বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৭ জানুয়ারী, ২০১১
BNP bags one of 2 AL seats in JS Defeated candidates of both parties reject results; BNP calls hartal in B'baria Sunday; AL-backed candidates win in 6 out of 12 municipalities, BNP favourites in 3
BNP bags one of 2 AL seats in JS
Defeated candidates of both parties reject results; BNP calls hartal in B'baria Sunday; AL-backed candidates win in 6 out of 12 municipalities, BNP favourites in 3
Sujat Mia and MuktadirAL, however, has defeated its archrival by a wide margin in Brahmanbaria-3.
The two parties ran neck-and-neck in Habiganj-1 before Sheikh Sujat Mia of BNP edged past Mushfiq Hussain Chowdhury of AL by 1,285 votes. In Brahmanbaria, Ubaidul Muktadir Chowdhury of the ruling party beat Khaled Mahbub of BNP by 40,510 votes.
The defeated candidates in both the constituencies have rejected the polls results, while the winners have lauded the conduct of the elections.
The BNP candidate in Brahmanbaria-3 last night called a dawn-to-dusk hartal for Sunday in his election area to protest “vote rigging”. He also demanded cancellation of the election.
Mushfiq Hossain Chowdhury, AL candidate in Habiganj-1, demanded re-election in six polling stations. He alleged that BNP men had prevented his supporters from coming to the polling stations.
The two seats had fallen vacant after the death of Dewan Farid Gazi and Lutful Hai.
Meanwhile, AL-blessed candidates fared better in the polls to 12 municipalities. They bagged six mayoral posts, while BNP-backed candidates won three.
In the remaining three, rebel from AL won one, Jamaat-backed candidate one and independent one.
In the polls to 243 municipalities between January 12 and 18, BNP-backed candidates did better than their rivals. In seven divisions, they won 92 of 236 mayoral posts and AL-backed contestants 88.
Rebel candidates from AL won 22 and those from BNP 11.
Fresh from a morale-boosting performance in the local body polls, the main opposition has dealt a blow to the ruling party by wining Habiganj-1, traditionally an AL stronghold.
AL leader Dewan Farid Gazi had been elected from this constituency in 1973, 1996, 2001 and 2008. Jatiya Party candidate won the seat in 1991 election.
In the last parliamentary election, Gazi defeated his rival BNP candidate Sheikh Sujat by 72,592 votes. As a grand alliance candidate, he polled 1,52,080 votes against Sujat's 79,488.
Yesterday it was a different election day for Sujat. He got 81,330 votes, while AL candidate bagged 80,045. Abdul Munim Chowdhury of Jatiya Party, a component of AL-led grand alliance, bagged 22,220 votes helping Sujat prevail on Mushfiq.
On the other hand, Brahmanbaria-3 constituency had been a BNP bastion till the last parliamentary election. The party won the constituency in 1979, 1991, 1996 and 2001. It did not contest the polls in 1986 and 1988.
In 2008, Lutful Hai of AL won the seat by defeating BNP-led four party alliance candidate. In yesterday's by-election, Muktadir of AL got 1,25,141 votes and BNP candidate 84,631.
POLLS HELD PEACEFULLY
Earlier in the day, voting in the by-elections and municipality polls went off peacefully except for a few stray incidents.
The Election Commission has expressed satisfaction at the conduct of the polls.
But the main opposition BNP, which had repeatedly called for army deployment in the by-elections, has demanded re-voting at five polling stations in Brahmanbaria-3.
The party will come up with a formal reaction to the by-polls through a press briefing at the Jatiya Press Club in the capital at 10:30am today.
Talking to reporters at the EC Secretariat yesterday afternoon, Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retired) M Sakhawat Hossain said, "The elections under the present government have been freer and fairer than those under the previous political governments."
Referring to the balloting yesterday, he observed it proves free and fair election is possible by deploying regular law enforcers.
Besides, he added, depending on the army for elections does not always go with the spirit of democracy.
The same afternoon, BNP alleged rigging and violence at five out of 126 polling centres in Brahmanbaria-3.
