Police: Substantial progress maden Ashif Islam Shaon andAhmed Zayeef

Nur Hossain, the prime accused of the gruesome seven-murder case in Narayanganj tried to ee the country but failed to do so, police said.

We do not think that Nur Hossain has managed to ee the country. We have arrested some of his close aides. They are being interrogated. Nur Hossain will be arrested soon, said Narayanganj Superintendent of Police Khandaker Mahid Uddin yesterday.

When asked if police have been able to trace Nurs whereabouts, the district police chief did not want to make any comment for the sake of investigation.

Claiming to have made substantial progress in the case, he said they had vital information from di erent inves-tigators and now are crosschecking those to reach a concrete decision.

For the sake of investigation we cannot disclose everything now. More people will be detained, arrested and interrogated. We will quiz every single suspect, he said.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

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Boishakh 26, 1421Rajab 9, 1435Regd. No. DA 6238Vol 2, No 39 FRIDAY, MAY 9, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

WT | BECOMING A MUM 13 | MUSHFIQ BIDS JURGENSEN GOODBYE

BusinessB1 Finance Minister AMA Muhith suggested increasing taxes on SIM card, tobacco prod-ucts and import of vehicles as these sectors could boost revenue collection.

Nation6 Native freshwater shes are going extinct in the water bodies like rivers, bogs, canals due to lack of navigability, use of insecticides and water pollution in Narsingdi.

World08 Islamic militants who have triggered international outrage over the kidnapping of more than 270 Nigerian schoolgirls opened re on a busy marketplace, killing hundreds of people in a new spasm of violence.

Op-Ed11 A bank robbery captured headlines, incumbents amassed vast wealth, gold smuggling appears to be a regular trade, sale of adulterated foods is still rampant, rural hospital patients remain unattended, public exam question papers are leaked, tenders are manipulated, and violence dominates campuses. Surpassing all of this, human life has become cheaper as we can tell from the recent spate of abductions and killing of people.

Sport14 Manchester City moved to the brink of the Premier League title with an emphatic 4-0 win over Aston Villa on Wednesday as Edin Dzeko scored twice.

BusinessB4 Global business growth slowed to a six-month low in April as both services rms and manufacturers saw slower expansions in ac-tivity and a sales tax rise hit Japanese output, business surveys showed on Wednesday.

News5 Dhanmondi playground continues to lose its open space as the Local Government De-partment and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Ltd goes on building concrete structures inside the premises, occupying the public space for their personal interests.

Is Nur pawn in a bigger game?Narayanganj residents believe involving Nazruls rival was calculatedn Julfi kar Ali Manik, Ashif Islam Shaon and Ahmed Zayeef,back from Narayanganj

The recent abduction and murder of seven people in Narayanganj was ap-parently the result of longstanding rivalries between the two city corpora-tion councillors Nazrul Islam, one of the slain persons, and Nur Hossain, the prime suspect.

Residents of the port city, who are aware of the rivalry between the two Awami League leaders, seem to have a very clear notion about what Nur want-ed to achieve by eliminating Nazrul if he was really involved with the murder.

Possible motives behind the seven murder have been in discussions of a cross-section of people in Narayanganj, but most people have been reluctant to talk to these correspondents on record out of fear.

Nazruls father-in-law Shahidul Is-lam, who has revealed many things since the abduction of Nazrul and six others on April 27, earlier told the Dha-ka Tribune that he believed Nur Hos-sain had masterminded the crime to ensure his unchallenged supremacy in the locality.

However, many strongly believe that Nazruls murder was actually kill-

ing many birds with one stone. They believe killing Nazrul was not the end of the plot at all because the murders have complicated the situation for a number of parties that were allegedly partners in the crime.

Prime accused Nur Hossain, now a fugitive, came under spotlight as an emerging Ma a don or a godfather of the commercial hub just 20km from the capital. Now, after Nazruls murder Nur Hossain faces more challenges to making Narayanganj his unchallenged empire as he has become the prime ac-cused himself in the sensational case.

On the other hand, the elite strike force Rapid Action Battalion its 11th battalion has been into controversy for its alleged role in the abduction and killing. RAB has been investigating and has already unearthed the alleged in-volvement of the local powerful Osman familys involvement in last years ab-duction and killing of college student Tanvir Mohammad Twoki.

Chandan Seal, who is close to the Osman family, especially Awami League lawmaker Shamim Osman, told the Dhaka Tribune that both Nazrul and Nur Hossain were from Siddhir-ganj area of the port city and contested in the union parishad election in the

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Now RAB 10 faces abduction allegation n Mohammad Jamil Khan While the investigation into the in-volvement of RAB 11 personnel in sev-en murders followed by abduction in Narayanganj is underway, a new alle-gation of abduction has come up, this time against the forces unit 10.

Lovely Akter, wife of the victim, at a media brie ng at the National Press Club yesterday alleged that some peo-ple identifying themselves as RAB members had abducted her husband from the capitals Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court area on April 9.

She made the allegation public a month later as the police had failed to trace the victim, Rahamatullah Sentu, a transport leader and businessman from Narayanganj.

In a written statement, Lovely said she along with Sentu had gone to the court to meet one Shah Alam, a law-yers assistant. When they came out of the chamber around 11:30am, some 10 people forced Sentu to go with them.

Hearing her screams, some shop-keepers came to rescue him. Soon, those people were locked in a scu e with the locals but still managed to take Sentu into an o -white microbus with tinted glass waiting on English Road, she said.

When the locals chased the micro-bus, some RAB personnel in uniform equipped with arms came to the spot and charged batons on the onlookers. At that time, another RAB vehicle ap-peared at the scene and those people sped away with her husband.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Muhith: No more whitening of black money this timen Syed Samiul Basher AnikThe government will not allow any scope for whitening black money in the upcoming budget, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.

