Archive for April 10th, 2007
Tuesday, April 10th, 2007Former prime minister and Awami League (AL) chief Sheikh Hasina was sued yesterday in connection with an extortion of Tk 3 crore.Tajul Islam Farook, chairman of Westmont Power Company, filed the case with Tejgaon police station under the non-bailable sections of the penal code.In the case Tajul brought allegations against Hasina of extortion and abuse of power in 1998, when she was the prime minister.Hasina, who is now on a visit to the US, recently made some comments there criticising the non-party caretaker government and the Election Commission for 'delaying' the next general election on 'different pretexts'. She is ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007The caretaker government has brought further amendment to the Emergency Powers Rules 2007 to provide for bail in some cases under the penal code. A gazette notification was issued on Sunday to that effect.According to the revisions, persons facing trial for offences specified in the rules however will not be entitled to seek bail at any stage--from the first information report to the judgment.This is the third time changes have been made to the rules framed under the Emergency Powers Ordinance 2007.Earlier on March 21, the government promulgated an amendment, suspending the rights to petition for bail and seek ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007The Election Commission (EC) cannot proceed with its plan for holding dialogues with political parties to seek their opinion on several crucial electoral issues as the government has yet to decide about withdrawal of the embargo on indoor politics. The EC has however planned to start dialogues with the civil society groups at the end of this month for their opinion on the proposed electoral reforms and time limit for simultaneously preparing the voter list with photographs and national identity cards."We will sit with the civil society groups in the third or fourth week of this month. We will ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007Farmers in 16 northern districts will have to spend an additional amount of about Tk 79 crore to operate their diesel-run irrigation pumps for boro cultivation during April-May due to the latest hike in diesel price.Sources in the Northern Control Room of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) said at least 11,26,70,000 litres of diesel is needed for smooth running of more than 5,51,000 diesel-run irrigation pumps including 5,40,000 shallow ones during April-May, incurring an extra cost of Tk 78,86,90,000.The total allocation for boro irrigation for the period of December 2006-May 2007 is currently Tk 137 crore.April-May is the time when boro ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007A Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) trainee pilot was killed when his aircraft crashed into a bamboo cluster at Abhoynagar upazila in Jessore yesterday.Eyewitnesses said flight cadet Faisal Mahmud died on impact as the plane fell to the ground with loud bumps at around 1:30pm at Pathalia village, 35 kilometres off Jessore Air Force Academy.The air force headquarters formed a three-member high-powered committee to probe the crash. The officials who have visited the scene suspect some kind of mechanical failure might have caused the accident.With yesterday's, the number of flyers killed in training plane crashes to date stands at 45.Ayub ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) seized a huge cache of illegal Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) equipment allegedly owned by Tanvir Shakil Joy, son of AL leader and former home minister Mohammad Nasim, from a house at Basabo in the capital yesterday.Two people were also arrested from the spot.The seized equipment includes 39 Telular Phone Cell SX, 39 Dowtel fixed wireless terminals, 12 Quimtum gateways, eight Motorola cellphones, 110 adaptors and 100 electric plugs.Tipped off, an intelligence team of Crime Prevention Company-3 raided the third-floor flat of an eight-storey building at West Basabo under Sabujbagh Police Station and held ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007Detained former deputy minister for land Ruhul Kuddus Talukder Dulu has been sued yet again for unleashing the militants of banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) and his own goons for torturing scores of people to avenge his nephew's murder.Torture victim Selim Reza of Ramsa Kajipur, also the home village of Dulu, filed the case on Sunday night with Natore Sadar police station also accusing 21 others.Dulu surrendered to a Dhaka court on February 20 and now facing a total of 16 cases including six for his alleged links with militancy.Among the other accused, Abdul Quddus Mondol, an alleged militant, and ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007Awami League (AL) will find out the reasons behind the filing of the extortion case against its President Sheikh Hasina in the changed political situation. "We are trying to find out the reasons behind the filing of the case now as the complainant did not file the case in the last five years when a different government was in power," AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil told The Daily Star last night. Jalil however refused to comment any further on the issue.After the news of the filing of the case spread last night, hardly any top leader of AL or ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007Giasuddin Al Mamun, close friend and business partner of BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman, yesterday confessed his involvement in the extortion of Tk 16 lakh.Meantime, Mamun was placed on a nine-day remand in connection with two more extortion cases filed with Gulshan and Dhamondi police stations.Heavily guarded by police, Mamun was taken to the chamber of Metropolitan Magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah at around 2:30pm. The magistrate recorded his statement for around two hours. However, details of his statement could not be learnt.BNP leader and former lawmaker Khairul Kabir Khokon and five others are also accused in the case. ...
(read more) Tuesday, April 10th, 2007Anti-Corruption Commission Chairman Lt General (retd) Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury yesterday urged all to wage an all-out movement against corruption."Corruption cannot be prevented only through curbing it. A movement has to be waged across the country against corruption," said the ACC chief while exchanging views with a cross-section of people at the district headquarters.On the first day of his mission outside the capital, General Mashhud visited four northern districts and held meetings with the local administrations, members of the civil society, journalists, lawyers, businessmen and field-level ACC officials."We can take preventive measures at the grassroots level. As a first step towards ...
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