Briefing journalists at its headquarters in the capital, the party's standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan claimed the ruling AL men and law enforcers had beaten up many of their activists and ousted agents from different polling stations in both Habiganj-1 and Brahmanbaria-3.
Yesterday's elections were considered a crucial test for the EC as well as the two major political parties that fought a close battle in the countrywide municipal polls a week ago.
Meanwhile, voting in 12 municipalities--Parbatipur in Dinajpur, Magura, Charfashion in Bhola, Madhabdi in Narsingdi, Jajira in Shariatpur, Madan in Netrakona, Madaripur sadar, Daganbhuiyan in Feni, and Cox's Bazar sadar, Chakoria, Moheshkhali and Teknaf in Cox's Bazar--went off without any untoward incidents, our local correspondents report.
Our staff correspondent Najmul Alam Nobin from Habiganj reported low voter turnout in the area.
Locals and the election officials said the thin presence of the voters might be because of their lack of interest in the by-election and many being busy in Boro cultivation.
Both AL and BNP candidates have accused each other of influencing the elections.
Returning Officer Mohammad Emran, however, said the voting was cent percent peaceful, and there have been no incidents of rigging or violence.
He said though rival candidates had raised allegations of voter intimidation, no evidence of that was found.
Earlier, BNP's election agent Abdul Khalek told The Daily Star that voting was going on peacefully.
Voters too said they faced no obstructions while coming to the poling centres.
AL candidate Mushfiq Hussain Chowdhury told The Daily Star that the election was peaceful except that some policemen had threatened his supporters.
Our staff correspondent Pankaj Karmakar and local correspondent Sheikh Shahidul Islam from Brahmanbaria report: The presence of women voters was much better than males in both urban and rural areas.
During the balloting, BNP candidate Khaled Hossain Mahbub demanded cancellation of election at eight centres, alleging attacks on his agents by AL activists.
Later, he withdrew all his agents and submitted applications to the presiding officers, urging them to cancel the voting.
Mirza Ghalib, presiding officer at Basudevpur High School centre, said there had not been any situation to warrant cancellation of voting.
PM Meets Cameron UK pledges continued support
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is greeted by her British counterpart David Cameron on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in central London yesterday.Photo: AFPThe assurance came when Sheikh Hasina met with her British counterpart at 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister.
Hasina had a one-to-one dialogue with Cameron before a delegation level meeting, which lasted for 40 minutes from 10:30am.
During the meeting Sheikh Hasina sought British cooperation in the fields of health, infrastructure, school-feeding programme and climate change, Rashed Chowdhury, minister (press) at Bangladesh High Commission in UK told the UNB.
Cameron praised the socio-economic programmes of Hasina's government and her pragmatic leadership on climate change.
He also lauded Hasina for her government's role in fighting terrorism and hoped the two countries would work together in combating terrorism.
The two leaders also discussed human rights issues.
Prime Minister's younger sister Sheikh Rehana, Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Sylhet City Corporation Mayor Badruddin Qamran Chowdhury, Ambassador at-Large M Ziauddin and Bangladesh High Commissioner to UK Prof Sayeedur Rahman Khan were present during the meeting.
Earlier, Cameron received Sheikh Hasina at the main entrance of his residence.
UK didn't train Rab to kill people
UK didn't train Rab to kill people
Says PM; Amnesty asks Rab to stop 'extra-judicial killing'
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday dismissed media reports based on WikiLeaks disclosure of diplomatic cables that British forces trained Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) for extra-judicial killings, UNB reports.
“Do you believe that the UK has trained this force to kill our own people? Certainly not. Rab has been trained to protect citizens,” she said responding to a query from a student in the UK.
She was taking questions after delivering a statement on Global Peace at the Main Chamber Hall of the Oxford Union at Frewin Court yesterday.
Meanwhile, Amnesty International in a press release yesterday said Rab must stop extrajudicial killings.
The press release also called on the British government to raise concerns before Sheikh Hasina about reports of torture, extrajudicial executions, and excessive use of force by Rab.
