An organized gang of robbers on Monday made away with Tk 725,000 (7.25 lakh) after assaulting a cattle-trader here in broad daylight.

The incident took place at the Alokdia Chourasta intersection of Sanora union in the morning.

Locals said that Abbas Ali, son of late Hasen Ali of village Alokdia under Sanora union of Dhamrai, was headed to the bazaar carrying Tk 725,000 in cash to purchase a cow.

However, it turned out several local youths including Julhas Uddin, Suruj Mia and Idris Ali, were lying in wait for him. As Abbas reached the intersection, they came out of hiding and obstructed him.

After severely beating him they looted the money from him.

Hearing Abbas screaming, people of the locality rushed to the spot but the snatchers managed to flee.

Abbas Ali was admitted to Dhamrai Sadar hospital. The on-duty doctors informed that his condition remains critical.

Immediately after the incident Dhamrai police visited the spot. Special drive is on to arrest the culprits, said the OC of Dhamrai police station.

Planning Minister MA Mannan on Monday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s survival is essential in the interests of the country’s impoverished segment.

“The prime minister is genuinely affectionate to poor people. She is very motivated to work for them. For that we must keep her in power,” Mannan said, while addressing a discussion meeting titled ‘Shotoborshe Bangabandhu’ (Bangabandhu at 100) organised by Bangladesh Dustho Nari-Shishu Kallyan Trust at the National Press Club.

The planning minister said the country has developed a lot. “Once poor people put on ‘Katha” during winter. Now they are wearing winter quilt,” he also said.       

The organisation’s chairman Akhi Akter, several Awami League and Jubo league leaders were also present at the event.

The government has extended the duration of Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF)-2020 by four more days following the elections to the two Dhaka city corporations billed for February 1.

The decision was taken in response to a request made by businessmen, Mohammad Abdur Rouf, deputy director (Finance) of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), told UNB on Monday.

“The businessmen proposed that authorities concerned extend the fair by eight more days till February 8. Later, the Commerce Ministry extended it until February 4,” he said.

Rouf said the fair will remain closed on January 31 and February 1 for the city elections.

The fair remained closed on January 10 due to the formal countdown of the grand celebrations of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

A total of 483 stalls and pavilions are showcasing quality products from home and abroad at the fair this year. Of them, 112 are pavilions, 128 mini pavilions and 243 are stalls.

The traditional month-long fair starting on the first day of the New Year in the Gregorian calendar has been jointly organised by the EPB and the Commerce Ministry since 1995.

Dismissing BNP’s allegation, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) KM Nurul Huda on Monday said a level-playing field is there in the elections to Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation slated for February 1.

“A level-playing field prevails,” he said replying to a query from reporters over BNP allegation that there is no level-playing field in the elections.

The CEC’s remarks came after the delegations of two political rival camps -- Awami League and BNP -- met him separately at his Nirbachan Bhaban office.

The AL team, led by co-chairman of the party’s national election conducting committee HT Imam and the BNP delegation, led by its standing committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, met the CEC to lodge their respective complaints.

About the complaints placed by the two teams, the CEC said BNP complained that police are harassing their candidates. “But we (EC) saw no sign of such harassment. They (BNP delegation) said that police didn’t record their case over the Gopibagh incident. But I later talked to the officer-in-charge concerned who told me that no BNP activist turned up for filing any case,” he said.

When the BNP team told him that AL filed a case in this regard, the CEC said any aggrieved person can lodge a case if any criminal offence takes place. “It’s a legal matter.”

Talking about the complaints lodged by the AL delegation, he said it blamed BNP for Sunday’s incident.

The AL team said terrorist groups may enter Dhaka from different places outside the city and hamper the election process, Nurul Huda said, adding that it urged the EC to take measures in this regard.

Replying to a query, he said there is no apprehension of any deterioration in the law and order on the voting day.

Talking to reporters after the meeting with the CEC, HT Imam said BNP and Jamaat-Shibir cadres from outside Dhaka, being equipped with arms and weapons, took position at different points of the capital. “They might create a situation to foil the elections,” he claimed.

About the AL-BNP clash in Gopibagh, he said the allegation BNP brought about the incident is completely a ‘planned and designed’ one.

AL team member Jahangir Kabir Nanak demanded that arson terrorists of BNP and Jamaat-Shibir should be brought to book immediately.

Earlier, Amir Khosru told reporters at the Nirbachan Bhaban that though BNP candidates and supporters follow the electoral code of conduct, AL activists are not complying with it.

He also alleged that there is no level-playing field in the city elections.

Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Monday said chanting provocative slogans during electioneering is also a violation of the electoral code of conduct.

He came up with the remarks while talking to reporters at the secretariat in the morning.

Referring to Sunday’s clash between supporters of BNP’s Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) mayoral candidate Ishraque Hossain and Awami League during electioneering in the city’s Gopibagh area, Hasan Mahmud said the Election Commission (EC) will take necessary steps after investigating the incident.

About the claim of Election Commissioner Mahbub Talukdar that there is no level-playing field within the EC, he said the post of an election commissioner is a constitutional one like justice of the High Court. “They shouldn’t disclose internal issues to public and media.”

Holding a constitutional post, Mahbub Talukdar can discuss about the work environment at their own forum, not in public and media, the minister said.

Sunday’s clash that lasted for around 30 minutes left around 15 people, including a photojournalist of Somoy Television, injured.