BANGLADESH

Authorities shut Sir Salimullah Medical College indefinitely following a violent factional clash of pro-government Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) at its main dormitory on Saturday.

After the clash, students have vacated the dormitories by 4pm following the academic council's decision.

"The decision to halt classes was taken in the academic council meeting following tense situations," college principal M A Azhar Uddin told .

"Students have been ordered to leave the halls. But those who are sitting for second year and final year Prof tests can stay in the hall showing their admit cards," he added.

The factional clash between two groups of BCL, which took place in the early hours of Saturday, had left seven students injured while one of them stated to be in critical condition.

Kotwali police station officer in-charge Mohammad Salauddin told reporters, "The violence is the result of an internal clash between two factions of Chhatra League. We have found out that one faction broke through the main gate and attacked the dormitory."

The OC added the pro-Awami League student wing's activists had vandalised 33 rooms of the dormitory during the clash.

A three-strong committee headed by Child Department professor A R M Lutful Kabir has been already formed to investigate into the clash. The other two members of the committee are professor Alamgir Kabir and associate professor A H M Mahbub-ul Maola.

Though, Kotwali police had detained 53 students from the dormitory right after the incident, but later they were freed.

The detainees were freed after signing a bond stating that steps would be taken against them if the investigation committee formed to look into the matter finds them guilty, the OC added.

Following the incident, general students vandalised the Leo Club room on the ground floor of the hospital and staged a human-chain protest locking the main door. The academic council took the decision to vacate the dormitory before the situation worsened.

Meanwhile, students of the college had locked the principal in his room and brought out a series of processions protesting the authority's decision to suspend classes.

"The injured 'Sharif', 'Parvez', 'Ankur', 'Assaduzzaman', 'Rocky' and 'Anupam' are undergoing treatment at the hospital's causality department," head of the hospital's causality department Mahbub Hossain Mehedi said.

"But Angel, one of the injured, was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital after his condition deteriorated," he added.

A group of hackers, claiming to be Indians, took down four government ministry's websites on Saturday after they hacked into the posts and telecommunications ministry website.

The ministries are communications, youth and sports, primary and mass education and education.

Apart from these, Trading Corporation of Bangladesh's website has also been hacked.

Around 9pm on Saturday, it was seen that the sites had gone black and the hackers wrote, "Hacked by Love the Risk, Amal Landhe, Lnx Root, Silent Killer."

In the hacked pages, between two eyes resembling Indian flags, the hackers wrote, "We have an EYE on you.

The name of another hacker group, Indian Cyber Army, was also displayed in the pages.

In the hacked page of TCB, the hackers wrote, "No one Can Stop Us, Hacked Saadi and Hax.r00t".

The website of the posts and telecommunications ministry came under attack in the afternoon. it was restored around 5:50pm.

Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid told : "I've been informed about the hacking. Measures are being taken to restore the website."

No other senior officials of other ministries were available for comments.

Police have recovered a blood-stained kitchen knife from the rented flat of the journalist couple who were murdered sometime in the early hours of Saturday.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police OC Zakir Hossain Mollah told late in the night that the knife was found at a corner of the bedroom floor.

It is there where their 5-year-old son 'Megh' found the butchered bodies lying after waking up around 7am. A knife was also found shoved 80 percent into the left side of the chest of Golam Mustofa Sarowar, alias Sagar Sarowar, the news editor of Maasranga Television.

His wife, ATN Bangla senior reporter Meherun Nahar Runi was also murdered in that flat in west Rajabazar in Dhaka. They were buried after post-mortem at Azimpur graveyard around 9pm.

They were hacked to death. Sagar's body had marks of random slashing with knives and other sharp weapons while Runi had just two deep wounds.

Forensic experts say that the wounds have led them to suspect that the murder was the work of non-professional killers. Rapid Action Battalion detectives suspect the assailants might have known the victims and the killing was pre-planned.

After the brutal murder of the couple was first reported by son 'Megh', police had locked the room because of the huge crowd who had gathered at the flat. They searched the room later in the night and recovered the kitchen knife.

