BANGLADESH

Police on Sunday withdrew two Officers-in-Charge on charge of negligence of duty as Parliament's Whip Sheikh Abdul Wohab was assaulted in the district.

Jessore Superintendent of Police (SP) Kamrul Ahsan told bdnews24.com that Abhaynagar's OC Ahsan Habib and Monirampur's OC Mohammad Soyer Uddin were sent to the office of Khulna Deputy Inspector General.

Wohab, also the ruling Awami League's Jessore-6 MP, was assaulted on Saturday morning when he went to visit the TRM project related to river management at Abhaynagar's Bilkapalia area, his electoral constituency.

Several others including six police officials and Abhaynagar Upazila Chairman Abdul Malek were also injured in the attack. At least 11 vehicles, including one of police, were vandalised and torched.

Jessore Additional SP Jakir Hossain told bdnews24.com that allegations of police's negligence during the attack will be investigated.

Wohab, however, told : "Police acted like spectators watching us when we were attacked."

He said Assistant SP Abul Kalam Azad and OCs of Abhaynagar and Monirampur police were also present at the scene. "They did not even protect me even when I asked for help."

Wohab will speak at a news conference at 8pm Sunday at the Jessore Circuit House on the attack.

Journalist Kamrul Islam, who was travelling with the Whip, on Saturday had told bdnews24.com that some unknown assailants launched the attack.

He added that it was suspected that a particular quarter opposing the TRM project might have carried out the attack.

A readymade garment factory caught fire in Jorun area in Gazipur resulting in huge losses.

Senior Station Officer of Gazipur Fire Service Abu Zafar Ahmed told bdnews24.com that Islam Garments Fashion caught fire around 7:45pm on Saturday.

He said fire-fighting units rushed to the spot from Gazipur, Savar EPZ and Kaliakair and doused the flames after two and a half hours' effort around 11pm.

Zafar said they thought an electric short-circuit had caused the fire but said none was injured in the accident.

Director of Islam Garments Shaker Ahmed said the fire originated at the cutting section on the third floor around 7:45pm. The flames quickly spread to nearby rooms.

He said the fire had gutted a large number of readymade garments, clothes and destroyed several machines of the factory. The director claimed the estimated loss was nearly around Tk 40 million.

Zafar, however, could not say anything about losses.

The brother of grocer Mohammad Mamun Bhuiyan, who was killed after he was snatched from police custody, has alleged that one of the accused in the murder case has threatened to kill him too.

Nazmul Hossain Bhuiyan told bdnews24.com: "One of the accused on Mamun's murder case, former member of Moktarpur Union Parishad Hakim Faraji has threatened several times to kill me."

He also expressed frustration over police's failure to catch the main perpetrators even after four days into the killing.

Mamun, 30, son of Hossain Ali of Baragaon, was arrested on charges of alleged robbery and extortion on May 29 from the union's Baragaon Bazar. Police, however, said local people had snatched him from their custody and killed him.

His body was found at Ramchandrapur village under Muktarpur Union Parishad around 2:30am on Wednesday.

However, Mamun's family alleged that the Muktarpur Union Parishad Chairman Shariful Islam Toron's people killed him in collusion with police over old rivalry.

Nazmul had filed the murder case on Thursday night at the Kaliganj Police Station against 19 people, of whom nine Toron and former UP member Faraji were named.

Police later arrested Toron's elder brother Mohammad Kawsar Sarker, 35, Mohammad Iran Sarker, 30, village police members Shyamal Sarker, 35, and Srinibash Mandal, 30, in connection with the murder.

Asked why other accused were not arrested, Kaliganj police's Officer-in-Charge Enayet Uddin told bdnews24.com: "We are continuing raids to catch the other accused. But Nazmul hasn't told us anything about the threats to him."

Railway East Zone General Manager Yususf Ali Mridha and Omar Faruq Talukder, sacked APS to former Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta and three others on Sunday submitted their wealth statements to the Anti-Corruption Commission.