Muhith made the remark at the 35th meeting of the National Consultative Committee of the National Board of Revenue at a city hotel yesterday.

As he was leaving the venue after delivering his speech, when the journalists asked him the reason for the sudden decision, the minister said he was ill and would not answer any question.

Muhith has always been known for being in favour of allowing opportuni-ties to whiten the so-called black mon-ey that exist in the economy.

During FY2013-14, the government allowed legalising undisclosed money by investing in the real estate sector through payment of a 10% penal tax, in addition to normal taxes.

According to the Global Financial Integrity Report 2013, from 2009-2013, more than Tk2,098 crore was whitened in Bangladesh, against which the NBR received Tk279.29 crore in taxes.

From 1971-2013, nearly Tk13,809 crore was legalised, against which the

NBR received only over Tk1,455 crore in taxes, the report said.

However, a few days ago, NBR Chair-man Md Ghulam Hussain observed that conditions for allowing undisclosed money should be relaxed for promot-ing new industries and also to prevent money laundering.

Many developed countries have moved far ahead in terms of nancial and social development, by just allow-ing undisclosed money in investments with trouble-free conditions, the NBR chief said.

Wealthy people are now busy si-phoning o black money abroad. That

money could have been used for de-veloping industries in the country, he said.

Continuation of the scope for whit-ening black money by investing in the housing sector is one of the core de-mands from the Real Estate and Hous-ing Association of Bangladesh.

REHAB General Secretary Md Wahi-duzzaman said the opportunity should be continued for a while for the sector to enjoy the fruits of investment.

He also suggested that the government should start supporting buyers through easy re- nancing of housing loans if it nally decided

to withdraw the whitening facility.

Tax-free income ceilingThis year, FBCCI demanded that the government increased the tax-free in-come ceiling to Tk2.5 lakh from the ex-isting Tk2.20 lakh.

However, during yesterdays meet-ing, Muhith advised the apex trade body of the country to not expect too much from him.

The minister said he would consult with the prime minister and x the ceiling for the next 10 years but hint-ed that there might not be any drastic change. l

Suspended RAB members to be grilled n Mohosinul KarimThe probe body formed by the Public Administration Ministry following a High Court order has visited the area in Narayanganj from where the seven dead bodies including ward councillor Nazrul Islam were recovered.

The committee will take interviews of the victims family members on Sat-urday. After that it will submit its pri-mary progress report to the court.

Public Administration Ministrys Additional Secretary Shahjahan Ali Molla, also head of the committee, told the Dhaka Tribune prior to his visit to the spot yesterday afternoon.

He said: It will take time to com-plete full investigation into such inci-dent. A primary report will be submit-ted to the High Court within seven days according to its direction.

We will talk to the families of the victims. We will also talk to those we

deem necessary to nd out the reason behind the incident. The RAB person-nel suspended for their alleged in-volvement in the abduction will also be interrogated. After taking interviews and interrogating all those people we will prepare and submit a full report, he added.

Asked about the involvement of a ministers family members in the kill-ing Shahjahan said: There is no chance

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Minister: 3 RAB o cials under surveillance n Rabiul Islam The government has imposed restric-tions on three dismissed RAB o cials so that they cannot leave the country before the investigation into abduction and killing of seven people in Narayan-ganj ends.

We have asked the airport and the BGB authorities to prevent them from leaving the country, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

They are now under the surveil-lance of the law enforcement agen-cies, he claimed but said he did not know where they were staying at the moment.

On Tuesday, former commanding o cer of RAB 11 Tarek Sayeed and two other o cers Maj Arif and Lt Com-mander Rana were sent to forced re-tirement following allegations of their involvement in the incidents.

We will not let them go abroad as the investigation is underway,

PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Massive reshu e in Narayanganj policen Kailash Sarkar with our Narayanganj correspondent

The authorities have brought about a massive reshu e into the police ad-ministration of Narayanganj following a spate of abduction and killings in the district.

As many as 40 sub-inspectors and 39 assistant sub-inspectors deputed in the district had been transferred, dis-trict Intelligence O cer Moinur Rah-man said yesterday.

The transfer order of the deputy inspector general of Dhaka range has been executed in e orts to improve law and order, he said.

The transfers have been made within the Narayanganj district, Bang-ladesh Police Headquarters Senior In-formation O cer Kamrul Ahsan told the Dhaka Tribune.

He also endorsed the information that the order was made by Deputy Inspector General (Dhaka Range) Mah-fuzul Haque Nuruzzaman. The chang-

es have been made in the backdrop of the recent incidents in the district, he said.

Earlier, three top o cials of RAB 11 unit were dismissed for their alleged involvement in the sensational inci-dent.

Seven bodies surfaced in Shitalak-khya River on April 30 that included the body of a Narayanganj ward coun-cillor, Nazrul Islam, and lawyer Chan-dan Sarker.

Autopsy reports say they were mur-dered by professionals. However, po-lice were yet to trace anyone behind the killings.

Prime accused in the case, local Awami League leader Nur Hossain, has eluded capture.

Nazruls family has blamed elite force RAB for its involvement in the murder, alleging that it took Tk6 crore for the task.

Several probe bodies including one within the RAB have been working on the issue. l

BSTI sets Bangladesh Standard Timen Tribune ReportBangladesh Standards and Testing Insti-tution (BSTI) yesterday xed the Bangla-desh Standard Time in order to maintain a standard uniform time with the world and develop the e-governance system.

