3 Huji men held for CPB rally blast

Aftermath of the bomb attack on a CPB meeting in Purana Paltan in January 2001. Star file photo

Rapid Action Battalion arrested three members of Harakat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami early Sunday in connection with the 2001 bomb blasts at the rally of Communist Party of Bangladesh in the capital's Paltan Maidan.
A team of Rab intelligence wing captured Moulana Md Idris Ali, Moulana Md Abdul Latif and Sakhawat Hossain at about 12:30am in Krishi Market area of Mohammadpur following secret information, Wing Commander Mohammad Sohail, director (Legal and Media Wing) of the Rab, told The Daily Star.
The heinous bomb attacks on January 21, 2001 killed five people and injured 50 others.
Following the bomb attack, CPB President Manjurul Ahsan Khan filed a case with Motijheel Police Station.
Earlier, Criminal Investigation Department arrested Huji leader Mufti Abdul Hannan and several other members for their involvement in the bomb blasts. Moreover, two members of Lasker-e-Taiba of India were also shown arrested in the case and they were taken on remand for interrogation.

Petrol pump owners observe 6-hr strike

File photo 

Bangladesh Petrol Pump and Tank Lorry Owners and Labour Oikya Parishad, a platform of petrol pumps and tank lorry owners, enforced a six-hour strike since 6:00am Sunday to press home their 13-point demand.
It demanded accident insurance for petrol pump workers, an end to the harassment by police in the name of checking documents of tank-lorries on highways and an increase in tank-lorry fare.
The other demands include formulation of a policy regarding installation of pumps and testing laboratory in all depots and increasing the tank lorry fair.
The government did not adopt any policy to install petrol pumps and the commission on sales of petroleum oils dropped to 2 percent from 5 percent in 1990, BSS quoted Nazmul Huq, president of the parishad, as telling the state-run news agency on Saturday.
There are 2,706 petrol pumps and 5,304 dealers and tank-lorry outlets in the country.

Student arrested with arms in capital

Rapid Action Battalion Sunday morning arrested a young man along with arms in the capital’s Mirpur area.
The elite force identified the youth as Abdur Rahman, 22, a private university student, but it did not name the institution instantly, reports the daily Prothom Alo.
Deputy Director Maj Tariqul Islam of Rab-4 said a team of the elite crime busters upon secret information raided a house at Mirpur section-7 and captured Abdur Rahman.
They recovered two revolvers, one pistol and 17 rounds of ammunition from Rahman’s procession, he said.
The Rab official said in primary interrogation Rahman admitted that he had committed muggings and robberies by using the arms.

Protesters surge into Bangkok wanting new election

Supporters of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra cheer to speech from their leader during an anti-government rally in Bangkok on March 13. Photo: AP AP, Bangkok

Tens of thousands of red-shirted protesters from Thailand's rural areas swarmed the Thai capital Sunday for protests aimed at forcing the government to dissolve parliament and call new elections.
Protest leaders gave the government until noon Sunday (0500 GMT; midnight EST) to accede to their demands or face mass marches on key locations in Bangkok.
The demonstrators, popularly known as the Red Shirts, want Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to call new elections, which they believe will allow their political allies to regain power. They believe Abhisit came to power illegitimately with the connivance of the military and other parts of the traditional Thai ruling class who were jealous and fearful of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's popularity while in office from 2001 until he was ousted in a 2006 coup.
In his weekly radio address Sunday, Abhisit indicated he had no plans to dissolve the parliament.
"Dissolution and call for resignations are normal in a democratic system. But we have to make sure the dissolution of parliament will solve the problem and won't make the next election troublesome," he said.
He also denied rumors that a military coup was possible and said he would not impose a state of emergency that would give the army broad powers to deal with the protests.
Traffic in Bangkok was light, businesses were shuttered and social events canceled as many feared the four-day demonstrations, which officially began Sunday but have been building for two days as caravans of protesters pour in from the north and northeast, would repeat past violence. But protesters stressed they would use only peaceful means in their quest for new elections.
"If the prime minister refuses to dissolve parliament on Sunday, we will declare new measures. We are planning to march to key spots belonging to those in power," said one protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan.
"We will ask (the prime minister) to return power to the people," he said.
Jatuporn said he expected a million people to gather by noon Sunday. But local newspapers estimated the numbers at between 80,000 and 100,000, although more were still arriving from outlying areas, traveling in trucks, buses, motorcycles and riverboats.
A force of 50,000 soldiers, police and other security personnel was mobilized in the capital area.
There were no reports of violence, and both Jatuporn and Abhisit praised authorities for facilitating the protesters' easy entry into the capital. Abhisit said the government has asked protest leaders to monitor any groups among the demonstrators who may want to provoke violence.
Despite newspaper headlines warning of a "red tide" about to swamp the city, the protests took on an almost festive atmosphere with musical performances and dancing interspersed with political speeches.
The march is regarded by some as the last chance for Thaksin to return to Thailand.
The protesters, formally known as the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, are made up of followers of Thaksin, along with other people who oppose the coup that toppled him.
Forcing the government out of power, Thaksin loyalists say, could pave the way for his pardon and return.
Thaksin, who resides in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, faces a two-year prison term for abuse of power. But he remains especially popular among the rural and urban poor who are thankful for the cheap medical care, low interest loans and other measures his government enacted to alleviate poverty.
On Saturday night, Thaksin telephoned the protesters' People TV station to deny rumors that he had been expelled from the United Arab Emirates and was in neighboring Cambodia. Thaksin said he was currently on a visit to Europe.
Thailand has been in constant political turmoil since early 2006, when demonstrations accusing Thaksin of corruption and abuse of power began. In 2008, when Thaksin's political allies came back to power for a year, his opponents occupied the prime minister's office compound for three months and seized Bangkok's two airports for a week.
Recent polls in Bangkok indicate a large segment of the population, irrespective of their political beliefs, is fed up with the protests, which have battered the economy, including the lucrative tourism industry.
The Red Shirts have vowed to keep their protest nonviolent. The group's last major protest in Bangkok last April deteriorated into rioting that left two people dead, more than 120 people injured and buses burned on major thoroughfares. The army was called in to quash the unrest.
Many embassies have warned their citizens to stay away from areas of the city where violence could erupt.
"This government has no intention to crack down the protesters because that doesn't benefit anyone," Abhisit said, adding the government would strictly follow legal procedures if forced to disperse lawbreakers.

