BANGLADESH

Language movement hero Saiful Islam Bahauddin Ahmed Chaudhury has passed away. He was 81.

Chaudhury, a former information secretary, died at the Dhaka Community Hospital at Maghbazar in the city on Wednesday.

His body has been kept in the BIRDEM Hospital mortuary. His burial will be held after his two sons return from the UK and the US, according to his relatives.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has condoled the death of Chaudhury, who along with Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been charged in the historic Agartala Conspiracy case by the then Pakistan government in 1968. In the case, they had been accused of plotting to separate the East wing of the then Pakistan and form a new country, Bangladesh.

Chaudhury also played a very significant role in the historic Six-Point Demand in 1966.

Born in Dhaka in Oct 31, 1931, Bahauddin Chaudhury was member of famous Chaudhury family of Ulania village under Mehendiganj Police Station of Barisal.

He graduated from the Dhaka University and later joined journalism as an assistant editor of the daily Insaf.

He had also worked for other publications, including Sangbad, Morning Sun, Barta of Rajshahi, Azad, Dinkal and Lal Sabuj.

Train link with Ishwardi snapped as unidentified people uprooted the lines and slippers in the early hours of Thursday have been restored after around a seven-hour break in operations.

"The connection was restored by setting up a by-pass route around 1:15pm," Railway Eastern Zone Traffic Engineer Sujit Kumar Biswas told .

The rail communication snapped when two bogies of a Dhaka-Ishwardi local train went off-track around 6am near the station's loco-shed. At least 20 passengers have been injured.

Officer-In-Charge of Iswardi Police Station Israil Hossain told  that an unknown number of miscreants pulled off around 20 feet of the track sometime around dawn just before the opposition enforced nationwide shutdown begun.

The injured were given primary treatment at the Ishwardi Upazila Health Complex.

A Dhaka magistrate court on Thursday granted bail to the Baisakhi Media Ltd and Destiny 2000 Ltd Managing Director Rafiqul Amin and two others in a case over submitting fake stamp papers to the Joint Stock Company.

The defendants surrendered to the court of the Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Saifur Rahman as arrest warrants were issued against the trio on Monday.

The other two accused are Irfan Ahmed Sunny and Syed Sajjad Hossain, also directors of the media company.

The defendant's lawyer Ehsanul Haque Samaji told  that the court had granted his clients bail until June 10 which is also the next date for the case hearing.

On Monday, M N H Bulu, Chairman of BNS Group of Companies, filed a fraud case accusing the trio of falsifying an annual financial statement.

Bulu claimed that he was the owner of 64,000 shares of Baisakhi Media Limited which the accused transferred to Destiny 2000 Ltd through forgery.

According to the lawsuit, the defendants submitted fake stamp papers to the Joint Stock Company on June 29, 2009 and transferred the shares to Destiny 2000 Ltd.

It further said the plaintiff had signed an agreement with Destiny 2000 Ltd to handover his shares on condition that the company would payoff his bank loans. But as the Destiny did not fulfil the condition the agreement was cancelled, the plaintiff said.

Various graft allegations have recently been raised against Destiny Group including conducting illegal banking operations following a report by the central bank, the Bangladesh Bank. The parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry has asked the government to investigate the allegations after reports by Bangladeshi media.

The National Board of Revenue has already asked banks to freeze the accounts of Amin, his wife and top five officials of the Destiny.

Opposition chief whip and BNP leader Zainul Abdin Farroque has said that the arrest of top leaders of the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance was a proof that the government wanted to eliminate the opposition.

"Our agitation cannot be subdued through such arrests and false cases. Shutdown will continue," Farroque said.

He was talking to journalists on Thursday at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters, which law enforcers cordoned off since the early hours.

The measure has been taken as a countrywide shutdown is being enforced by the opposition demanding release of the senior leaders.

The opposition alliance declared the day-long shutdown on Wednesday after a Dhaka court denied bail of 33 top opposition leaders and sent them to prison in a case over torching a vehicle during the Apr 29 shutdown.

Police detained three including BNP's Education Secretary Khairul Kabir Khokan at around 9:30am on Thursday from the party headquarters.

"We have enforced 13 shutdowns over the last three and a half years. Awami League had enforced 33 lockdowns in a year and 175 in the five years during our tenure," the opposition chief whip said.

"We are enforcing the shutdown to free democracy."

Farroque added that the opposition would continue its movement demanding reinstatement of the caretaker government, 'return' of missing M Ilias Ali, one of BNP's organising secretaries, and release of the detained senior leaders.

BNP Joint Secretary General Mizanur Rahman Minu said, "We do not want to enforce shutdowns. But the government is forcing us to do so."

"They have arrested nearly all senior leaders, including Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, of a major political party like BNP in a false case," he said adding that in such a situation they had not other option but to enforce lockdowns.

Former and current BNP MPs will stage a token hunger strike for two hours on Saturday demanding release of arrested leaders and whereabouts of missing M Ilias Ali, a party statement said.

The statement signed by opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque said on Thursday that the programme would be held on the pavement of the Parliament's South Plaza from 10am.

Farroque told reporters at the party's headquarters, "Our current and former MPs will protest against the government's oppression and failures through the programme."

