Law-&-Order
Elephant calves being tortured in the name of training: Court directs legal action
A Moulvibazar court on Monday directed the Forest Department to take legal action against what it described as the 'torture' of elephant calves under the guise of 'training' at Kchaital area in Juri upazila.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Court Judge Muhammad Ali passed the order after studying video footage of torture on Youtube and news published in different newspapers.
Also raed:Two land in jail over killing Asian elephant in Sherpur
The court also issued a rule as to why inactivity of Officer-in-Charge of Juri police station and a divisional forest officer of Wildlife Management & Nature Conservation Division to prevent torture on elephants according to Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012, and Animal Welfare Act of 2019, should not be deemed illegal.
The court asked the respondents to submit a reply within 15 March on why proper legal actions will not be taken against them.
Also raed: Elephant killings must be stopped: Environment Minister
Elephant calves are domesticated following an age-old training process known as ‘Hadani’. During the training the calves are kept tied with a log apart from their mother. The cubs are mercilessly tortured and are not given foods regularly during the period.
HC: Grameen Telecom Workers’ union seeks liquidation of the company
The workers’ union of Grameen Telecom, a company owned by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus , filed a petition to the High Court on Monday seeking its liquidation.
Mahmud Hasan Feroz, secretary of the ‘Grameen Telecom union of workers and employees’ filed the petition on behalf of the members.
HC bench of Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar set April 3 to pass an order in this regard during hearing the petition, said Advocate M Yusuf Ali, petitioner’s lawyer.
Lawyer Yusuf said, according to labour law workers are supposed to get 5 per cent of the organisation’s profit and Grameen Telecom owes more than 2.5 billion to its workers now.
But the company has not paid it and appointed a lobbyist to avoid it forcing the workers to seek liquidation of the company, he said.
Also read: HC stays labour law violation case against Dr Yunus for 6 months
The petition also appealed to the High Court to appoint a liquidator for the company, he added.
A section of workers has long been agitating against lay-offs from Grameen Telecom.
In a notice signed by the company’s Managing Director Mohammad Ashraful Hasan a total of 99 workers were laid off at once without any prior conversation with the workers and employee’s union.
The High Court summoned Dr Yunus in this regard after 28 of the discharged workers filed a petition against that notice.
On April 4, 2021, the court directed the company to reappoint those workers.
On September 12, last year, Labour Inspector Arifuzzaman of the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments filed a case with Dhaka third labour court against Dr Yunus and three others for violating labour laws.
Also read: BFIU seeks Dr. Yunus’ bank account details
Other accused in the case are Ashraful Hasan, Managing Director of Grameen Telecom, it's director Nurzahan Begum and Shahjahan.
According to the case complaint, in an inspection visit to Grameen Telecom inspectors of the department found that 101 workers and staff who were supposed to be permanent were not made so.
No participation fund and welfare fund was formed for them and five per cent of the company’s profit was not provided to the workers following the law.
Upon the complaint a criminal case was filed under section 4,7,8, 117, 234 of the Labour Act.
On October 12, the labour court granted bail to the all four accused.
Later on December 7, Dr Yunus filed a petition with the High Court seeking dropping of the case.
Gold import policy fails to stop smuggling, tax evasion: NBR Chairman
Smuggling of gold has not decreased despite allowing its import legally, NBR Chairman Abu Hena Rahmatul Muneem said on Saturday.
The head of National Board of Revenue (NBR) said this while addressing as the chief guest 13th round lottery draw at the conference room of NBR building in the city on Saturday.
He said the government has formulated a policy to encourage gold imports in the country through legal channels.
Despite that move, smuggling increased which seems very difficult to stop, he pointed out.
He said the government is working to restore stability in the country’s gold market to minimize smuggling.
"Gold is used not only to evade revenue but also for illegal transactions. I don't know whether the gold smuggling can be stopped completely. Because gold is smuggled in many ways all over the world, this is the reality,” Muneem said.
“Even then we are trying to figure out how to prevent smuggling. Measures will be taken in the next budget to facilitate gold imports,” he added.
He said, "There is dissatisfaction with the VAT machine EFD. The price of the product should be determined by including the price of VAT. Consumers are discouraged when it comes to collecting VAT separately.
Life sentence by proxy: Lawyer of real convict remanded
A Dhaka court on Friday placed Sharif Shahriar Siraj, the lawyer of a convicted criminal who arranged for a cousin to serve the life sentence awarded to him in a murder case, in remand for one day. He will be interrogated in relation to a case filed at the Kotwali Police Station after the elaborate ruse came to light.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Arfatul Rakib issued the remand order turning down the lawyer's bail plea, said Sub-inspector (SI) Mahmudur Rahman, General Registration Branch Officer of Kotwali Police Station.