Green light to cut 4,000 trees

Over 100 trees already chopped down after HC directive; ethnic people, environmentalists protest

The felled trees at Kailin Punji in Srimangal.Photo: STARTawfique Ali

A timber trader chopped down over 100 trees and destroyed two betel leaf enclosers at Kailin Punji near Nahar Tea Garden in Srimangal yesterday after the High Court gave the go-ahead to cut down 4,000 trees.
Earlier, 1,200 trees were already felled in 2008.
The HC bench comprising Justice Md Mamtaz Uddin Ahmed and Justice Naima Haider in the go-ahead on February 22 allowed the garden owner to cut the trees.
Indigenous people of neighbouring Khasia Punjis (villages) and environmentalist group Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (Bapa) apprehend displacement of indigenous people from their ancestral homesteads, loss of traditional livelihood and environmental degradation as a consequence of the wholesale tree felling.
The Ministry of Environment and Forest dubiously issued a permit on June 30, 2008 in favour of Nahar Tea Garden in Moulvibazar allowing it to chop down a total of 4,000 trees in exchange for Tk 47.51 lakh as royalty to the public treasury.
Nahar Tea Garden, however, made a deal with M/s Salim Timber and Traders to sell the 4,000 trees in October, 2006, two years prior to obtaining the permit. The deal involved Tk 1.5 crore.
Following protests by the Khasia community and Bapa, forest ministry on October 19, 2008 suspended the permit.
Before the suspension, the contractor, however, had cut 1,200 trees and removed them with elephants. The court in its February 22 directive did not mention the number of trees already felled.
Interestingly, Sylhet Divisional Forest Officer Md Delwar Hossain issued a fresh permit on February 2 this year allowing the garden owner to cut down 2,350 trees and asked to spare 450, as those are located in the Khasia Punjis (1200+2350+450=4000).
Following a writ petition filed by the timber trader Salim Uddin Mohalder and Nahar Tea Garden Manager Pijush Kanti Bhattacharya, the court on February 22 directed the forest department authorities and local administration to allow the felling of trees as per the earlier work order.
In the Sylhet Divisional Forest Office permit, the garden owner was asked to pay the government an enhanced royalty of Tk 1.19 crore for the trees as per revised rate of forest goods.
The HC in its February 22 rule also asked authorities including environment and forest secretary to show on what legal grounds they had imposed the enhanced royalty and reduced the number of trees by 450 and stayed the permit for three weeks.
"The timber trader started cutting the trees around noon with the backing of several hundred musclemen," said father Joseph, a religious leader of the local Khasia community.
Environment and Forest Secretary Mihir Kanti Majumdar said he would take initiatives to file an appeal today against the HC directive that allowed the felling of trees.
As to why the ministry gave permission in the first place to wipe out as many as 4,000 trees, he said, "We shelved it for some time."
The then Sylhet Divisional Forest Officer Abdul Mabud in a letter to the Nahar Garden manager in August, 2008 said 3,754 of the total 4,000 trees grew naturally and the rest were planted. The trees had 87,174 cubic foot timber and 75,508 cubic foot of firewood.
The trees included Cham, Gamar, Gorjon, Jaam, Koroi, Bonak, Rongi, Shimul, Awal, Khami, Bolos, Lud, Belpoi, Dumur and others.
Khushi Kabir, chairman of Association for Land Reform and Development (ALRD), said tree felling on this scale would adversely affect environment, life and livelihood of the local indigenous people.
"Forest area in Bangladesh is already very low compared to requirement," she said.
Bapa General Secretary Md Abdul Matin referring to locals' estimate said even though the tea garden has a lease for 864 acres of land, it is on over 1,200 acres of land including 200 acres of Khasia community land.
The garden owner has been realising money by sub-leasing 100 acres of the leased-land in violation of the terms in Bangladesh Tea Management Directory, alleged Bapa Member Secretary Sharif Jamil.
The owner has realised a total of Tk 2 crore illegally in the form of land tax since 1984 from the Khasia communities, said Md Abdul Matin.
Deputy Commissioner of Moulvibazar Mofizul Islam said Khasia community is dependent on the trees for their livelihood by the betel leaf cultivation. He received no complaints about realising tax from the community, he said.
There are around 60 Khasia families in two Khaisa Punjis--Akilam Punji and Kailin Punji--in and around the garden.
The tea garden's manager Pijush Kanti said they needed to cut the trees to expand the garden by 60 acres every year. On realising tax from the Khasia, he said they do not do that anymore but the previous owner used to do it.