More than 600 people are thought to have been killed by Rab personnel since 2004 when the battalion was created, it said, adding, WikiLeaks sources have recently alleged that the UK police have been training Rab.
Abbas Faiz, Amnesty International's Bangladesh researcher, said, “Suggestions that these deaths in custody are just unrelated random incidents, as opposed to targeted executions, are simply not credible. The chance of this same fate befalling so many apprehended individuals defies belief and contradicts eye-witness testimony. These deaths amount to extrajudicial executions.”
Hasina, however, said whenever allegations of extra-judicial killings were raised, the government investigated those and took action. “We believe in human rights.”
Asked if Islam will remain in the constitution as state religion, she said secularism does not mean absence of religion.
Hasina said a parliamentary committee is working to amend the constitution in light of a High Court verdict.
On confrontational politics, the premier said her government has ensured all facilities to opposition leader Khaleda Zia and her party since assuming office in 2009.
Unfortunately, Hasina said, BNP is not joining parliament. “I hope the opposition will return to the House.”
Replying to a query on government's relation with Pakistan, she said, “At present, we are enjoying good relations with Pakistan.”
Hasina also said India contributed significantly during Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971.
“True that we have some problems with India such as sharing waters of the common rivers but we're working together to find solutions,” she said.
Crossfire Killings Sahara defends lawmen again
Home Minister Sahara Khatun has questioned whether human rights organisations are "siding with the criminals" killed in "encounters" with law enforcers.
She was speaking as the chief guest at the annual general meeting of Crime Reporters' Association of Bangladesh (CRAB) in the capital.
The remark came a day after the home minister claimed that no extra-judicial killings have happened during the present government's tenure. However, reports of human rights organisations sharply contradict the claim. The annual report of Odhikar, a Dhaka-based human rights watchdog, says at least 127 people fell victim to extra-judicial killings in 2010.
Meanwhile, National Human Rights Commission Chairman Prof Mizanur Rahman Khan at a seminar doubted the home minister's claim and said he will be assured if the judiciary says there is no extra-judicial killing in the country.
Sahara called upon the rights organisations to work independently and said they should stand by lawmen, who put their life on the line to fight criminals.
“Militants, terrorists, criminals and muggers are hiding all around us. Please help law enforcers arrest them,” Sahara said.
She also claimed that criminal activities are on the decline across the country.
Hassan Mahmood Khondker, inspector general of police (IGP), urged journalists not to hinder their “work by one-sided criticism".
“We plan to set up an institute of criminology,” the IGP said.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Benazir Ahmed said they would show zero tolerance to narcotics trade, a major crime in the country.
“We arrested 12 drug peddlers in the last two months. But at least 700 drug peddlers got released from prison taking advantage of the loopholes in the law,” he said.
The DMP commissioner said they got nearly 550 drug peddlers punished on the spot by mobile courts.
Mokhlesur Rahman, director general of Rapid Action Battalion, also spoke at the function presided over by CRAB President Akhteruzzaman Lavlu.
Chaos outside CJ's courtroom Pro-BNP lawyers agitate against CJ for saying that lawyers not properly protecting good people; SC warns demonstrators
Chaos outside CJ's courtroom
Pro-BNP lawyers agitate against CJ for saying that lawyers not properly protecting good people; SC warns demonstrators
Pro-BNP lawyers head for a press conference at the Supreme Court Bar Association building yesterday morning after boycotting the chief justice's court.Photo: STARThey demonstrated protesting the chief justice's recent remarks about lawyers, and the reconstitution of High Court benches by him.
Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque recently said lawyers are not properly doing their job of protecting good people and resisting the evil ones.
The apex court led by the CJ discharged judicial functions yesterday amid the demonstration, and warned the demonstrators that it will take measures if such chaos is created on the SC premises in future.
It said the court could have removed the chaos within two minutes, but it did not do so because of its relationship with SCBA, and its concerns for that relationship.
It also said the dignity and prestige of the highest court must be maintained.