All five including Mridha's wife Yasmin Nargis Zakia, Dhaka zone Railway Police's Commandant Enamul Haque and his wife Rahat Ara Haque submitted individual statements on their movable and immovable assets to ACC Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury.

On May 14, the ACC had asked them to provide their wealth statements as its primary investigation found that they had property beyond their known income.

On Apr 10, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel reportedly detained Faruq, Mridha and Haque while they were moving in a car allegedly with unaccounted-for Tk 7 million cash at the gate of BGB headquarters.

Mridha and Enamul were suspended following the incident while Faruq was fired. Suranjit, who became a Minister of the newly-craved Ministry of Railways, stepped down accepting responsibility for the scandal. However, he was retained in the Cabinet, but relieved of his portfolio.

The Ministry's own investigation cleared Suranjit, Mridha and Haque of 'wrongdoings'.

The corruption watchdog is probing the incident separately and had already cross examined the trio on Apr 18.

Twenty-five pro-BNP lawyers including Dhaka Ainjibi Samity President Mohammad Borhan Uddin on Sunday secured bail from Dhaka's Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court in a case that accuses them of creating chaos and vandalism at court premises.

Additional CMM Saidul Islam granted interim bail to them, until June 19, after their earlier bail granted by the High Court expired the same day.

The judge also accepted the charge-sheet against them at the same hearing of the case filed under the Speedy Trial Act.

At the hearing, state counsel Additional Public Prosecutor Shah Alam told the court, "They are lawyers just like us. We don't have any problem with their bail. But it must be ensured that this kind of chaotic incidents will not take place on the court premises again."

On May 22, the defendants created chaos by smashing window glasses and doors at the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court and throwing a black flag at the Metropolitan Judicial Magistrate's Court when a hearing was going on.

Kotwali Police Station Sub-Inspector (SI) Mokbul Hossain had filed the case later that night against more than 70 people for the incidents. Twenty-nine people were named as accused in the case.

Kotwali police SI Mohammad Azizul Haque submitted the charge-sheet on Thursday afternoon at the CMM court against the 25 lawyers.

The lawyers were protesting the court's rejection to the bail plea of BNP leader and leader of the pro-BNP lawyers Barrister Mahbub Uddin Khokon in a case over violence during an opposition-enforced countrywide general strike on Apr 29.

The High Court on May 24 had granted the main opposition-backed lawyers 10-day anticipatory bails after they regretted their actions at several courts in Dhaka and pleaded for bail.

Earlier, they had applied for pre-arrest bail at the High Court after the incident. But the court asked them to file bail pleas afresh expressing regret.

On Apr 29, a vehicle was torched near the Prime Minister's Office allegedly by the pickets and two bombs exploded at the Secretariat area during the shutdown.

The top BNP leaders including Acting Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir are now in jail in the two cases filed by the police.

A senior BNP leader on Saturday warned the police officials who filed cases against senior opposition leaders saying 'steps against them would be taken once the party goes to power'.

"Once BNP goes to power, steps will be taken against those 'enthusiastic' police officers who are favouring the government and have filed the false cases against the opposition leaders and activists," BNP standing committee member M K Anwar said at a human-chain programme in front of the National Press Club in the city.

The BNP leader is also accused in a case filed under the Speedy Trial Act over violence during a shutdown in the capital. He came out of jail last week on bail.

Anwar said, "The government has already withdrawn 7,500 cases against their party activists and now filing cases against the opposition one after another."

Saying the cases against the BNP leaders were 'groundless', Anwar said, "The unsuccessful government resorted to false cases and torture to repress the opposition."

"But the agitation cannot be stopped by filing cases," he added.

He reiterated his party's long-standing demand to reinstate the caretaker government provision, which was annulled through the 15th Amendment to the Constitution last year.

The first war-crimes tribunal of Bangladesh has granted in part the defence prayer that three prosecution witnesses against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee be recalled.

A member of International Crimes Tribunal-1, Judge A K M Zaheer Ahmed gave the order on Sunday noting the arguments of both the defence and prosecution.

