Monday, February 5th, 2007The joint forces are on the hunt for another 41 political bigwigs allegedly involved in corruption and criminal activities, sending a chill of panic among political leaders and a few businessmen.Sources said the law enforcers will disclose the list of the 41 "big fish", who have been hiding since the crackdown began, and ask them to surrender if they cannot be held in a couple of days.Two advisers to the caretaker government yesterday said the government will take legal actions against the corrupt political leaders without considering their positions in the parties."Our task is to catch the big fish, not ...
(read more) Friday, February 2nd, 2007Joint forces yesterday seized around 3.6 lakh sacks of rotten basic commodities including wheat, sugar, lentil and over 1.5 lakh sacks of fertilisers from Chittagong and Khulna.The forces also arrested eight people for involvement in food adulteration and fertiliser hoarding.The army and Rapid Action Battalion in separate operations yesterday seized over 1.5 lakh sacks of fertiliser, 1.9 lakh sacks of rotten wheat, sugar, lentil, etc. and arrested two people in Majhirghat area, our staff correspondent in Chittagong reports.A team of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) led by Lt Commander Shamim raided two large warehouses, owned by AKM Monaf, in Majhirghat area ...
(read more) Tuesday, January 30th, 2007The army-led joint forces arrested 2,002 people on various charges within 24 hours preceding 6:00pm yesterday including three influential CBA leaders of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) as part of their ongoing anti-crime drive nationwide.Members of an intelligence agency raided the Rajuk Bhaban in the afternoon and hauled up Rajuk CBA leaders Gazi Mohammad Amir Khashru, Sramik Dal president, Abdul Malek Mian and Aorangajeb Siddique Nannu, also leaders of Sramik Dal. They were handed over to Motijheel police in the evening, sources said.Meanwhile, Giasuddin Quader Chowdhury, industrial affairs secretary of BNP and former lawmaker, was released some time after the members ...
(read more) Monday, January 29th, 2007Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday said the armed forces, imbued with patriotism and responsibility, could stand neutrally beside the people to establish rule of law and uphold the constitution and democracy.Stressing that the national unity is very essential at this critical juncture of the country, he urged the officers of the armed forces to carry out their assigned tasks with firm determination for the interest of the nation.Fakhruddin expressed the belief that the armed forces would perform their duties devoted with highest duty, sincerity and patriotism for holding free, fair and credible elections with the participation of all political ...
(read more) Sunday, January 28th, 2007The army-led joint forces yesterday arrested 1,831 people on various charges during their ongoing countrywide drive within 24 hours preceding 6:00pm yesterday.The joint forces arrested a union parishad (UP) chairman in Barisal and three leaders at Agoiljhara upazila BNP and Juba Dal.Meanwhile, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) raided Mirpur and Pallabi areas in the capital and arrested six associates of Mirpur's dreaded gangster Shahadat.A home ministry press release said police and Rab arrested 1,772 people in 24 hours till 6:00pm yesterday. Among them, 21 were held under Arms Act, 30 were fugitive convicts, 982 had arrest warrants against them and 739 ...
(read more) Monday, January 22nd, 2007Three people including a BNP leader and an activist of its youth wing Jubo Dal died in the army custody hours after they were picked up in Chittagong, Barisal and Tangail. Meanwhile, two more people died as they tried to get away from the army at Shariatpur and Dhaka.Of the three, Abdul Kader Milon, 42, was a former joint secretary of port city BNP and a former ward commissioner, Nayan Kazi, 30, a Jubo Dal activist and an ex-sepoy in Barisal, and Rubel Miah, 18, son of a tea stall owner of Ghatail in Tangail.The two other dead are ...
(read more) Sunday, January 21st, 2007Several former top army officials yesterday stressed the need for a thorough purge of political parties with emphasis on stopping their criminal activities and corruption, and depoliticisation of the public institutions to make them functional for democracy.Strongly opposing the idea of keeping the state of emergency in effect for too long or instituting a martial law in the country, they said at a roundtable in the capital that the political parties will ultimately rule the country to fulfil the people's expectation.The former army officials suggested utilising expertise of the armed forces for correcting the voter roll, making voter identity cards, ...
(read more) Saturday, January 20th, 2007The BNP high command has asked the party leaders and workers to take cover to avert arrest in the countrywide anti-crime drive by the army and law enforcers.Party insiders also said the ongoing crackdown on troublemakers has been increasingly worrying for the immediate past ruling party as the troops and police have rounded up a huge number of its leaders and activists across the country.Immediately after the president declared a state of emergency, the party high-ups had alerted all district- and upazila-level leaders to the possibility of the law enforcement agencies and armed forces making a countrywide sweep."We ...
(read more) Thursday, January 18th, 2007The army yesterday arrested six top leaders of Awami League's (AL) student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) including its General Secretary (GS) Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury Roton in the capital. Security personnel also arrested Narsingdi town BNP General Secretary Harunur Rashid and his three brothers, who are also leaders of Jubo Dal and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), during yesterday's countrywide anti-crime drive.The law enforcers also recovered an unlicensed revolver and ammunition from their possession.At least 101 persons were arrested in 13 districts during yesterday's drive.Among yesterday's arrestees are also a number of district and upazila-level top political leaders and ward commissioners, ...
(read more) Wednesday, January 17th, 2007A number of district-level leaders of BNP and Awami League (AL) and of their front organisations, and some ward commissioners backed by the two parties were arrested yesterday as the army, police and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) continued their anti-crime crackdown across the country, arresting at least 57.Split into groups, the crack forces carried out block raids on slum and posh areas in the capital, searching vehicles and houses till filing of this report at 1:00am today. Rab members searched around 20 houses in Banani in a drive of nearly 3 hours.The security personnel also nabbed criminals and extortionists ...
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