24 killed in western Mexico; 11 in one shootout

AP, Acapulco

A series of shootings killed 24 people Saturday in a Pacific coast state plagued by drug gang violence. Nearly half died in one shootout between soldiers and armed men.
The gunbattle erupted when attackers opened fire on soldiers patrolling the small town of Ajuchitlan del Progreso, said Valentin Diaz, director of the Guerrero state investigative police. Ten gunmen and one soldier were killed, he said.
Diaz said the shootout broke out in the middle of the day in the center of the town as it was full of bystanders. He said state police were investigating and soldiers had reinforced security.
President Felipe Calderon has deployed tens of thousands of troops to Guerrero and other drug-trafficking hotspots across Mexico in an effort to root out cartels. Gang violence has surged since the crackdown began three years ago, claiming more than 17,900 lives.
Thirteen other people were killed in Guerrero in several other incidents before dawn, according to a state police report.
Two decapitated men were found on a scenic road packed with nightclubs in the resort city of Acapulco. Another man was found shot to death on the edge of the city.
Gunmen, meanwhile, killed five police officers on patrol in Tuncingo, a rural area outside Acapulco. In the same area, police found the bullet-ridden bodies of five other men, including two who had been beheaded.
Police mentioned no possible motives, and it was unclear if the killings were related.
Several cartels are fighting over drug dealing turf and trafficking routes in Guerrero. Gang violence occurs almost every day in the state, but Saturday was unusually bloody.
Farther to the south in the state of Chiapas, which borders Guatemala, a grenade explosion inside a car killed one man and wounded another. State prosecutors said the dead man was holding the weapon when it exploded.
Investigators believe the victim belonged to the Zetas drug gang and had been about to throw the grenade at federal police offices in the state capital, Tuxtla Gutierrez.

BSF digs 25 bunkers inside Bangladesh

Retreats after 19 hours following border talks

Staff Correspondent, Sylhet

Indian Border Security Force dug 25 bunkers following an overnight intrusion into Bangladesh territory through Padua-Protappur border in Gowainghat upazila of Sylhet and retreated yesterday afternoon after 19 hours.
The BSF's retreat from about 100-yard inside the international border came after an emergency flag meeting with Bangladesh Rifles from 1:30pm to 3:30pm on 'no man's land' at Padua-Protappur amidst tension prevailing since Friday night.
Lt Colonel Zahirul Alam, commanding officer of 21 Battalion of BDR, Sylhet, who led the BDR team at the meeting, told The Daily Star at 5:40pm yesterday, "BSF started retreating from the position they took inside Bangladesh territory on Friday. They had already left the bunkers."
BSF commanding officer of Battalion-1, Shillong, S Shekhor led the Indian side at the meeting.
A sector commander-level flag meeting between the BDR and BSF would be held soon to settle the ongoing trouble on Jaintapur, Tamabil and Padua borders, Zahirul said.
Earlier, around 9:00pm on Friday BSF trespassed into Bangladesh territory through border pillars No 1270 and 1271 and dug 25 bunkers while BDR took position in the nearby area and dug eight bunkers.
"We raised strong protests in the meeting and asked them to retreat to their previous position in line with the decision taken in September 2009", said Zahirul Alam adding that the BSF agreed to leave.
Colonel Alam also said that according to a joint decision taken in September 2009, the BSF and BDR had kept themselves at a distance of 200 yards from Padua-Protappur border.
Meanwhile, BDR on Thursday handed over an Indian to BSF, who intruded into Bangladesh through Padua border on the previous day. The BSF also returned a Bangladeshi, held by them from zero line along the same border the same day.