Investigating Officer Abu Saeed Chowdhury, sub-inspector (unarmed) of Kotwali police station, produced the lawyer in court and sought a seven-day remand.
On Thursday, police arrested Sharif Shahriar Siraj from Roy Saheb Bazar area of Old Dhaka.
On Wednesday, the court placed Md Hossain, the cousin who assumed convict Boro Sohag's identity and surrendered himself to serve the life sentence handed down to Sohag in absebntia, on five-day remand.
Sohag and Hossain were presented in Speedy Tribunal-4 and Judge Jasmine Ara Begum ordered the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) of Dhaka to take legal actions against convict Sohag, Hossain and his counsel Sharif Shahriar Siraji and Ibrahim Hossain for the forgery.
Later, a case was filed against them in Kotwali Police Station in this regard.
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested the absconding convict Sohag alias Boro Sohag from the capital on January 30, who was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 28, 2017.
Read: PBI nabs fugitive accused in 7 cases
Sohag shot a man named Humayun Kabir alias Titu in the Kodomtoli area of the city in November 2010 and got arrested in December in the same year. Four people including Sohag were made accused in the murder case. He secured bail in 2014, and soon after he jumped bail and has evaded law enforcement ever since. Eventually a Dhaka court sentenced him to life imprisonment in absentia.
Sohag has now confessed that he allured his 'drug addict' cousin Md Hossain to assume his identity and surrender before the court saying he would provide Tk 5,000 every month for serving his sentence. And the court ordered to send Hossain to jail, turning down the bail plea in 2018.
However, the court came to know about the forgery in 2021 following the report of a journalist about a 'Fake Sohag' in jail which was confirmed in a police report. The court later issued a warrant against Sohag.
PBI nabs fugitive accused in 7 cases
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has managed to arrest an absconding accused in seven cases, including murder and drugs-related cases, from the city's Shyampur Rail line area.
The arrestee was identified as Sirajul Islam alias Montu Sheikh, 40, of Faridpur dictrict. He was indicted in a drug case filed at Chowk Bazar Police Station last year for smuggling phensedyl.
According to PBI, the address of Sirajul Islam and another accused Md Salam, provided in the case were wrong, and they appealed for exemption from the case. However, the court directed the PBI to re-investigate the case and arrest the accused on April 1 last year. Salam was arrested on January 25.
Investigating Officer Sub-Inspector Md Ashraful Islam, under the supervision of Special Superintendent of Police Md Jahangir Alam, unit in-charge of PBI Dhaka Metro (North), applied all the usual methods to identify the fugitive accused.
Later, the Investigating Officer made the arrest from Shyampur Rail line area around 4:30pm on Thursday after appointing special source and reviewing the CDMS, collected information about the fugitive accused Sirajul Islam, the release said.
Read: 2 killed in Cumilla road accident
During primary interrogation, the arrestee admitted that he along with two other accused in this case used to trade Phensedyl in different places of the capital after collecting those from border areas of the country.
On February 21 last year, the three accused in the case illegally brought 365 bottles of Indian Phensedyl from Dinajpur to Dhaka for trading. Sensing the presence of members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in Chowk Bazar police station area, he and the accused Salam, 31, fled, but accused Chan Mia was detained by Rab.
There are several drug and murder cases against Sirajul. There were five warrants issued against him and he was even convicted in a case filed in Sirajganj, according to a PBI statement circulated to the press.
He was arrested earlier along with Phensedyl at Ghoraghat in Dinajpur where he provided wrong identity, he said during interrogation.
Sirajul Islam was presented before the court on Friday, it added.
Murder for protesting stalking: 6 get life term in Rajshahi
A Rajshahi court on Thursday sentenced six people to life term imprisonment in a case over hacking a man to death for protesting stalking of his niece.
Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Anup Kumar Ray pronounced the judgment.
The court also fined the convicts Tk 10,000 each, in default, to suffer one year more imprisonment .
Read: RAB uncovers another case of wrongful imprisonment; absconding convict arrested
The court acquitted 15 other accused in the case .
The lifers are Mintu Ali,35, Md Rana,21, Md Pana,25, Arif Hossain,25, Sharif Hossain,22, from Sultanpur village in Bagha upazila, and Arjed Ali alias Bhola,47, of Moniharpur village in Natore.
On January 14, 2020, Nazmul Hossain was hacked to death at Sultastanpur village for protesting the stalking of his niece.
A murder case was lodged at Bagha police station upon receiving a complaint from Nazmul’s father.
Gang rape of Thakurgaon school girl: 2 arrested
Police have arrested two youths in the case filed over the rape of a 9th grade school girl in Dholarhat of Thakurgaon Sadar.
