Bangladesh News

The army-led joint forces arrested the elder brother of detained former BNP lawmaker Abdul Wadood Bhuiyan yesterday. As part of their ongoing countrywide drive, they also arrested 1,449 others on various charges in the last 24 hours preceding 6:00am yesterday.

Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) personnel arrested eight top BNP leaders of Khagrachhari including Belayet Hossen Bhuiyan alias Saheb, elder brother of Wadood Bhuiyan, in separate raids early yesterday, our Khagrachhari correspondent reports.

Belayet, chairman of Ramgour municipality and also the president of Ramgour upazila BNP, was arrested at his house.

The other arrestees are Ramgour upazila BNP Secretary and Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Nurul Islam Pathoary, ex-UP chairman Hafez Ahamed Bhuiyan. Ramgour Municipality Commissioners and BNP leaders Mozzamel Haq Bablu, Mohammad Harunur Rashid, Mohammad Ibrahim, Mohammad Jasim and Mohammad Imran.

Belayet had a meteoric rise in fortune during the last five years, locals claimed. He was allegedly the ringleader of G-8, a group belonging to former lawmaker Wadood Bhuiyan, during the rule of immediate past government.

Locals alleged Belayet and his thugs were involved in many criminal activities including killings, rapes, land grabbing, corruption, and tender manipulation. He also allegedly misappropriated government funds.

Sources said he allegedly grabbed around 1,000 acres of government land, Hindu and indigenous communities’ land and formed a huge private forest, a personal graveyard and a market.

The joint forces raided the houses belonging to two younger brothers of LDP leader and former state minister for power Anwarul Kabir Talukder in Sarishabari upazila in Jamalpur district. They seized an air gun, two walky-talkies, two machetes, a dagger and 72 pornographic video CDs at one of the houses.

They, however, could not arrest Anwarul’s brothers–Azizul Kabir Talukder alias Humayun Talukder and Faridul Kabir Talukder alias Shamim Talukder–as they were not in their houses then.

The joint forces recovered 21 pieces of iron sheets bolted to a house owned by former BNP lawmaker of Faridpur Shah Mohammad Abu Zafar at Boalmari in Faridpur yesterday. The iron sheets were meant for government relief only.

On Tuesday, they seized 169 pieces of iron sheets at a fish firm belonging to Zafar, Shah Zafar Technical College and nearby houses. Another 80 pieces were recovered from a business establishment of another district BNP leader Ataur Rahman on Wednesday, our Faridpur correspondent reports.

Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel recovered one assault rifle, its magazine and five bullets at Dighinala in Khagrachhari on Wednesday, a Rab press release said.

Meanwhile, the joint forces detained Selim Reza, former president of Tangail district JCD and former JCD vice-president of Govt Saadat College, in the district town yesterday afternoon.

Our Patuakhali correspondent reports: joint forces arrested five people including District BNP Joint Secretary Delwar Hossain Khan Nannu, Baufal upazila Awami League General Secretary and UP Chairman Motaleb Hawlader in the last 24 hours preceding 6:00am yesterday.