The time set by using Rubidium Atomic Clock through Global Position-ing System will be telecasted across the country through the National Data Centre situated in Bangladesh Com-puter Council Bhaban in the capitals Agargaon.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Nur Hossain Yasin Miah Aminul Islam Raju

Iqbal Hossain Anwar Ashique Hasmat Ali Hashu

Investigators arrive at the Narayanganj deputy commissioners o ce yesterday to probe allegations against RAB in the sensational abduction and killing of a city ward councillor, a senior lawyer and ve others DHAKA TRIBUNE

7 | FREEDOM OF PRESS-OPPRESSION 8 | RAHUL TAKES ON MODI

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, May 9, 2014

Chhatra League men vandalise CU shuttle train, two policemen hurtn CU Correspondent A faction of Bangladesh Chhatra League enforcing a strike at Chittagong University vandalised a train near the port citys Sholoshahar railway station yesterday morning, leaving a train driv-er and two railway police injured.

The sudden attack on the CU-bound shuttle train forced Bangladesh Rail-way to suspend services to the univer-sity campus, sources said.

The faction, led by Suman Mamun, joint secretary of BCLs CU unit, staged a strike for a second day yesterday to press home its eight-point demand, including removal of the CU proctor and expulsion of BCL members who as-saulted an Awami League leader on the campus last month.

Witnesses and police sources said

the BCL activists rst slowed the train down by waving a red ag and then hurled brick chips at its engine as the shuttle was passing through Pilkhana area on the way to the campus.

The train later returned to the sta-tion and the BR authorities suspended services to the university until further notice, Sholoshahar station master Md Shahbuddin said.

The injured train driver, Anwar Hos-sain, was admitted to the Railway Hos-pital, while constables Mus qur Rah-man and Farid Khan of Government Railway Police (GRP) were taken to the Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

However, no one was arrested in connection with the violence, said Ya-sin Faruk, o cer-in-charge of GRP out-post at Chittagong Railway Station.

BCL activists also set re to rail

tracks at Fatehabad in Hathazari upazi-la and halted campus-bound minibus-es, causing immense su erings to com-mon students.

Meanwhile, most departments at CU postponed classes and only few held examinations as scheduled.

On April 5, some BCL activists as-saulted Narir Haider Babul, assistant secretary of an AL sub-committee,as he attended a programme on the campus.

The central leadership of the ruling partys student wing expelled ve of its members in this connection. Howev-er, a rival faction has been demanding their expulsion from the university.

CU Proctor Sirajud Dowla said the university administration was investi-gating the assault on the AL leader. He also said they would sit with the BR au-thorities to resume shuttle services. l

BNP irked as Khaledas graft case transferred The party claims government trying to complete trial hurriedly n Mohammad Al-Masum MollaThe BNP has alleged that the transfer of corruption case against party Chairper-son Khaleda Zia from the court building to Alia Madrasa vicinity in the capitals Bakshibazar was done to only to keep her away from politics.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the alle-gation while addressing a press brie ng at the partys Nayapaltan Headquarters yesterday.

The spokesperson of the party con-demned the decision of shifting the tri-al of Khaledas corruption case and de-manded that the trial be brought back to the court building.

Fakhrul said: A false and baseless case was led against Khaleda Zia. The case was sent to the speedy tribunal and the trial was shifted from court building to Alia Madrasa ground.

The government wants to com-plete the trial soon only to keep her away from politics and to humiliate

her, Fakhrul said.He said Narayanganj BNP invited

Khaleda Zia to attend a programme for expressing condolence to the victims family, but the authorities concerned turned down the request.

Fakhrul termed the authorities dis-approval an attack on democracy.

Narayanganj City Corporation May-or Selina Hayat Ivy rst said permission would be given, but later refused, rea-soning that it might volatile the law and order situation, he said.

Requesting Ivy, Fakhrul said: We hope that for the sake of democracy you would allow us to hold our rally.

He alleged that the government had been ling false cases one after another just to cling to power unopposed.

BNP Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka said State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Kamal should be accused in connection with the seven murders in Narayanganj. Before Nazrul was killed, he sought security, but the minister did not pay any heed to his request, he said. l Members of Narayanganj Ainjibi Samity go on a hunger-strike protesting the abduction and killing of senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, in the city yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

BSTI sets Bangladesh Standard Time PAGE 1 COLUMN 1From now on, the standard time of Bangladesh can be checked visiting the website www.time.gov.bd.

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, while inaugurating the standard time at the BSTI auditorium, said: It is a historical event for Bangladesh.

With the expansion of the use of information technology, trade across the globe has been increasing through the electronic system. So it is inevitable to harmonise the time with the world.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Computer Council strongly urged the Information and Communication Technology Min-istry to give responsibility to BSTI for xing the standard time and broadcast it throughout the country.

The European Union and the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation assisted the BSTI to x the time. l

Now RAB 10 faces PAGE 1 COLUMN 6Lovely said there were some on-duty police personal in the area who she had approached for help. The police o cials told me that those men were from RAB 10. They also showed their RAB identity card.

Following the incident, she had gone to the RAB 10 o ce to enquire about her husband. But the elite force had de-nied picking up Sentu, Lovely said.

On April 16, she led an abduction case with Kotwali police station.

Sentu is the vice-chairman of Sayedabad-Tongi Route Turag Pariba-han. He also has rod-cement business in Sanarpar area of Shiddhirganj of Narayanganj. He resided with his fami-ly at his own house at Sanarpar.

Lovely said her husband had busi-ness con ict with Saiful Islam Mahmud and Babu of Sayedabad Bus Terminal. She also alleged that lawyers assistant Shah Alam might have link with the in-cident.

Finding no trace of her husband,

Lovely yesterday pleaded to the prime minister and the home state minister to bring back Sentu.

When contacted, Firoz Al Jala, OC of Kotwali police, told the Dhaka Tribune that the investigation was underway. We are hopeful to nd her husband.

He also said the victims family had not mentioned in the complaint the presence of RAB and police members at the scene.

Asked about it, Lovely alleged that when they had gone to the police station and wanted to le the case giving details of the incident, the on-duty police o cer asked me to le the case with the court if I wanted to mention about the presence of law enforcers. So we led the case dropping the line.