The tribunal, set up to try crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, has indicted Jamaat executive council member Sayedee on 20 counts of war crimes including murder, rape, loot and arson.

Sayedee's defence had prayed that the court allow it to recall three witnesses in light of new evidence submitted by the case investigator, ASP Mohammad Helaluddin, who is currently being cross-examined.

Judge Zaheer Ahmed's order noted that the new information had not come to light when the first prosecution witness Mahbubul Alam Howladar and sixth witness Manik Poshari were deposed and cross-examined.

As defence counsel Mizanul Islam had argued, it was only after the 28th witness, that is when the investigation officer submitted television reports as exhibits, that the new information emerged.

The judge noted that the tribunal could also take note of the facts but decided against taking such a risk since the allegations were of an international nature and decided to allow the defence to recall those two witnesses.

Reasoning against prosecutor Syed Haider Ali's arguments that it would delay the proceedings, the judge noted that the defence had already listed three questions for Howladar and 13 for Poshari. He said in his order that these questions would not cause a delay.

As regards the second witness Ruhul Amin Nabin, the defence said there had been new evidence contradicting his claim of having graduated from Dhaka University. According to Mizanul Islam, official records show that Nabin was expelled during examinations.

But Judge Ahmed said recalling Nabin would not be allowed since the new evidence was "in no way related" to Sayedee's case.

The judge then ordered the investigator to produce the two witnesses and directed the defence to bear the expenses.

Subsequently, cross-examination of the investigation officer resumed for the 17th day. Mizanul Islam continued to ask questions about exhibits submitted by the prosecution.

It is expected to resume after the lunch recess when the court will hear a review application of its decision to receive as evidence the statements of 15 witnesses that the prosecution could not produce before the court without undue delay or expenditure.

First case to trial

Sayedee's is the first case to proceed to the trial stage at ICT 1. The prosecution on Sept 4 proposed framing of charges against him on 31 counts for crimes against humanity and genocide.

The tribunal also sent Jamaat's former chief Ghulam Azam to jail on Jan 11. His indictment hearing began on Feb 15 and the court indicted Azam on May 13.

Jamaat chief Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed and Assistant Secretaries General Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Abdul Quader Molla have been detained on war crimes charges.

BNP MP and standing committee member, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, also behind bars, has been indicted for 23 charges on Apr 4. The prosecution has been ordered to begin with its opening statement on Apr 29.

Former BNP lawmaker and minister Abdul Alim is the only one out bail. With formal charges pressed against him, Alim saw his defence place his discharge petition on Monday. Further arguments followed on Wednesday. The hearing has been adjourned till May 14.

The Awami League on Sunday said it had no information on the opposition's July 10 deadline about the caretaker government issue, but insisted that all political parties will join the next general election.

Opposition BNP chief Khaleda Zia at a Dhaka rally on Mar 12 set the deadline for the government to reinstate caretaker government system before the 2014 parliamentary election and said otherwise, it will announce fresh agitation programmes on June 11.

Awami League's General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam told journalists after opening an upazilla governance project in Dhaka that they had no information about that deadline.

"So I cannot comment on it," Syed Ashraf, also the Local Government and Rural Development Minister, said. "But we believe there will be an acceptable solution after dialogue, which is a continuous process."

The opposition has been demanding a return of the caretaker government system from last year when the provision was invalidated by the court.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on more than one occasion has asserted that the next elections would be held under her government, but the opposition leaders said they also know how to push the ruling coalition to accept the demand and revive the caretaker system to oversee the parliamentary polls.

A confident Awami League general secretary said they were 'certain' that all parities will take part in the next election.

"The Constitution is our guiding factor. There will be dialogues (following the Constitution), there will be decisions, there will be elections and all will participate in the election where people will give their mandate on the next government."

"We are certain."

Syed Ashraf said people might see the process of the 'dialogue is not going on right track'.

"Initially (for a dialogue) everyone disagrees, but finally all agrees," he said in an apparent gesture that the government is going to stick to its gun on the caretaker issue.