The Department of Social Services has been asked to take necessary measures to prevent the coronavirus transmission among the inmates of juvenile correctional centres.

A special committee of Supreme Court (SC) for children rights at a meeting through videoconferencing took the decision on Sunday, said Supreme Court spokesperson Md Saifur Rahman.

Committee Chairman and Senior Justice of the Appellate Division Muhammad Imman Ali, its members Justice Naima Haider, Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif, Justice Khizir Ahmed Choudhury, Department of Social Services Director General Sheikh Rafiqul Islam and a representative from Unicef took part in the meeting.

Also read : Bangladesh confirms 9th death from coronavirus; 18 new patients detected

The country has three juvenile correctional centres – two in Gazipur and one in Jashore -- with a total of inmates there.

Six people who were arrested for spreading rumours over coronavirus in the capital have been granted bail.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate granted the bail on Sunday. However, the matter came to light on Tuesday.
 
Police produced the arrestees before the court seeking its permission to keep them in custody until completion of investigation while the arrestees applied for bail.

A team of police conducted a drive in front of Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Saturday and arrested a man while distributing leaflets inscribing ‘Coronavirus is not a cause of fear for Muslims, rather it is a punishment for the kafirs’.

After interrogation, police arrested five others from Mouchak area with the same leaflets on Saturday night.

The arrestees are Awkat Hossain, 53, Ferdous Hasan Titu, 25, Tauhidul Islam, 25, Muslim Uddin, 23, Mafizul Islam, 20 and Farid Hossain, 53.

A court here on Monday sent a bank official to jail over threatening to rape  Sayema Hasan, former assistant commissioner (Land) of Monirampur upazila.

The convict is Zafar Ahmed, son of Abu Bakar Siddique of Jatrabari in Dhaka and a bank official of Dutch Bangla Bank Limited.

Sub Inspector (investigation)  Zahir Raihan of Monirampur Police Station, said police  produced Zafar Ahmed before Jashore Senior Judicial Magistrate Court and prayed five days remand but the judge sent him to jail after rejecting his bail petition.

On Sunday, Sayema Hasan filed a case against Jafar Ahmed  and several others with Monirampur Police Station over the rape threat posted on Facebook.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Deceive Branch) arrested Zafar from his residence in Dhaka’s Jatrabari on the same day and handed him over to Monirampur Police Station.

On March 28, Sayema Hasan was withdrawn from Monirampur and attached to the Khulna Divisional Commissioner’s office after huge criticisms on social media over the humiliation of three old people in public during a mobile court operation at Chinatola Bazar in the upazila for not using masks.

The executive magistrate also captured a photo of the punishment, which went viral on social media and sparked huge criticisms.

The Law Ministry formed a three-member prosecution team on Wednesday for Buet student Abrar Fahad murder case.

Advocate Mosharaf Hossain has been made chief prosecutor while advocate Ehsanul Haque and advocate Md Abu Abdullah were appointed as public prosecutors.

The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued an order in this regard in the afternoon.

On March 12, Abrar murder case was shifted to Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal-1.

Before that, his parents met the Law Minister and urged to shift the case to a Speedy Trial Tribunal.

On January 13, the case was shifted to the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court from Dhaka Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

Abrar, 21, a second-year student of electrical and electronic engineering of Buet, was beaten to death reportedly by Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders at Sher-e-Bangla Hall of the university.

He was found dead on the staircase of the hall in the early hours of October 7 after he was taken to room 2011 around 8pm on October 6 and beaten mercilessly.

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on November 13, 2019 pressed charges against 25 people in the case.

Activities of all courts of the country will remain suspended  from March 29 to April 2 to prevent the transmission of coronavirus or COVID-19.

A notification signed by the Supreme Court registrar General Md Ali Akbar was issued on Tuesday in this regard.

Supreme Court representative and High Court Division Special Officer MD Saifur Rahman said general holiday was decaled for the courts as per the directive of the Chief Justice.

The Supreme Court (SC) administration on Sunday scaled down the lower court activities.

 UNB File Photo

According to a circular, all activities except bail, temporary injunction and other emergency ones will remain suspended until a reasonable period.
 
On March 19, the SC directed for not producing jail inmates in trial court.

Meanwhile, the death toll from Covid-19 reached  four with 39 confirmed coronavirus cases across the country, said IEDCR on Tuesday.