Fazle Rabbi, operation o cer of RAB 10, told the Dhaka Trib-une that they knew nothing since no one had led any complaint about the incident. This is totally baseless, he claimed. l

3 RAB o cials PAGE 1 COLUMN 1Asaduzzaman said adding that they must be brought to book if found guilty.

While talking to reporters at his Secretariat o ce yesterday, he said the ministry also sent a list of sus-pects of the seven murder incident to the airport and the border authorities concerned. They have been asked to take necessary action to prevent the culprits from eeing the country. l

Suspended RAB members to be grilled PAGE 1 COLUMN 5of being in uenced by any quarter as our committee was formed on the in-struction of the High Court.

Earlier, the members of the commit-tee held an emergency meetingat the committee chiefs ministry o ce.

Several important decisions were taken in the meeting which Shahja-handenied disclosing for the sake of investigation.

The other committee members are Public Administration Ministrys Abdul Kaiyum Sarker and AbulKashemMohiuddin, Law Ministrys Mosta zur Rahman and Mizanur Rahman Khan and Home Ministrys Sha qur Rahman and Sayeed Mahmud Belal Haider.

Abul Kashem Mohiuddin will act as member secretary of the probe com-mittee.

Mohiuddinyesterday issued a letter

to the deputy commissioner and su-perintendent of police of Narayangan-jasking them to ensure the presence of all the family members of the victims at the DC o ce conference room at 10am on Saturday.

The probe committee will take in-terview and exchange views with them there, he informed on behave of the body.

On Wednesday, the public admin-istration ministry constituted the sev-en-member probe body as per the High Court directive to investigate the ab-ductions and killings of seven people in Narayanganj.

The High Court on May 6 ordered the public administration ministry to form a probe committee for investigating the seven murders in Narayanganj. It also asked the ministry to submit a report within seven working days. l

Police: Substantial progress made PAGE 1 COLUMN 2He said the case is sensitive. Investigating such planned murder needs proper plan. It will take time to draw a conclusion.

We cannot reach anabrupt end in such a short time.

Seven people including Nazrul and senior lawyer ChandanSarker were ab-ducted from the city on April 27. Six of their bodies were found oating in the Shitalakkhya river on April 29 while an-other body was found the following day

The accused in the case are Nur Hos-sain and his close aides Haji Yasin Miah, general secretary of Siddhirganj Thana Awami League, Nazruls relative Hasmat Ali Hasu, also a BNP activist, Aminul Is-lam Raju, Swechchhasebak League lead-er, Anwar Hossain, general secretary of Sramik Dal and Iqbal Hossain, a realtor.

In the latest development the law en-forcers arrested three persons including a woman from Shibpur upazila. They are Mintu, Masuma and Tipu. The arrestees are not accused in the case and their de-tails were not disclosed.

With this, a total of 15 people have been arrested in connection with the murders of seven people including Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam.

Meanwhile, the SP said four police o cials of Narayanganj had been trans-ferred from the district for the sake of transparent investigation. The police o cials are Akhter Hossain and Abdul Matin, o cers-in-charge of Fatullah and Siddhirganj police stations and Mah-bubur Rahman and Abdul Awal, OCs of the Detective Branch police.

Of them, Awal who was probing the seven-murder case was replaced by Ma-munur Rashid Mondol in the wake of a controversy over his alleged links with the prime accused Nur Hossain. OC Awal has been transferred to Barisal range.

The new investigation o cer of this case has already taken charge, the SP said. The transferred o cers joined their new work stations yesterday.

Akhter Hossian joined Munshiganj police station after he was replaced by Narshingdi Model police stations OC

Asaduzzaman. Nobody has been post-ed to the post of o cer-in-charge of the Shiddhirganj police station. Abdul Matin has been transferred to Tangail.

In another development, lawyers of Narayanganj Bar Association observed a one-hour token hunger strike onthe Narayanganj District Judges Court premises demanding arrest of the killers.

On the other hand, son-in-law of Chandan Sarkar led a murder case last night with Fatulla police station without mentioning any name. The DB police are investigating both of the cases.

Houses of all accused are now emptyOn May 3 police recovered a microbus and arrested 12 persons in a raid from Nur Hossains house at Siddhirganjs Shimrail and since then no family members of rel-atives of Nur Hossain found at homes.

Besides, after the bodies of seven people were recovered local attacked the house and businesses of Nur Hossain several times which compelled his fami-ly members to leave Narayanganj.

According to police, Yasin Miah, an ac-cused in the case, ed to Singapore under the excuse of his wifes treatment on April 28. Aminul Islam Raju lived at Mijimiji Dakkhin Para of Siddhirganj. He ed to In-dia, said an o cial of the DB police.

Hasmat Ali Hasu and Iqbal Hossain who live in the same area at Mijimiji also ed their houses. Locals said, soon after the bodies of the victims were found they put their houses under lock and key. l

Is Nur pawn in a bigger game? PAGE 1 COLUMN 2late 1990s. Nazrul was initially de-clared the chairman of the Siddhirganj union but Nur complained of vote rig-ging at a few centres. Following court orders, the union saw a re-election which Nur Hossain won.

Interestingly, at that time Nazrul was an Awami League leader and Nur Hossain was from the BNP.

Chandan Seal said a rivalry had since developed between them and a competition of establishing their in- uence and supremacy in Siddhirganj area. Both Nazrul and Nur were the contractors of the Roads and Highways Department, meaning their rivalry was also at the professional level.

Seal said: If Nazurl got a work or-der for a big project in Siddhdirganj, Nur Hossain would be disappointed.

Nur Hossain joined the Awami League between 2000 and 2001 when the party was in power and Shamim Osman was also the most in uential ruling party lawmaker in Narayanganj.