Police on Saturday night also questioned the residents of the buildings beside the multistoried apartment complex on 58/A/2 holding of the area. They had earlier detained the building's security guard Polash Rudro Paul and caretaker Abu Taher for questioning.

Detective Branch (DB) police had also quizzed Runi's brothers Nowsher Alam and Nowshid Alam for at least an hour at DB headquarters.

Asked how the investigation was proceeding, Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner Mahbubur Rahman told : "There is nothing new to say."

Home minister Shahara Khatun had ordered the police to arrest the guilty and submit the investigation report within 48 hours.

The father of Mohammad Mojaheed, one of the two students killed in a clash between Bangladesh Chhatra League and Islami Chhatra Shibir at Chittagong University on Wednesday, has claimed his son was a Shibir activist.

"My son was involved with Islami Chhatra Shibir's politics. His killing was pre-planned," Mohammad Humayun Kabir Mir said in a written statement at a press briefing at the Chittagong Press Club on Saturday.

On Wednesday, Mohammad Mojaheed of zoology and Masud-Bin-Habib of English department were killed in a clash between the student wings of ruling Awami League and Jamaat-e-Islami. Right after the clash, Shibir had claimed that the duo were activists of the organisation.

But BCL that night at a press conference claimed that Mojaheed was their activist.

Claiming Mojaheed was innocent, his father Kabir also demanded immediate arrest and punishment of the killers. He alleged that Hathazari Police Station did not take a case he wanted to file.

"I used to see Islami Chhatra Shibir books among his books when my son visited home during university vacations. I had never thought it as his fault or illegal that he was involved with Shibir's politics," he told after the press briefing.

"My son is a victim of political butchery," he added.

Mojaheed, of Purba Kismat Jafrabad under Mirsarai Upazika, was the second among five brothers and sisters.

The war crimes tribunal on Sunday adjourned indictment hearing proceedings against Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami for the day, saying it will pass an order on Monday regarding a defence prayer seeking a longer adjournment of the case.

The International Crimes Tribunal, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, was expected to hear charges against the Jamaat-e-Islami chief on Sunday.
The tribunal chief Nizamul Huq adjourned the proceedings on Sunday upon an application from Nizami's counsellor Abdur Razzaq who said that the defence had not been able to prepare adequately and prayed for a four-week adjournment.

The senior defence counsel said that there were thousands of pages in several volumes which his team could not finish perusing. Furthermore, the counsel said there were 416 pages of illegible photocopies.

The tribunal asked the defence to file another application regarding those pages and said that it would pass on order the next day after having considered both the applications.

Prosecutor Syed Haider Ali said that the prosecution naturally had reservations about the adjournment and requested the tribunal that the trial is not unduly delayed.

Two former army chiefs, K M Safiullah and Harun Ar Rashid, both of them freedom fighters, were also present among a number of visitors.

The tribunal took charges into cognisance against Nizami on Jan 9 and set the indictment hearing to start from Feb 12.

On Dec 11, the prosecution brought formal charges at the tribunal against Nizami, secretary-general Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojaheed and assistant secretary-general Mohammad Kamaruzzaman.

Trial of the party's executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee is also underway at the tribunal with witness depositions being heard.

Jamat assistant secretary-general Abdul Quader Molla and Bangladesh Nationalist Party's standing committee member Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, also a lawmaker, have been detained, for their alleged war crimes.

Former BNP minister Abdul Alim had been freed by the tribunal on conditional bail because of his poor health.

Forensic experts suspect the murder of the two TV journalist couple was the work of non-professional killers.

ATN Bangla senior reporter Meherun Nahar Runi and husband Golam Mustofa Sarowar, alias Sagar Sarowar, who was news editor with Maasranga Television, were murdered sometime in the early hours of Saturday at their rented flat in west Rajabazar in the capital.

Rapid Action Battalion detectives suspect the assailants might have known the victims and the killing was pre-planned.