The SC issued a circular as well, asking all concerned to refrain from holding demonstrations on court premises that could hamper normal activities of courts, warning that appropriate legal actions will be taken if such activities take place.
Meanwhile, ruling Awami League backed lawyers also held a meeting yesterday on SCBA premises protesting the court-boycott of pro-BNP lawyers, and demanding that the association's president apologises to the chief justice.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam alleged, by creating chaos in front of the chief justice's court the pro-BNP lawyers violated the HC verdict which in 2005 had put restrictions on demonstrations on SC premises.
Around 50 pro-BNP lawyers led by SCBA President Khandker Mahbub Hossain and Secretary Bodruddoza Badal gathered near the door of the chief justice's courtroom at 9:00am.
There they staged the sit-in chanting slogans in support of the demonstration, and demanding resignation of Chief Justice Khairul Haque.
The three-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by the chief justice began its proceedings around 9:20am, when few hundred lawyers including some senior counsels were present.
The court solicited opinions from senior lawyers Mahmudul Islam, M Amir-Ul Islam and Abdul Baset Majumder regarding what it should do under the circumstances.
The lawyers said their demonstrating colleagues could have settled their grievances over reconstitution of the benches, if they had any, by discussing the matter with the chief justice.
During the demonstration, which ended at 10:00am, the agitating lawyers obstructed a few of their colleagues' entry to the courtroom and hurled expletives at them.
After the sit-in, Khandker Mahbub Hossain told reporters that they will take tougher programmes in the near future if they are provoked.
The chief justice's remarks are provoking and contemptuous, he said.
Attorney General Mahbubey Alam at a media briefing in his office said a faction of SCBA created chaos on the court premises to serve a certain quarter's purpose.
The quarter is unhappy with the chief justice, as he delivered verdicts in the cases relating to the fifth amendment of the constitution, declaration of independence, Bangabandhu killing, and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's previous residence in Dhaka Cantonment.
AL backed lawyers organised the meeting at the South Hall of SCBA in the afternoon, saying if the SCBA president does not apologise to the chief justice, they will not join the annual lunch which will be hosted by the association on February 3.
M Amir-Ul Islam, Rokanuddin Mahmud, Abdul Baset Majumder, Yusuf Hossain Humayun, and Munsurul Huq Chowdhury, among others, addressed the meeting.
SC Registrar M Ashraful Islam signed the circular in which the SC authorities called upon all concerned to refrain from holding any programme throughout the country that obstructs normal functioning of courts.
The highest court of the country is seeking sincere cooperation from all concerned in upholding the dignity and image of courts, it said.
AL unit president held for plotting murder of his GS
AL unit president held for plotting murder of his GS
Dhaka City Corporation's ward-41 Awami League President Noor Mohammad was arrested yesterday on suspicion of plotting the murder of the unit's general secretary, Fazlul Huq.
Noor, 68, was admitted to National Institute of Chest Diseases and Hospital, Mohakhali, after unidentified people gunned him down at West Agargaon Bazar on January 8.
Selim Mohammad Jahangir, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Tejgaon division), said detectives picked up Noor after his discharge from the hospital.
A source said doctors released the man around 11:00am.
DC Mahbubur Rahman of Detective Branch (north) said they had taken Noor to the DB office in the afternoon for interrogation. The detainee will be produced before a Dhaka court today along with a remand prayer.
On January 14, Fazlul Huq was shot dead in the city's Agargaon area.
According to DB sources, so far nine persons, including Noor Mohammad's son-in-law, have been arrested in connection with the killing.
Detectives said they started suspecting Noor as the mastermind of Fazlul murder after interrogating the other arrestees.
Both Noor and Fazlul were preparing to run for the councillor post in the upcoming Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) polls and campaigning in their areas, locals and police sources said.
A row over securing party backing in the election might have triggered the gun attacks, they added.
Forced Labour at Brickfield Statement of 30 not recorded
A Dhaka court granted bail to two employees of a brickfield yesterday a day after Rab detained them on charges of forcing 30 people to work.