Nur had ed the country during

the 2001-2006 rule of the BNP-Ja-maat-led four party alliance and the military-backed caretaker government from 2007 to 2008 to evade arrest or harassment or any legal action. He returned when the Awami League re-turned to power in 2009.

Similarly, Nazrul had left the coun-try when the BNP came to power, said Seal.

Both of them had negative reputa-tion, he said.

Chandan Seal said initiatives had been taken in the past by local Awami League leaders for the reconciliation between Nazrul and Nur Hossain, but nothing worked.

When Narayanganj was declared a city corporation the electoral areas of Nazrul and Nur were automatically separated: Nazrul became the council-lor of ward 2 and Nur of ward 4.

But in the panel mayor election Nur Hossain contested another council-lor Obaidullah to become number 1 panel mayor, but he lost the battle as Nazrul, who had contested for panel

mayor 2, won. Nazrul eventually start-ed becoming a close aide of Narayan-ganj Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy.

So, the rivalry between Nazrul and Nur never really minimised; it has rather intensi ed for many reasons, said Seal.

Seal believes that Nazurls murder was the result of a ght between Naz-rul and Nur Hossain over establishing and expanding supremacy in Siddhir-ganj and other parts of the city.

Some sources said although Nur was known as an aide of Shamim Os-man, he had gradually expanded his network within the Awami League and had been able to reach even the top level of the party and the government.

Wishing not to be named, a local leading socio-political activist said Nur Hossain had gradually established close relations with some other Awami League lawmakers, ministers and even an adviser to the prime minister.

This ambition of Nurs might be-come a threat to other local in uential leaders of losing their supremacy in

Narayanganj to Nur.So, knowing well about the rivalry

between Nur and Nazrul and Nurs des-perate desire to eliminate Nazrul physi-cally, some other group may have taken the chance, helping Nur commit the crime, anticipating that this would ulti-mately bring the worst results for both.

Involving local RAB o cials as a mercenary group in the abduction and killing might have also been part of a bigger plot, said a resident who closely follows socio-political development in Narayanganj.

He said RABs revelation of Osman familys involvement, especially that of Nasim Osmans son Azmeri Osman, and use of his torture cell to kill Twoki after abduction annoyed this powerful family.

Nasim Osman, elder brother of Shamim Osman and a Jatiya Party MP from a constituency in the port city, died last month under treatment at an Indian hospital.

The Narayanganj resident said Sul-tan Shawkat alias Bhromor, an accused

in Twoki murder case, had confessed to a Narayanganj court in November last year revealing the whole incident and Azmeri Osmans direct involve-ment in Twokis murder.

Bhromors statement said he had witnessed the incident as he was in Azmeris o ce at that time.

RAB investigated Twokis murder and revealed Azmeris involvement and in March revealed to the media 11 names, including Azmeri, saying it had found their involvement in Twokis killing and would submit the charge sheet soon.

The developments from Bhromors confessional statement and RABs preparation for submitting the charge sheet accusing Azmeri Osman prompt-ed Osman family stalwarts to rush to the government high ups for prevent-ing the charges against Azmeri, said a source.

The source said the Osman family desperately pursued and tried to ex-plore all possible avenues to refrain RAB from prosecuting Azmeri in the

Twoki murder case.Rab 11, which had shown the cour-

age to reveal the involvement of the political clout in Twoki murder, has now come under huge criticism for its alleged involvement with the murder of seven people in exchange for crores of taka.

Analysing these backgrounds and developments, some sources in Narayanganj expressed concerns about the fate of the Twoki murder case and its investigation.

But Rabiul Huq, who has been with RAB 11 and investigated the case, told the Dhaka Tribune: Twokis murder was an isolated incident. The recent seven murder in Narayanganj will not have any in uence into the investiga-tion of this case.

Our investigation into Twokis murder will continue in its natural course. It was a big sensational crim-inal incident, so we have to submit the charge sheet after ensuring all ev-idence with caution. So, it will take time to complete the investigation. l

HC issues ruling on RMCH authoritiesn Nazmus Sakib The High Court yesterday issued a rule upon the authorities of Rajshahi Medi-cal College Hospital asking them as to why they should not be directed not to issue practicing licences to the interns who refused to treat a journalist.

It also asked the authorities con-cerned to submit a report on what action had been taken against the interns for their refusal to treat the journalist. The court sought an explanation for why the interns refused to provide treatment.

A bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain issued the rule.

The health and home secretaries, di-rector general of Directorate General of Health Services, director of RMCH, Ra-jshahi University vice-chancellor, depu-ty commissioner, Rajshahi superinten-dent of police and chief of Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council were asked to reply to the rule within four weeks.

The bench directed DG health and RMCH director to submit a compliance

report before it by May 25. The court will pass the order in this regard on May 25. Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Roy stood for the state.

Before issuing the order, the High Court said how a public hospital could refuse to provide treatment. They can-not do so, it added.

The bench observed that the interns were exceeding the limit. Earlier, they did the same thing at Dhaka Medical

College Hospital and Mitford Hospital, the court said, adding that the hospital was not a place for hooliganism.

Interns at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital allegedly forced a local photo-journalist out of the hospital on Tues-day, saying that they would not provide the journalists with treatment. The in-terns took the move after a few journal-ists led a case against the doctors for assaulting them at night on April 21. l

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, May 9, 2014EU ambassadors worried over abductions, killings n Sheikh Shahariar ZamanNine ambassadors of the European Union have voiced concern over the recent ab-ductions and killings in Bangladesh.

We two weeks ago expressed our concern to the government about this question. We called for investigations to take place into all cases and we were told that would be done and people to be brought to justice, EU Ambassador William Hanna said at a press brie ng held at a city hotel yesterday to mark Europe Day.

He was anked by eight other am-bassadors of the European Union.

About meeting with the BNP on Wednesday, he said the political par-ty expressed concern over the recent deterioration in law and order in the country.

Yesterday they were telling us about their concern about the abduc-tions.

