Actress Mehazabien Chowdhury and her brother Alisan Chowdhury have secured bail after surrendering before a Dhaka court in an “embezzlement” case. On Sunday evening, they turned themselved in before the Dhaka Executive Magistrate Court-3 judge Afroza Tania. Their lawyer, Tuhin Hawlader, said the bail petitions were granted after a hearing. Mehazabien, however, has dismissed the allegations as “baseless”. Attempts to reach Mehazabien by phone for comment were unsuccessful.
Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed has responded to claims that “nothing is happening”, saying many developments cannot be revealed because of government-imposed “secrecy”. “Many people on talk shows are saying nothing is being done,” he said. “A tunnel was built at a cost of hundreds of millions, but it carries very few vehicles. Rest houses were built in megaproject areas for one to two hundred million. “We have initiated the process; the next government will take it forward.”
Content creator Ashraful Alam, widely known as Hero Alom, has secured bail after being arrested in a case filed by his former wife, accusing him of attempted murder and assault. “He was arrested and sent to court under an outstanding warrant in a physical assault case filed by his wife, Ria Moni,” the DC added. According to the case, Alom divorced Ria Moni following marital disputes and forced her out of their home. Ria filed the case with Hatirjheel Police on Jun 23. The court, however, issued arrest warrants after they allegedly failed to appear for scheduled hearings, thereby violating the conditions of their bail.
The Rab Commander said the body was left in the room overnight while Jarez and Shamima stayed there. The following day, Thursday, they purchased a machete and dismembered Ashraful's body into 26 pieces, stuffing the remains into two drums, said the RAB official. She also said Jarez had planned to flee the country to Malaysia and arrangements for a passport were underway for Jarez. Shamima told RAB that they had planned to extort Tk 1.0 million from Ashraful using the intimate video. Ashraful Haque's dismembered body was found stuffed into two drums and dumped beside the National Eidgah ground on Thursday.
Trailing to Rohit Chand's first-half strike, Bangladesh levelled through Hamza's exquisite overhead effort just a minute into the second half before the England-born midfielder calmly chipped home from the spot four minutes later. The hosts, who last beat Nepal 2-0 in Dhaka five years ago, started with plenty of possession but little penetration. Nepal made them pay three minutes later, when Sumit Shrestha's cutback was misjudged by Sohel Rana Sr, allowing Rohit to rifle a low drive past Mitul Marma. Moments later, Hamza struck again with a cheeky Panenka past Kiran Limbu to make it 2-1. Bangladesh, already clinging on, were undone when Tamang flicked home from a corner in added time.
Police in Khagrachhari’s Ramgarh have taken two Chinese nationals into custody, saying they travelled to the hill district “without permission”. Ramgarh Police Chief Md Main Uddin said the two Chinese passport holders were being kept in their custody until Friday afternoon. Citing a home ministry circular, the police chief said foreign nationals require prior permission to travel to or enter the Chittagong Hill Tracts, but the two had no such approval. Police say the two arrived in Ramgarh on Wednesday through Md Rokon Uddin, an employee of Aborna Classic, an aluminum company in Kumira, Chattogram. The detained Chinese nationals told police they arrived in Chattogram about one and a half months ago and had been living in the city’s Khulshi area.
Police have recovered 35 crude bombs and bomb-making equipment from the Geneva Camp in Dhaka’s Mohammadpur. The operation was carried out in the afternoon, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Public Relations Department said in a statementA police officer involved in the raid said the bomb-making workshop was identified based on information provided by previously arrested suspects. The individuals who gave the information were reportedly also involved in making the bombs.
