Nishat Mazumder, the first Bangladeshi woman who conquered the fearsome and unforgiving Mount Everest, and her colleague MA Mohit have climbed down to the base camp of the world's tallest mountain.

Talking to  on Tuesday, they said they were hoping to return to Bangladesh on June 1.

Both said they were physically fine except for catching some cold because of the chilly weather and snow storms.

Nishat ascended the 8,850-meter (29,035 feet) Everest summit from the northern side of the mountain in Nepal around 9:30am on May 19, along with Mohit, who is the second Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest.

Mohit is the current president of renowned mountaineering organisation Bangla Mountaineering and Trekking Club (BMTC) situated in the capital's Kakoli area. Nishat is its member.

Expressing her feelings about the moment when she became the first Bangladeshi woman to conquer the Everest, Nishat told : "I could not believe myself ... I thought I was dreaming."

"It was a very tough. When we started our journey, we didn't think it would be so difficult and risky," she said reminiscing the historic climb.

On the difficulties she faced during the journey, she said, "An avalanche took place around 10am on Apr 27 at a peak beside Mount Everest when we were on our way to the Camp-2 from the base camp."

"This is kind of normal thing here, but it was a massive one," Nishat said adding she did receive a hit on her head because of the avalanche, "but it was not that serious".

"If we had been at the base camp at that time, all of us would have died. I saw death from this close. Our survival was a miracle.

"Moreover, the weather was too bad with stormy winds. We thought the wind would blow us away. Our road to the peak was extremely risky."

Nishat said, "I heard later that at least 22 mountaineers died on way to the peak due to accidents."

Asked whether she ever thought that she would become the first Bangladeshi woman to conquer the world's tallest mountain, the girl from Laxmipur district said, "Just like other mountaineers, I also had the dream to conquer the Everest."

"My dream is fulfilled, and I have no words to express my feelings."

"Usually one finishes one's mountaineering career after winning the Everest, but I started mine the other way round," Nishat said with a snigger.

Nishat, the second child of her parents, is also the first Bangladeshi woman to conquer three other Himalayan peaks higher than 6,000 metres. She conquered the Himalaya's Mera Peak (6,653.78 metres) in 2007, Singchuli Peak (6,501 metres) in 2008 and Makalu Peak (8,493.3 metres) in 2009.

Born in Laxmipur in 1981, she completed her secondary education at Bottomley Home Girls High School and higher secondary education at Shahid Anwar Girls College. She did her bachelors and masters in Accounting from Dhaka City College and currently works for Dhaka WASA.

She, however, did not forget to express her gratefulness to her family and her club BMTC and fellow club members.

"This wouldn't have been possible without my parents' support. Also, my club members gave me support and courage. But most of the credit goes to club's founder Inam Al Haque, who taught me everything."

"He taught me about the mountains and what mountaineering is all about," she added.

While Nishat was talking to  on Tuesday, she and Mohit were staying at the base camp, 5,305 metre high from the sea level.
To the young generation, Nishat Mazumder said, "I would like to tell the young generation that no matter wherever your interest is, just concentrate on it. The dream will come true."

Nishat's colleague and BMTC President MA Mohit told : "There are two ways leading to the peak of the Mount Everest. One is the Tibbet's border side North-East Ridge and the other one is in the opposite, the South-East Ridge."

Musa Ibrahim, founder of Bangladesh's North Alpine Club, was the first Bangladeshi to have conquered the Everest on May 22, 2010, taking the North-East Ridge path. Then Mohit conquered the Everest on May 21, 2011, as the second Bangladeshi.

Mohit said, "Compared to the South-East one, North-East Ridge is much safer. Trekking on this path is also easier. Mountaineers generally take this path."

"South-East one is much more risky. There are 20 danger zones in the path from the base camp to camp-4. At least 20 mountaineers have died in these zones until now."

Asked why take the riskier one than taking the safer path, Mohit, a veteran climber who made it to the top of Everest, Manaslu and Cho-Oyu-3 summits over 8,000 metres high, said, "Simply because of more adventure."

"I took the North-East Ridge first time, that's why I took the South-East one this time."

Asked whether he felt any difference between his feelings after scaling the Everest the first and the second time, he said, "When I conquered the Everest for the first time, I felt like I was the king of the world. I felt the same this time, too."

"We wanted to prove that we, Bangladeshis, can do it. We will always get to the highest peak overcoming all the obstacles," Mohit said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday expressed her deep sorrow over the death of eminent economist and civil rights activist Prof Muzaffar Ahmed.