When asked about the EUs stand on reform of the RAB, Hanna said he would not make any comment on any institution in the country. I would simply say it is very important that jus-tice should prevail.

About the political situation, he said: We have called them for dia-logue and we renew that call. We still

think that is the way forward.He added: People need to sit and

talk about the problem and the EU po-sition is dialogue and negotiation and that is the way forward.

I think there probably have to be a dialogue and solutions before fresh election. It is not for us to prescribe to nd a way forward.

About the readymade garment sec-tor, Hanna said the government and the EU need to work together to make the factories safe.

Many progresses had been made in the areas like labour reforms and in-spection of factories, he added.

Hanna said he heard that 800 fac-tories had been inspected which was very good and it would help the export sector of the country.

Substantial progress on labour issues is important for Bangladeshs continued preferential access to the EU market, not only for RMG products, but for all goods it exports to the single EU market.

British Acting High Commissioner Nick Low said they were following the case of Narayanganj 7.

Lets not make any mistake that the case of Narayanganj is very bad indeed. We hope that will produce a change in attitude.

He mentioned that a British national and his driver were abducted on Sun-day and Britain asked the authorities to make every possible e ort to locate them and clarify the circumstances.

Low also said three years back, BNP leader Ilyas Ali disappeared and urged the government to return Mr Ali to where he belongs and that is his family and clarify the circumstances about his disappearance.

Spanish ambassador Luis Tajeda Chacon said they want to do business here.

Growth rate in Bangladesh is high and EU companies are interested in doing business here, he said. We want to invest more and trade more.

He said protectionism and put barri-ers to foreign investments are big chal-lenges for Bangladesh. I think this is a mistake.

Dutch Ambassador Gerben Sjoerd de Jong said work is going on to trans-form the garment industry to avoid any incident such as Rana Plaza.

Danish Ambassador Hanne Fugl Es-kaer, French Ambassador Michel Trin-quier, German Ambassador Albrecht Conze, Swedish charge d a aires Kar-in Rohlin and Italian charge d a aires Edmondo Falconi were present at the press conference. l

Tribunal sets date for order on Mahbubs contempt n Udisa IslamThe International Crimes Tribu-nal 1 yesterday set June 22 to rule whether contempt proceedings would commence against senior Supreme Court lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, also an adviser to the BNP chief, for threatening the trial-related persons with action.The tribunal yesterday completed hearing on the reply of Mahbub, also vice-chairman of Bangladesh Bar Council.

The notice was issued on October 6 last year for his remarks on the verdict against death row convict Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a former law-maker of the BNP from Chittagongs Raozan.

Mahbub, just after the pronounce-ment of the verdict, at a press confer-ence said the ongoing war crimes trial had been farcical and warned that each and every person involved with the trial would be tried if the BNP came

to power.When the tribunal 1 issued a show-

cause notice why his remarks would not be taken as contempt of court, Mahbub submitted his reply to the tribunal on November 19 last year. He claimed that he had not said anything regarding the tribunal or its judges. He also said he had not tried to malign the tribunal.

Against this reply, prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum submitted that Mahbubs speech was baseless, incorrect and one-sided. The speech was aimed at scandalising the tribunals activities which could not be accepted.

He added that the speech had also been a threat to the security of the persons involved with the trial process. He said because of such remark, the prosecution witnesses had been in fear.

During the hearing, Mahbubs law-yer Md Tajul Islam prayed to the tribu-nal to accept his explanation and dis-miss the prayer of the prosecution. l

Man remanded over threat to foreign envoyn Md Sanaul Islam TipuA Dhaka court yesterday granted po-lice ve days to interrogate a man over threatening a foreign envoy through a text message on the mobile phone.

Metropolitan Magistrate Waiskurui Khan Chowdhury passed the order when Gulshan police placed Miraj Hossain, 30, before the court for a 10-day remand.

The court also rejected a bail peti-tion led by the defence lawyer.

Miraj was arrested from Banari-parha upazila in Barisal on Wednesday night, said Qutubul Alam, general re-cording o cer of the Chief Metropoli-tan Magistrates Court.

However, he refused to reveal the identity of the envoy for the sake of the investigation.

Miraj had text-messaged the envoy: Time and tide waits for none, but one person is waiting for you and that per-son is Azrael [the angel of death] l

Ambassadors of the European countries address a press conference in the capitals Lakeshore Hotel yesterday to mark the Europe Day DHAKA TRIBUNE

Lovely Akhter, wife of abducted Rahmatullah Sentu, speaks at a press conference demanding recovery of her husband at the National Press Club yesterday. Sentu was abducted allegedly by RAB from the capitals English Road area on April 9 MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Arms dealers, drug peddler heldn Our Correspondent, SavarDetectives yesterday arrested three arms dealers and a drug peddler from the capitals outskirts Savar in separate drives and recovered a foreign pistol, four bullets, two magazines and one kilogramme of marijuana from their possession.

The arrested arms dealers are Jasim Uddin, 29, Anis Sheikh, 74, Ayub Ali, 46, all hailing from Manikganj and drug peddler Dulal Hossain, 30, hailing from Bogra.

Acting on a tip-o , an undercover team of the Detective Branch went to Savars Rajfulbaria Bus stand area and nabbed the three arms dealers.

Meanwhile, detectives arrested a

drug peddler from Ashulias Palashbari area at dawn and recovered one kilo-gramme of marijuana from his posses-sion.

Con rming the arrests, Shahin Parvez, o cer-in-charge detective branch of police for Dhaka district (north), said the arms dealers were run-ning their illegal business in Savar for a very long time.

Posing as customers, detectives arrested the arms dealers and recovered a foreign pistol, four bullets, two magazines from their possession, he added.