"Both bodies have marks of random slashing with knives and other sharp weapons," forensic expert Dr Sohel Mahmud, who conducted the autopsy, told . "The wounds have led us to suspect that the murderers are not professionals.

"There were 19 large wounds on Sagar's body along with 20-25 small cuts. A knife was found jammed 80 percent into the left side of his chest. We removed it here (during postmortem). The butt of the knife was missing."

Dr Mahmud said there were two deep wounds in Runi's stomach. "Her death was hastened, as a blood vessel was severed," he added.

Their bodies were taken to Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) office after the autopsy. The first namaz-e-janaza was held there, DRU president Shakhawat Hossain Badshah had said earlier.

Information minister Abul Kalam Azad, state minister for LGRD Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Workers' Party president Rashed Khan Menon and members of different other political parties and journalists' association paid their last respect there.

Badshah said bodies of the journalist duo were taken to Maasranga TV and ATN Bangla offices respectively for two more janazas.

A third janaza was held at old Dhaka's Nawabpur Road, Sagar's ancestral home. Following the funeral prayers, Sagar and Runi were buried at Azimpur graveyard around 9pm.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia have expressed their condolences over the journalist couple's murder. Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Bangladesh Bank governor Atiur Rahman, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Dhaka University vice-chancellor A A M S Arefin Siddique and scores of others offered their condolences to the bereaved families.

Home minister Shahara Khatun has ordered police and other law-enforcing agencies to step on the gas and arrest those responsible within 48 hours.

Meanwhile, DRU president Badshah, general secretary Sazzad Alam Khan Topu, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD) president Hasanul Haque Inu, TV Camera Journalists Association, Rangpur Journalist Association, Bangladesh Crime Reporters Association and many others offered their condolences to the grief-stricken relatives.

DRU has announced a three-day mourning programme, which includes human chain protest in front of the National Press Club and wearing of black badges on Sunday morning, programmes seeking salvation for the departed souls after the Asr prayers on Tuesday and a commemoration programme at DRU on Wednesday.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Zakir Hossain Mollah had told that they were killed in the early hours of Saturday. "After waking up around 7am on Saturday, the couple's 5-year-old son 'Megh' found the bodies lying on the floor of their bedroom."

RAB's detective wing head Ziaul Ahsan had also told , "In the primary investigation, it appears to be a pre-planned act. It also occurred to us that the killers did know them previously."

Quoting 'Megh', 5, the only child of the journalist couple, OC Zakir said, "Megh saw two people in their home after waking up around 7am. He closed the door after they had left. Later, on seeing his parents lying dead he informed his grandmother (who lives nearby)."

"Megh said he saw them (the assassins) at a picnic sometimes ago," he said.

The police official said they also found half-eaten breads and scrambled eggs at the dinning table.

Police, however, have already detained the building's security guard Polash Rudro Paul for questioning.

Detective Branch (DB) police had also quizzed Runi's brothers Nowsher Alam and Nowshid Alam for at least an hour at DB headquarters.

The country's premier bourse started off the week with an uptrend as prices of most shares and mutual funds gained in the initial hours of trading on Sunday.

Prices of 237 issues rose and eight declined in the Tk 1.46 billion exchange that occurred until 12.48 am. The general index (DGEN) was pushed up by 196.06 points or 4.89 percent to stand at 4206.85 points by then.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) ended last week, despite undergoing topsy-turvy trading all through, with a 201.03 or 5.28 percent rise on the last day.

The previous week saw a number of potholes, with the general index losing 5.96 percent on the opening Monday and a 3.44 percent on Wednesday.

Monday's fall created a new record with the DGEN plummeting to a new low of 3616.24 points - the lowest it has touched so far since December 2010.

However, the rise on Thursday and an above 9 percent hike on Tuesday saw the week closing at 4010.8 points, gaining around 165 points.

Although the market stabilised a little in December 2011 after market regulator SEC declared a package of incentives, the stocks started taking a battering from the first week of the new year.