Police had appealed for a seven-day remand of the detainees, but the court turned them down.
Also yesterday another court refused to record statement of the workers, saying the office hours had been over.
Investigation officer of the case, Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam of Ashulia Police Station, produced Sultan Mohammad Ratan and Hossain Gazi before the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Masrur Salehin.
SI Saiful said the 30 people had been sent back to Rab.
Commander M Sohail, director, Legal and Media Wing of Rab, told The Daily Star they would hand over the workers to their relatives.
Rab said they raided Ekota Brickfield in Ashulia Wednesday evening after a tip-off from intelligence sources and rescued the workers, including two men chained by their legs.
Billal Hossain, one of the workers, had filed a case with the police station accusing 11 people of Ekota Brickfield of torture and forced labour.
মঙ্গলবার, ১৮ জানুয়ারী, ২০১১
Hartal in Noakhali, Laxmipur Wednesday
Hartal in Noakhali, Laxmipur Wednesday
AL-backed candidate takes control of 18 centres in Laxmipur, BCL men snatch ballot papers in Habiganj and Comilla
Supporters of ruling Awami League-backed mayoral candidate vandalise ballot box after snatching it from Noakhali Primary School polling centre authority on Tuesday. Photo: Star Meanwhile, the Election Commission (EC) suspended elections in Senbagh municipality in the same district due to 'irregularities' during the polls.
Voting at a centre in Habiganj municipality remains suspended after activists of ruling party's student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), snatched ballot papers. On the other hand, vote casting resumed at a centre under Nagolkot municipality in Comilla after a 45-minute suspension for the same reason.
Our Chandpur correspondent reports authorities suspended voting at Sengarchar Government Primary School centre in Sengarchar municipality polls following allegation of rigging.
Voting in 58 municipalities began at 8:00am and continued till 4:00pm without any break.
Our correspondents covering the polls report that voters' turnout to the polling centres were thin till 10:00am due to chill wave but the scenarios changed later.
NOAKHALI
Harunur Rashid Azad, BNP-backed mayoral candidate vying for Noakhali municipality, informed the election officials about capture of 25 centres by his rivals and his supporters, our Noakhali correspondent reports.
"And I requested returning officer (RO) to suspend the voting. But he won't listen to me," Azad told reporters, adding that the RO, M Shakhawat Hossain, the additional deputy commissioner, ordered for continuing the polls.
He later convened a press conference at former BNP lawmaker M Shahjahan's residence at Fakirpool in the town at 2:30pm.
Announcing polls boycott, Azad called for a dawn to dusk hartal in Noakhali for Wednesday.
Meanwhile, on receiving allegations of 'irregularities', the EC postponed the elections of Senbagh municipality.
After receiving an EC letter on the decision at 2:30pm, Noakhali deputy commissioner Sirajul Islam ordered to stop voting.
Our correspondent reported that there were allegations that activists of the ruling Awami League took control of polls center and cast fake votes in at least two centres.
LAXMIPUR
AL-backed mayoral candidate Abu Taher and his supporters drove out agents of the BNP-backed candidate from 18 polling centres and took control of those, reports a correspondent.
Addressing a press conference at 4:00pm, Hasanuzzaman Chowdhury Mintu, the BNP-backed candidate, claimed Taher and his men took control of the polling centres at about 10:00am.
Announcing polls boycott, he demanded cancellation of the polls and re-election at the municipality.
Backing the allegation, Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annee, BNP MP from Laxmipur, said people would not accept the election.
The local BNP announced they would enforce a half-day hartal in the district on Wednesday.
The press conference was held at Annee's residence at Ramchhari in Laxmipur.
HABIGANJ
Nearly 25 activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League snatched some ballot papers from the presiding officer at Habiganj Town Model Government Primary School centre at about 10:15am, our correspondent in Sylhet reports.
Polling was suspended for nearly one and an half hours following the ballot paper snatching.
Though voting resumed at about 11:30am, it was suspended again in half an hour as the ballot papers could not be rescued and the presiding officers were assaulted.