He also said two separate cases have been led in this regard and the detain-ees have been handed over to the re-spective police stations. l

Arbitration stressed in foreign policyn Sheikh Shahariar ZamanThe government deems that arbitra-tion and mediation are two e ective tools in resolving international dis-putes and con icts, says the foreign minister.

Bangladesh has resorted to Per-manent Court of Arbitration to resolve its maritime boundary dispute with India, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said at a dialogue on arbitration or-ganised at a city hotel yesterday mark-

ing the third anniversary of Bangla-desh International Arbitration Centre.

We are expecting the verdict to emerge in June this year, he added.

The minister said about 10 lakh civil cases were pending with courts in Ban-gladesh and many of these could be resolved quickly through cost-e ective method. Many of the civil cases can be resolved using ADR techniques.

Ali said: Mediation is cheaper, faster, more e ective and more comfortable, and it has bright future in Bangladesh.

Barrister Ra qul Haq said many laws in the country including VAT, income tax and Artha Rin Adalat laws have out-of-court settlement provisions.

Former chief justice KM Hasan, who was a mediator, said unless the parties involved agree to the verdict, it is very di cult to implement.

Joseph R Profaizer, partner of Paul Hastings LLP of Washington, delivered his keynote speech at the programme chaired by Mahbubur Rahman, chair-man of BIAC. l

Detained police denies extortion allegationsn Our Correspondent, KurigramA court in Kurigram sent two police constables and a source of DB to jail after they denied their involvement in this connection in their remand in connection with an abduction and ex-tortion case of Maidul Islam, an NGO o cer of Kurigram, yesterday.

The police members are constable Atikuzzaman and constable Mamun-ur-Rashid and the name of the source is Monu Maker. The accused were brought before Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kuri-gram Md Rezaul Karim after one-days remand of Atikuzzaman and two-days remand for each of two others.

The investing o cer of the case Sub-Inspector of Kurigram Sadar police station Abdul Gafur said no important information could be retrieved out of the accused and they denied their in-volvement in this connection; although the accused confessed their crime earlier when they had been caught red-handed.

Earlier, three members of the police had abducted Maidul Islam, an NGO o cer of Raomari upazila of Kurigram on Wednesday evening and took him to Mogholbasa Ghat area of the Sadar upazila where the accused allegedly threatened to kill him.

Later he was released upon paying Tk10,000 as ransom to the accused. When he led an abduction case, po-lice arrested Atikuzzaman and Ma-mun-ur-Rashid and DB source Monu Maker. However, Shah Alam, a court constable, allegedly involved in this case managed to escape.

The supervising o cer of the case and Additional Police Super of Kuri-gram Md Shahab Uddin told the Dha-ka Tribune that though the accused did not give information in remand nevertheless there is enough evidence against them as they were arrested red-handed. The statement of the wit-nesses who were involved in the trans-action of the extortion money will be recorded soon, he added. l

Ashraf: Action after investigation n Emran Hossain ShaikhAsserting the governments strict stance over the seven murders in Narayanganj, LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam yes-terday said all the culprits would face punishment.

After investigation, those involved with the incident must face trial under the existing law of the country. Neces-sary action will be taken against them, Ashraf, also general secretary of the rul-ing Awami League, told reporters at Ga-nabhaban.

The brie ng was held after the Awa-mi League Parliamentary Board meeting presided over party chief Sheikh Hasina.

Ashraf said he would not make any comment on the issue out of speculation

since it was under investigation. As a minister of the government and

general secretary of the Awami League, I cannot tell you anything without having information, the leader said adding that if he had been an ordinary citizen, he would have said anything at talk-show.

Replying to reporters query whether the image of government was tarnished because of the incidents of abduction and enforced disappearance, the minis-ter claimed that there was no word like abduction, it was actually disappear-ance.

Abduction takes place all over the world. People are disappeared around the world. In Bangladesh, we see disap-pearance and they have been spotted, Ashraf said citing the disappearance of a

Malaysian aircraft.Bangladesh is not an exceptional

country. Incidents take place here, and investigations and trials are also con-ducted.

Terming the seven murders followed by abductions matter of regret, he said the law enforcement agencies had been investigating the matter to nd the cul-prits. The court can say who is guilty or not. We have to wait until then.

Ashraf said the prime minister was investigating every occurrence and legal action had been taken. The govern-ment believes in rule of law. Our job is to identify the criminals through inves-tigation and ensure their punishment through court, and we are doing it, he said. l

No tinted glass in cars of ministers, bureaucrats n Mohosinul KarimThe Public Administration Ministry has asked the Directorate of Govern-ment Transport, known as transport pool that provides transports for cab-inet members and bureaucrats, to fol-low the directives of the Home Minis-try on removing tinted and translucent glasses from all its cars and microbuses by May 10.

The Home Ministry imposed the ban as criminals are believed to be using such vehicles to commit crimes easily and get away from the hands of the law enforcers. The move came following the killing of seven persons in Narayanganj after abduction on April 30.

Public Administration Ministrys Se-nior Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chow-dhury told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the directorate had been instructed to remove tinted or translucent glasses from all vehicles by the stipulated time.

The transport pool now has around 2,000 vehicles which are usually pro-vided for the minister, state ministers, deputy ministers, secretaries, divisional commissioners, deputy commission-ers, UNOs and high o cials of di erent ministries, departments and other gov-ernment o ces.

When contacted, Transport Com-missioner Reaz Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune: We will follow the directive of the Public Administration Ministry and the Home Ministry. As a result, the tinted and translucent glasses of all the transports of the directorate will be re-moved.

The tinted and translucent glasses of the vehicles belonging to the cabinet members and senior bureaucrats will also be removed regardless those were set after purchase or built in.

He said most of the cars used by such persons were bought with tinted and translucent glasses. l

4 NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, May 9, 2014JaPa demands special tribunal for 7 murder casesn Manik MiazeeMain opposition in parliament Jatiya Party yesterday demanded formation of a special tribunal immediately to try the criminals responsible for the abduction and murder of seven people including a Narayanganj City Corporation ward councillor and a lawyer.