The arrestees are Ashraful,22, from old Thakurgaon area and Motiur,20, of Chilarong Bashgara area.
Police made the arrests on Wednesday from the old Thakurgaon Bazar area, said Chittaranjan Roy, Officer-in-charge (OC) of Ruhia Police Station.
On Tuesday night the girl was raped allegedly by her boyfriend, Sujan, a 10th grade student of Islamnagar High School and resident of Debiganj village, and 4-5 others including Ashraful and Biplob, according to her statement.
Sujan took her to a poultry farm away from her house where his companions were waiting. Afterwards they left her unconscious near her house at midnight, she said.
Read: RAB uncovers another case of wrongful imprisonment; absconding convict arrested
Her father said that at around 3 am he heard his daughter crying in the yard. He came out of the house and found her bleeding. He also saw several injury marks on her body.
That night, the girl was taken to a local doctor and a union parishad member was informed about the incident, her father said.
On Wednesday noon, the victim's father filed a case against five people at Ruhia police station.
OC Chittaranjan Roy of Ruhia police station said efforts are on to arrest the other accused.
DB to investigate case against BNP leader Fakhrul, 14 others
A Narayanganj court on Thursday directed Detective Branch (DB) of police to investigate a case against 15 people including BNP’s secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir , joint secretary general Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and 13 others over making derogatory comments on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Narayanganj Senior Judicial Magistrate Kawsar Ahmed accepted the case and directed the district DB police to investigate it.
On December 22, Md Akram Hossain Badal, president of Joybangla Muktijoddha Projonmo League central committee, as a plaintiff appealed to Chief Judicial Magistrate Shamsad Begum’s court for filing a case.
Also read: Filing ‘fictitious’ cases now a regular matter: Fakhrul
Moazzem Hossain Alal was made the main accused in the case.
The other accused in the case are BNP’s Ishraq Hossain, Major Delwar Hossain, Nurul Haque Nuru, Major (Retd) Shahidul Islam Khan, Md Nure Ilias Ripon, M Rahman Masum, Atiqur Rahman Shobuj, Jahangir Alam, Rezaul Karim, Ilias Molla, Zakir Hossain, Sheikh Md Titumir Akash and journalist Ilias Hossain.
Plaintiff’s lawyer Nurul Huda said as a freedom fighter the plaintiff could not bear such comments on the Prime Minister and filed the case against these 15 people.
Also read: Govt conspiring to "kill" Khaleda: Fakhrul
HC grants anticipatory bail to Prof Karzon in DSA case
The High Court on Thursday granted anticipatory bail to Dhaka University professor Sheikh Hafizur Rahman Karzon for eight weeks in a case filed under the Digital Security Act.
A division bench of justices Jahangir Hossain Selim and Md Atoar Rahman passed the order while hearing his bail plea during a virtual hearing and also asked the law professor to surrender before the tribunal hearing the case by this period.
Barrister Omar Farooq appeared for the professor in the court while Deputy Attorney General Sarwar Hossain Bappi represented the state.
Also read: Remove Riaz's father-in-law's 'suicide' video from social media: HC
On July 22 last year, Prof Karzon wrote a post on Facebook that stoked a major controversy, forcing him to subsequently remove the same. He had also apologised for "hurting the religious sentiments of people".
However, on August 1, Amit Bhowmik, the general secretary of the central committee of the Bangladesh Hindu Juba Parishad, filed a case against Prof Karzon under the Digital Security Act alleging that his post had hurt the religious sentiments of people.
Also read:Court accept charges against 'Shishu Bokta' Rafiqul in DSA case
Remove Riaz's father-in-law's 'suicide' video from social media: HC
The High Court on Thursday asked the Home Ministry and the country's telecom regulator to remove the video of actor Riaz Ahmed's father-in-law Abu Mohsin Khan committing suicide from all social media platforms within six hours.
A division bench of justices Farah Mahbub and SM Moniruzzaman also barred all TV channels from airing the video, during a virtual hearing. The court also sought a report on the matter from the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission by February 9.
Read: Actor Riaz’s father-in-law commits suicide on Facebook live
The court's direction came in the wake of senior Supreme Court advocate AKM Faiz bringing the matter to its notice this morning.
On Wednesday, actor Riaz's father-in-law Abu Mohsin Khan live-streamed his suicide on Facebook as he shot himself in the head. The businessman talked about his loneliness and several other miseries of his life before pulling the trigger.
Dhanmondi police station officer-in-charge Ikram Ali Mia told the media that Abu Mohsin used his own licensed gun to commit suicide at his residence in Dhaka.