Mahmud Hasan, Habiganj deputy commissioner, ordered suspension of voting citing EC instruction for such cases.
Election officials said about 41 ballot papers might have been snatched.
Rapid Action Battalion was trying to nab the BCL activists.
COMILLA
Voting at Dhatishwari Government Primary School centre of Nagolkot pourasava remained suspended for about 45 minutes since 9:03am after supporters of an Awami League candidate snatched ballot papers in a bid to cast vote for their candidate.
On information, members of army, Rapid Action Battalion and police drove them out from there.
Returning officer Mohammad Rehan Uddin of the centre started taking vote at about 9:50am.
CHANDPUR
Voting was suspended in a polling centre at Sengarchar municipality election of Chandpur following an allegation of vote rigging.
Matlob North Upazila Nirbahi Officer and Returning Officer Golam Kabir suspended the voting at Sengarchar Government Primary School centre at about the noon after BNP candidate Amena Begum alleged of vote rigging at the centre.
Meanwhile, voting was suspended for about 15 minutes following a clash between the supporters of two mayoral candidates at Beshdi Government Primary School at Sengarchar that left 10 people including a policeman injured.
The voting resumed at about 11:00am after law enforcers rushed there and took the situation under control.
MOULVIBAZAR
Shaswati Nath, 55, a female councillor candidate of Sreemongol municipality of Moulvibazar died of cardiac arrest at her Dhanshiri residence at about 8:00am. The election in the municipality however was continuing.
Over 11.5 lakh voters are entitled to cast their votes to elect 42 mayors for 42 municipalities under 10 districts in Chittagong division. A total of 212 and 2,179 aspirants are contesting for the posts of mayors and councilors respectively.
Seventy-four candidates are contesting for 16 mayoral posts in 16 municipalities in four districts of Sylhet division. Over 2.96 lakh voters are entitled to exercise their franchise to elect their representatives there.
The first phase of polls was held in the municipality areas of Barisal, Khulna, Rangpur and Rajshahi last week while the second phase kicked off from Dhaka on Monday.
So far, AL-backed candidates and its rebels won 87 out of 183 mayoral posts while BNP's favourites and its rebels grabbed 76.
BNP demands re-election to Feni, Noakhali, Laxmipur municipalities
BNP demands re-election to Feni, Noakhali, Laxmipur municipalities
Addressing a a press briefing at the party’s central office in Naya Paltan, Nazrul Islam Khan, standing committee member, alleged supporters of ruling Awami League-backed candidates rigged the poll by taking control of all the polling centres in all municipalities in Noakhali, Laxmipur and Feni.
He termed Tuesday’s situation as 'dreadful' in comparison with the situation in the previous three phases, Desh TV reports on its website.
“Mockery will fall short of describing what is going on today in the name of elections," he said.
The BNP standing committee member also raised questions whether law enforcers, army and administration played non-partisan role in there.
JS body for subsidy to rein in price
JS body for subsidy to rein in price
Government should provide subsidy if necessary to arrest skyrocketing price of food items and essentials, a parliamentary body suggested Tuesday.
Expressing deep concern over the present trend of price hike of essentials and other food items, the parliamentary standing committee on commerce ministry, which is headed by ruling Awami League MP Tipu Munshi, also formed a five-member sub-committee to work on strengthening the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
The sub-committee has been asked to submit recommendations on how to make the state-run organisation effective to keep the market stable.
The parliamentary committee recommended for a special allocation of Tk 1,000 crore for TCB so that it can import essential items to keep the market stable.
"We have recommended that the government should provide subsidy, if necessary, to arrest skyrocketing price of essentials," ABM Abul Kasem, chief of the watchdog, told reporters after the meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
Kasem, also a ruling AL lawmaker, said people do not want to hear or understand that price of daily commodities are also high in other countries like in our country.
"They [people] just want that price of essentials will be within commoners' purchasing capability," he added.
Lawmakers in the committee opined that the TCB can do a lot regarding keeping the market of essential products stable.
They also expressed dissatisfaction over the 'poor' performance of TCB to this end, meeting sources told The Daily Star.