He said BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed would be present as the chief guest at the programme.

One of BNP's Organising Secretaries M Ilias Ali and his driver Ansar Ali has been missing since Apr 17 midnight. The opposition enforced five day-long shutdowns last month to press for his 'release' alleging that law enforcers picked up their leader.

On Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The opposition alliance is enforcing a nationwide shutdown on Thursday protesting the court decision. Six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka in a spell of pre-hartal violence.

BNP Standing Committee Member Nazrul Islam Khan has said that the government would not be able to quash the opposition movement even if they made more arrests.

He was talking to reporters after the party's Education Secretary Khairul Kabir Khokon and two others were detained from the party headquarters during the countrywide day-long shutdown on Thursday.

Cordoned by law enforcers, the BNP leader said, "The government would make a mistake if they think that the movement and the BNP can be weakened by making arrests and filing cases."

"Rather, arrests and oppression would give the agitation more momentum," he added.

Nazrul claimed that the people have been observing the shutdown spontaneously.

He criticised government's 'oppression' and said, "The government activities indicate that it has been weakened and feeling insecure. That's why it has resorted to oppressing opposition."

Criticising Khokon's detention, he said, "He was detained from in front of the party office. He was talking there and was chanting slogans. He did not set alight any vehicles or vandalise anything. Why was he arrested?"

Asked about the future course of the opposition, the BNP leader said, "It will depend on the government's behaviour. Party and [opposition] alliance chief [Khaleda Zia] will decide."

On Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The opposition alliance is enforcing a nationwide shutdown on Thursday protesting the court decision.

Police on Thursday detained BNP Education Secretary Khairul Kabir Khokan and two others near the party's headquarters at Naya Paltan as the opposition enforced a day-long nationwide shutdown demanding release of senior leaders.

Paltan Police Station Officer in Charge Shahidul Haque confirmed  that the trio was picked up around 9.25am. "They have been taken to the Detective Branch office."

One of them has been identified as BNP activist Manjurul Haque, while the third is yet to be named.

Security personnel cordoned off the BNP' headquarters from Wednesday night. A large number of police have been deployed in the area and they have stopped anyone entering the office since morning.

Law enforcers took control of the streets in Dhaka from dawn keeping the opposition supporters away.

On Wednesday, six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka on the eve of the nationwide shutdown demanding release of top opposition leaders jailed in a case over arson during a similar general strike.

Earlier, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other opposition alliance leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The general strike on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries, M Ilias Ali.

The daylong general strike called by the BNP-led opposition alliance got off to a casual start on Thursday amid tight security in the capital Dhaka.

Law enforcers took control of the streets in Dhaka from Thursday dawn keeping the opposition supporters away. However, explosion of five crude bombs were reported in Mirpur during the beginning hours of the shutdown.

Traffic was thin but all sorts of vehicles were seen plying the streets of Dhaka. Long-route buses remained off the streets but trains were running on schedule.

Meanwhile, security officials cordoned off the BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters from Wednesday night. A large number of police have been deployed in the area.

A number of BNP leaders, including standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan spent the night at the office. Police have not allowed anyone to enter the office since morning.

On Wednesday, six buses and a taxi were torched in Dhaka on the eve of the nationwide shutdown demanding release of top opposition leaders jailed in a case over arson during a similar general strike.

Earlier on Wednesday, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching of a bus in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The hartal on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries M Ilias Ali.

Police arrested a youth in Jessore on Wednesday on charges of chopping off four fingers and an ear of a schoolgirl who declined his proposal.

The arrestee, 18-year-old Ibrahim, would harass the 10th grader on her way to and from the Narangali School, Kotwali Model Police Station Officer in Charge Abdul Jalil told reporters.

The victim was admitted to the Jessore Medical College Hospital after the attack when she was once again headed for her home from the school in the afternoon.

Ibrahim fled the scene when local people rushed to the spot on hearing the shriek of the girl.

JMCH physician Noor Kutubul Alam told  that the girl had lost four fingers of her left hand and the right ear in the attack. "She has some other wounds, too."

The OC said the process to file a case in this regard was underway.

Six buses and a taxi have been torched in Dhaka on the eve of a nationwide shutdown called by the BNP-led 18-party alliance demanding release of its top leaders jailed in a case over arson during a general strike.

A bus was torched at Karwan Bazar and another in front of the Rajarbagh Police Lines around 3pm on Wednesday, Fire Brigade control room in-charge Qazi Nazmuzzaman told .

Local people doused the fire in a Dwip Bangla Paribahan bus at Panthapath around 6pm, he said.

Another bus was torched at Malibagh and a cab at Tikatuli in the afternoon, Qazi said.

Two more buses were set ablaze in Mirpur around 7:30pm.

"Fire fighters reached the sites and doused the flames," he said and added that no casualty was reported.

Earlier in the day, a Dhaka court ordered into jail BNP's Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 32 other leaders after refusing them bail in a case filed over charges of torching a vehicle in front of the Prime Minister's Office during a shutdown on Apr 29.

The opposition called a countrywide general strike for Thursday demanding release of the leaders.

The hartal on Apr 29 had been enforced in protest against the disappearance of one of BNP's organising secretaries M Ilias Ali.