She also extended sympathy to the family of Prof Muzaffar, a former Dhaka University teacher, her Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said.

He died of old age complications late Tuesday on the way from his Dhanmondi residence to the capital's LabAid Hospital. He was 79.

Prof Muzaffar was the President of Sujon, or Sushashoner Jonno Nagarik. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

He was also chairman of the trustee board of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) and a former director of Dhaka University's Institute of Business Administration.
The veteran economist was awarded Ekushey Padak in 2008.

He had long been suffering from various medical complications including a type of blood cancer.

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Rapid Action Battalion seized around 3 lakh litres of furnace oil which was being hauled for black market in Chittagong Sunday night.

Rab also arrested 23 people for their alleged involvement with the illegal sale of the furnace oil of the state-run Padma Oil Company Ltd.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Rab-7 conducted a drive at the Karnaphuli river bank known as Anu Majhir Ghat under Double Mooring Police Station at around 11:30pm and captured the people when they were loading the stolen furnace oil in an oil-tanker.

The Rab personnel also seized an oil-tanker named OT Prianka and 11 fake vouchers of the oil.

“They collect oil from Padma Oil Company depot and sell it to various vessels in Karnaphuli River,” said Rab-7 Commanding Officer (acting) Major Ziaul Ahsan.

He said the law enforcers were trying to trace them for the last four days.

The arrestees, in primary interrogation, denied their involvement with the incident and said that they collect furnace oil from different shipyards at Sitakunda upazila in Chittagong.

“We are investigating that whether any official of the company is involved with hauling oil from the company,” said the Rab official.

CNG refilling stations revert to their previous 4-hour shutdown on Tuesday as the government order on 6-hour shutdown expired on Monday.

All the CNG stations in the city and elsewhere will remain closed from 5:00pm to 9:00pm everyday from Tuesday instead of the existing 3:00pm to 9:00pm.

“We’ll follow the 4-hour shutdown schedule from Tuesday,” Zakir Hossain Nayan, president of Bangladesh CNG Association, told journalists on Monday.

He said the association leaders had a meeting with Petrobangla officials on May 16 where the authorities concerned endorsed the new shutdown schedule of CNG refilling stations.

Petrobangla chairman Dr Hussain Monsur could not be reached for comments in this regard despite repeated attempts to contact him on Monday evening.

The Power and Energy Ministry in March at a high-level meeting decided that all CNG stations across the country will remain shut for six hours from 3:00pm to 9:00pm from March 21 to enhance gas supply to power plants to boost power generation.

The meeting also decided that the 6-hour shutdown will remain effective for two months only and after the expiry of the period, the 4-hour shutdown at CNG stations will be reintroduced.

The cabinet approved in principle the draft Bangladesh Water Act, 2012 on Monday with a provision of maximum five-year jail term or Tk 5 million in fine or both for wasting water.

The draft act, prepared in light with the National Water Policy to give the policy a legal framework for better management and use of water resources, was passed in a meeting of the cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Cabinet Division Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuyian told reporters.

The draft would be presented to the cabinet again for final clearance after vetting by the law ministry, he said.

It stipulates that those violating the law would be sentenced up to five years in jail or fined Tk 5 million or both, depending on the level of violation, he said.

It also proposes fixing price for 'extra' water used from any source for meeting basic requirements like irrigation or personal use, the secretary said.

The cabinet had sent back the draft to the National Water Resource Council for correction when it had been placed in August last year.

The then government passed the water policy in 1999.

"It (the act) will prevent people from wasting water. After implementation of the law, it will be possible to supply pure water to the people," Bhuyian said.

"Underground and ground water levels are decreasing due to wastage of water. It happens as there is no law to check the wastage," the secretary said.

"This is a bad omen for us. The risk of quake increases when the level of water decreases," he added.

According to the draft act, the price of water would be fixed depending on the quantity of water used, the secretary said. "No one will have to pay for water used in household or farming."

In line with the policy, the draft proposes to keep the price of water 'logically less' for poor or underprivileged people, he said.

The price would be higher in case of commercial or industrial use, he added.

Former Director-General of the Water Resources Planning Orgnaisation Mohammad Shahjahan said the draft proposes to form a special tribunal to prevent water pollution and retention of water resources.

"The tribunal will take steps to assess damage caused by wasting water, try the violators of the act and collect fines," he added

He said the price of water would be fixed to ensure government's control over water.