The committee also discussed on making the National Consumer Rights Protection Directorate 'truly effective' to ensure consumer rights.
The committee was informed that activities of the consumer rights protection directorate will be strengthened as the government has moved to form consumer rights protection committee in all the districts.
Prof Yunus gets bail
Prof Yunus gets bail
Dr Muhammad Yunus coming out of a court in Mymensingh on Tuesday after it granted him bail in a defamation case. Photo: STAR The case was filed on January 21, 2007 by Nazrul Islam Chunnu, joint secretary of Mymensingh unit Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), just four days after Yunus criticised the politicians.
The lawsuit referred to an interview with international news agency AFP at the head office of Grameen Bank on January 17, 2007.
The plaintiff in the case said the interview was published in different newspapers on the following day.
Chunnu quoted Yunus to be saying in the interview, "They (politicians) are only after money. Their politics has nothing to do with ideology."
The Grameen Bank chief appeared before the Cognizance Court no-1 of Senior Judicial Magistrate Rozina Khan in Mymensingh at 11:30 in the morning.
A lawyers’ panel led by advocate AHM Khalequzzaman sought bail for Dr Yunus. Granting him the bail with two securities including a lawyer, the court also asked him to appear before the court on February 20.
The magistrate also allowed the Nobel laureate to appear through his lawyers as the defence prayed to exempt Yunus from personal appearance in the court.
Judicial Magistrate Jahangir Hossain conducted a judicial inquiry into the case and submitted its report to the court in December last year.
District unit president of Ganatantri Party Prof Atiqur Rahman, JSD secretary advocate Sadik Hossain, secretary of Workers Party of Bangladesh Sujit Barmon and advocate Abdul Motalab Lal, among others, made their depositions before the judicial inquiry, according to the source.
The court on December 19 summoned Dr Yunus to appear before it on January 18.
Joint-secy level talks with India begins
Joint-secy level talks with India begins
Joint Secretary (Political) Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed is leading the 12-member Bangladesh team comprises of the officials of different line ministries.
“We are discussing three issues -- border management, mutual cooperation and security related issues -- on the first-day talk,” Kamal Uddin Ahmed told The Daily Star during a break in the session.
Indian Joint Secretary Shambhu Singh is leading the 10-member team at the meeting, which will continue till 5:00pm Tuesday.
The two-day crucial home secretary-level meeting will begin on January 19.
6 killed in Noakhali gunfight
6 killed in Noakhali gunfight
Six people were killed in gunfight between two gangs of robbers in a remote shoal of Noakhali's Hatia upazila early hours Tuesday.
Reached over phone Noakhali Superintendent of Police (SP) Harunur Rashid confirmed recovery of six male dead bodies including one of a teenaged boy from Char Bashar this morning.
"We found six bodies ridden with bullets and also bearing cut marks of sharp weapons. Locals said there was a gun fight between two rival bandits' gangs. All sans one are of middle-aged males while there was a body of a boy of 14/15 years of age," said the SP.
Our Noakhali correspondent adds quoting the locals that at dead of night a fight ensued over sharing of booties among robbers resulting deaths of six including a dacoit leader Giasuddin Sardar and injuries to two more. Besides, a house was also torched at Purba Faridpur village in Hatia.
Col Taher Case: Ex-DC places statement to HC
Col Taher Case: Ex-DC places statement to HC
Col Abu TaherHe told the court that Col Taher could have been tried under the normal law since he was not a military officer in 1976.
He said Col Taher was tried and executed in a secret court, which was formed under the martial law regulations.
He made the statement before the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain.
The court is hearing the writ petition that challenged the martial law regulation under which Col Taher was tried and sentenced to death.
Shawkat Ali told the court that he did not know Md Abdul Ali, one of the five judges of the military tribunal.
Md Abdul Ali, who was a first class magistrate during the trial, told the told on January 13 that Shawkat Ali has directed him to join the tribunal as its members.
The hearing was going on till filling of this report at about 2:15pm.
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