But I never issued any order to fire on unarmed civilians,” she said.Speaking about the trial, Hasina said she hadn’t been able to defend herself or appoint her own lawyers.She added her political opponents had gone after her in an attempt to “liquidate” her Awami League party as a political force.Leaked audio of one of her phone calls verified by BBC Eye earlier this year suggested that she had authorised the use of “lethal weapons” in July 2024. The audio was played in court during the trial.Hasina was formally indicted along with two others—former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former inspector general of police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun.Prosecutors have sought the death penalty for Kamal, who is in hiding. Mamun pleaded guilty in July and has since turned state’s witness.Hasina’s legal counsels issued a statement on Monday saying they had filed an urgent appeal to the UN raising serious fair trial and due process issues at the ICT.The Awami League is already banned from standing in general elections due in February.The BBC interview also covered other serious allegations of abuses committed during Hasina’s 15-year rule, which will be heard in another case at the special tribunal. She denies charges of crimes against humanity in that case too.After Hasina was ousted from power, a number of secret jails were discovered holding prisoners who had been detained for years without any legal process. Many other critics and opponents of Hasina who had been abducted or held in these prisons are alleged to have been killed unlawfully.Asked who was responsible for this, Hasina said she “did not have knowledge” of them.She also denied her involvement in alleged extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances, which rights group say she was responsible for as the head of government.“This is denied in terms of my own involvement, but if there is evidence of abuse by officials, let us have it examined properly in an impartial, depoliticised process,” she said.Hasina and other senior members of her former government are also facing trial for corruption in a separate court, charges they deny.- bdnews24.com
Bangladesh have outplayed Ireland with both bat and ball to deliver a comprehensive win by an innings and 47 runs in the Sylhet Test. After declaring at 587/8 on Thursday, with a 301-run lead, the Tigers bowling attack tore into the visitors, leaving them teetering at 86/5. Nahid Rana (2-40) found the breakthrough by scalping Balbirnie as he built a steady 66-run partnership with McBrine, while Hasan Murad (4-60) caught McBrine in front of the stumps soon afterwards. Jordan Neill (36) and Barry McCarthy (25) put up a brave fight, but Murad struck again and Taijul took the final wicket to polish off the match. Ireland won the toss and chose to bat, but were restricted to only 286 in the first innings.
A Dhaka court has ordered authorities to send Dhaka University (DU) Chemistry Professor Ershad Halim to jail in a sexual harassment case initiated by a student. Halim was arrested late on Thursday night at his Shewrapara residence by Mirpur Model Police. Halim allegedly invited the student to his Shewrapara residence, where the student claims he was sexually harassed. The complaint said Halim called the student again, and due to the professor’s “homosexual behaviour”, the student initially refused to visit. “We immediately suspended [Halim] from all academic duties, and the complaint has been sent to the Sexual Harassment Cell.
He said the commission approved the action after receiving allegations of money laundering and reviewing the preliminary evidence from its investigation. According to the chargesheet, Khokon and Shahana allegedly channelled funds using seven accounts across City Bank, EXIM Bank, and Premier Bank through their company Sayeed Khokon Properties, moving the total sum through layering. The ACC said Shahana provided “false and misleading” information about her profession, income, and identity when opening the accounts. Her brother, then serving as mayor, allegedly colluded with the company’s manager Md Raju Ahmed to acquire this money as illicit assets through repeated transactions. The ACC said Khokon, Shahana, and Raju allegedly violated Sections 409, 420, and 109 of the Penal Code, Section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1947, and Sections 4(2) and 4(3) of the Money Laundering Prevention Act, 2012.
The interim government’s decision to hold the referendum on the July National Charter on the same day as the national parliamentary election “does not meet the people’s aspirations”, says Jamaat-e-Islami. He said, “On behalf of the Jamaat-e-Islami, I would like to state very clearly that the chief advisor’s announcement of a referendum and a national election on the same day did not fulfil the people’s aspirations. The intention of the people was to propose amendments to the Constitution based on the legal basis of the July Charter and the reforms that were made before the national election. These must be presented to the nation before the general election. There is no answer to this.”The Jamaat leader said, “We, along with eight Islamic and patriotic parties, have been demanding that this vote be held before the national elections to resolve the crisis.
The Election Commission (EC) is going to hold internal discussions before forming an opinion on the proposal to hold the next parliamentary election and the referendum on implementing the July Charter on the same day in FebruaryOn Thursday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin made the comment after talks with six political parties at the Election Commission headquarters in Agargaon, Dhaka. He said: “Once we are formally informed of the matter, we will exercise our options and discuss it in the commission to arrive at an opinion. “I haven’t had the chance to hear his speech. Without knowing exactly what he said or what the proposal entails, it wouldn’t be right to make any remarks,” Nasir said. He added that the commission would deliberate and provide its opinion once the proposal is received formally.
Senior BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed has alleged that Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus “violated” the July National Charter in his televised address to the nation on Thursday. “In his speech, the chief advisor breached the signed July National Charter,” the Standing Committee member said in an immediate reaction after the broadcast. “He signed the National Charter, and with this address he has violated it. Also on Thursday, President Md Shahabuddin issued the July National Charter (Implementation) Order, setting out the questions to be put to the referendum. BNP's Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has convened an emergency meeting of the party’s Standing Committee for the evening.
Police have arrested 43 workers of the Awami League and its affiliates in raids across Dhaka. In a statement released on Thursday, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) said its detectives made the arrests. The Awami League, whose activities have been banned, announced protest programmes across the country from Nov 10 to Nov 13 as the date for Hasina’s trial verdict approached. It also announced a “Dhaka Lockdown” programme for Thursday in response to the announcement of the verdict date. Sporadic incidents of crude bomb blast and vehicle torching took place in Dhaka and parts of the country amid the AL protest programme.
