BANGLADESH

A Pakistani national detained in Dhaka admitted to detectives that he was involved in match-fixing in the Bangladesh Premier League T-20 tournament, police sources said.

Detectives said they found evidence to prove his involvement and that they were going to seek Interpol's help to get financial transaction data of suspect Sajid Khan's bank account in Pakistan.

Detective Branch (DB) of police on Monday placed Sajid on a two-day remand, a day after the Bangladesh Cricket Board authorities handed him over to Mirpur police in connection with suspicious activities around Mirpur Outdoor Stadium. A cricket board official also filed a case with Mirpur Police Station in this connection.

A senior police official yesterday told The Daily Star that during the remand 35-year-old Sajid admitted that he had contacted several players of different teams to fix matches.

The official said they were preparing to seek the help of Interpol to get the details of Sajid's account with Silk Bank in Pakistan.

Police sources said Sajid came to Dhaka on February 10 posing as an import-export businessman but since his arrival he had always been around some players.

“When the players stayed in a Dhaka hotel, he stayed at a nearby hotel; when the players went to Chittagong, he went there. When the players returned to Dhaka, he also returned,” said a police official.

Hailing from Gulshan Zahur in Karachi, Sajid himself was once a player in the domestic cricket league and he is a close friend of a Pakistani player playing in BPL, sources said. They said Sajid developed connections with other players of the league by using his “friend”.

According to sources, another Pakistani national had also come to Bangladesh for match fixing but he left the country on Friday.

100 pc shares to remain with governmentStaff Correspondent

100 percent ownership of state-owned Sonali Bank, Janata Bank and Agrani Bank will remain in the hands of the government even after the three financial institutions’ transformation into private limited company.

Sources said, the three public banks will start working under three public limited companies soon.
The banks have been handed over to three private limited companies in compliance with the ‘Vendors Agreement’ signed between the government and the companies on Thursday.
The government paved the way for the three public banks to become private limited companies on October 31 by approving the proposals to sign the vendors agreements and for issuance of circular cancelling the Bangladesh Banks Nationalisation Order -1972.
After transformation into the three private limited companies, the banks will be governed by the respective board of directors. The boards will make all decisions regarding commerce and business of the financial institutions.
On March 3, the government approved a proposal to transform the three nationalised banks into private limited companies so that the financial institutions can cope with the private commercial banks of the country.
Price of all shares of these banks will be paid by the government or any other organisation authorised by the government.
All the members of the managing committees will be appointed by the government.Source: www.thebangladeshtoday.com

The High Court yesterday directed Dhaka City Corporation to remove all structures from the car parks in the city's Karwan Bazar within two months.

The verdict came on a writ petition filed on April 12, 2010 by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh following a report in The Daily Star under the headline "Car park lost to market".

DCC had allowed setting up of over 65 shops at the car parks, which would worsen traffic congestion in and around the busy commercial area of the capital. According to the report, construction of the shops was almost complete.

Responding to the public interest litigation, the HC on April 12 of that year ordered the DCC authorities to maintain status quo on any construction at the car parks in Karwan Bazar. It also issued a rule upon the DCC to explain why construction at the sites should not be declared illegal.

Besides, the court sought an explanation from DCC as to why it should not be directed to demolish the illegal structures, if any, at the places meant for car parking, in order to ease traffic jam in the area.

During yesterday's hearing, petitioner's counsel Manzill Murshid told the court that people face severe traffic jam on the VIP road near Karwan Bazar as the car parks are eaten up by shops and other structures.

DCC must not take steps to serve anybody's business interests to the detriment of public welfare, he added.

An HC bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik and Justice Jahangir Hossain Selim then came up with the verdict. It also declared illegal the DCC's decision to construct the shops.

The DCC authorities did not make any reply to the HC rule, but Assistant Attorney General Yeadia Zaman represented the government, Manzill said.

The Anti-Corruption Commission will no longer have to depend on the law enforcers for some of its probe-related requirements, as they now have their own investigation arm.

ACC commissioner Mohammad Sahabuddin Chuppu told , "The probe unit will collect information about corruption of a number of organisations in the communications, and the health and education sectors, the National Board of Revenue, customs, port authorities and the capital development authority RAJUK."

"Probing corruption and investigating in conventional manner usually does not bring the expected results or is not up to the mark," the circular issued on Sunday regarding the probe unit's formation said.

"Since the need to collect information through detective action arises while probing most corruption allegations, a detective unit has been formed…," it read.

A separate circular was also issued assigning commission's deputy director Mir Joynul Abedin Shibli and assistant director S M M Akhtar Hamid Bhuiyan to run the unit.

On the jurisdiction of the unit officials, the circular said they will function under the supervision of the commission's director general. They will need to take permission from the ACC chairman before any investigation.

The officials in the unit will get an additional pay of Tk 5,000 per month.