Slapping fine on mobile phone operators has been proposed for the SIM cards used for illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.

"We'll take a final decision on slapping fine for illegal VoIP action soon," Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) Chairman Zia Ahmed told  on Monday after a meeting of the telecom regulator.

Bangladesh government currently does not offer VoIP licences. BTRC has sent a draft guideline to the telecom ministry for issuing licences to VoIP service providers.

VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol is a set of facilities for managing the delivery of voice information using the internet.

Asked about the amount of fine per SIM card used for illegal VoIP service, the commission chairman said they would sit later to fix the amount.

Why mobile phone operators

Ahmed said every SIM card has to be sold after registration in line with the law.

"But this law is not followed many a time," he said.

"It will be possible to prevent illegal VoIP service up to a certain extent if SIM cards are sold after proper registration," he added.

BTRC officials said around one million SIM cards were closed in drives against VoIP in the past three years. Of them, BTRC closed around 600,000 while the operators closed the rest.

"Illegal VoIP service will decrease if the operators strengthen monitoring. Besides, they will become more alert if we fine them," Ahmed said.

Bangladesh has six mobile phone operators - Grameenphone, Banglalink, Airtel, Robi, Citycell and state-owned Teletalk.

According to the BTRC, the average daily legal international calls were of around 35 million minutes in April. The amount had been over 50 million minutes previously, BTRC officials said. Every international call gets $0.3 for Bangladesh, according to them.

The foreign ministry has strongly protested opening fire by India's Border Security Force (BSF) and killing of two unarmed Bangladeshi nationals recently.

Md Durul Islam (38) of Chapainawabganj received bullet wounds on May 16 as BSF personnel opened fire when he was inspecting his own maize field. He succumbed to the injuries the same day. Another Bangladeshi national, Faruk Ali, also died as a result of firing by the Indian border guards in the same area on April 14, according to a media statement of the ministry.

The ministry has requested India to conduct an inquiry into the incidents and take appropriate action against the BSF personnel responsible for such deplorable acts.

It has also called for immediate effective action to prevent recurrence of such incidents in the future.

While registering its protest over continuation of such killings by BSF, the ministry recalled the commitment of the Indian leadership to put an end to such acts of violence.

The ministry reminded that the Indian side had reiterated its assurance with respect to incidents of firing by BSF at various forums, the most recent one being at the Joint Consultative Commission meeting between Bangladesh foreign minister and external affairs minister of India on May 7-8.

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The Indian government has formed a $2 billion fund to assist member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to tackle balance of payments crisis.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said at a programme of Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) on Sunday that Bangladesh will be able to take loans worth above $400 million through swap arrangement.

India recently finalised the initiative at a meeting of SAARC Finance Governors' in Nepal. The Reserve Bank of India will fund the initiative.

Under the swap arrangement, each country will be given loans in three instalments according to their demand. The interest rates for the first two instalments would be two percent more than London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR). The third instalment would cost two and a half percent more.

The initiative for loan within South Asian Countries came up for discussion in January this year due to the hike in dollar prices and liquidity crisis. Following the fifth conference of SAARC Finance Ministers in Dhaka, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith said that India suggested a swap arrangement between SAARC countries and that it would soon be implemented.

India will offer swap arrangement of $2 billion both in foreign currency and Indian rupee.

RBI said the swap arrangement will be entirely funded by India and it will be offered in US dollar, euro and Indian rupee against the domestic currency or domestic currency denominated government securities of the requesting country.

The swap arrangement is intended to provide a back stop line of funding for the SAARC member countries to meet any balance of payments and liquidity crises, till longer term arrangements are made, RBI said.

It would also help if there is a need for short-term liquidity due to market turbulence, the Indian central bank added.

With the launch of this facility, member countries can now approach Reserve Bank of India for availing of the facility.

The swap amount available to various member central banks has been arrived based on two months import cover subject to a floor of $100 million and a maximum of $400 million per country, RBI said.

The requesting member countries will be able to make drawals of US dollar, euro or Indian rupee in multiple tranches. Each drawal of three months tenor and can be rolled over twice.

The first rollover will attract normal interest rate which is equal to LIBOR (for three months) plus 200 basis points. However, the second rollover will attract 50 basis points more than the normal interest rate.

SAARC countries will have to enter a bilateral swap agreement with India which will need final approval from the Indian government to avail themselves of the facility.