The party, led by former military dictator HM Ershad, also urged the president to convene a special session of the House to discuss over the inci-dents.

On behalf of the party, its Secretary General Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu yes-terday placed the demands to the president and the government from a human chain in front of the National Press Club.

JaPa organised the event to pro-test the recent abduction, killings and enforced disappearances across the country.

He alleged that the government had failed to ensure the peoples constitu-tional rights.

The government is responsible for the incidents [in Narayanganj] and if the government does not take nec-essary action against killings and en-forced disappearances, then we will launch mass movement against the government, Bablu said.

Incidents like enforced disappear-ance, abduction and killing cannot be allowed in an independent and ci-vilised country like Bangladesh. We do not want to do politics centring these issues.

He observed: As there is no session in parliament, we cannot strongly pro-test the incidents discuss on it. For that reason, we have taken to the street to protest the incidents.

Other leaders of the party demand-ed exemplary punishment to the killers and sought the right to natural death of every citizen of the country. l

24 Shibir men held in Chittagongn Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong In a special drive early yesterday, police in Chittagong arrested 24 Jamaat-e-Is-lam and Islami Chhatra Shibir activists suspected of subversive activities in di erent parts of the district.

The suspects, who were picked up from Satkania, Lohagara and Bansh-khali upazilas, were allegedly involved in violence during the last general elections and were planning to cre-ate disturbances ahead of the forth

coming verdict in the war crimes case against Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee, a police o cial said.

Additional Superintendent of Police NazmulHasan of Chittagong (north zone) told the Dhaka Tribune yester-day that acting on a tip-o ,they arrest-ed 20 members of the Islamic party and its student wing from Sadhonpur, Puichhari, Shekherkhil and other Ja-maat-Shibir dominated areas of Ban-shkhali.

Moreover, three wanted men from

Jamaat-Shibir were held from Lohaga-ra, while one was nabbed from Satka-nia, he said.

All the suspects were produced be-fore a court yesterday.

Most of those detained were ac-cused in several cases led with di er-ent police stations in connection with the violence during the January elec-tions, Nazmul said.

The police o cial added that spe-cial drives would continue in the three upazilas to pre-empt any sabotage. l

Gonojagoron Moncho factions demonstrate at Shahbagh n DU CorrespondentImran H Sarker, convener of youth platform Gonojagoron Moncho, yes-terday accused the government of ne-glecting the trial of war criminals.

Addressing a rally at Shahbagh, he also criticised the ruling Awami League for welcoming members of Ja-maat-e-Islami and its student wing Is-lami Chhatra Shibir into the party with oral wreaths across the country.

It is a contradiction to the govern-ments actual spirit. It will obviously create obstruction to the way to create a Bangladesh free from Jamaat-Shi-bir-razakar, he said.

Imran urged the government to ex-ecute the verdicts against convicted war criminals as early as possible, de-livering verdicts in the pending cases including the one against Delawar Hos-sain Sayedee and imposing a ban on Jamaat-Shibir.

He announced that they would not backtrack from the movement until the six-point demands were met, though they would have to face oppression and attack.

One of the key organisers of Gono-jagoron Moncho Badhon expressed dissatisfaction over the governments attitude towards the platform. He said one year back, the government tried to stop our activity but it failed and will fail in the future.

The discussion began around 5pm at Projonmo Chattar where the plat-form had initiated a mass demonstra-tion on February 5 last year demanding death penalty for all war criminals.

Among others, Chhatra Union Gen-eral Secretary Lucky Akter and Chhatra Front Dhaka University unit Convener

Pritilata also spoke at the function. Lat-er they brought out a procession.

However, their programme coincided with the discussion meeting called by an-other faction, led by ruling party-backed Kamal Pasha, at the same place. Both the groups used loudspeakers.

Activists of the Kamal Pasha fac-tion staged a symbolic execution of Sayedee. Speakers at the event blamed Imran for diverting the platforms ac-tivities into other direction persuaded by some evil forces.

On the con ict, Imran at the other rally said the group led by Pasha had never been with the mainstream and was using the name of Gonojagoron Moncho. This platform was not cre-ated to ful l the desire of any political party, he said.

Imran also urged not to malign the image of the platform and asked them to stage greater movement together.

Rights activist Khushi Kabir said: The real activists of Gonojagoron Moncho are those who were with Im-ran as they have been continuing the movement since February 5, 2013.

She also urged the people to be aware of those who were trying to spread distorted image of the Gono-jagoron Moncho. l

Discrepancies in Petrobanglas booksOver Tk6,500 crore lost in cost recovery, sales of pro t gas n Aminur Rahman RaselFinancial irregularities have reportedly been running rampant within Petroban-gla, with a recent audit nding discrep-ancies worth over Tk6,500 crore by the state-owned entity for the 2012-13 scal.

A four-member team of the Com-mercial Audit Directorate went through the books of Petrobangla for two months to come up with the irreg-ularities, most of which were related to international oil companies (IOC). The team submitted its audit report to the chief of the directorate on April 10.

The report, a copy of which has been acquired by the Dhaka Tribune, read that irregularities were commited when Petrobangla paid cost recovery demands to IOCs without scrutinising their claims; securing illegal bene ts from banks by keeping the funds ac-quired from selling pro t gas in bank accounts instead of the government

treasury; and paying irregular advance income taxes (AIT) on foreign equip-ments bought by the oil companies.

The payment of cost recovery claims without proper scrutinisation resulted in discrepancies of over Tk3,453 crore, the report read, adding that the IOCs did not submit any proof of their development works attached to their bills or invoices.

For the 2012-13 scal, Petrobangla paid US-based oil company Chevron Tk2,801 crore for Bibiana gas eld, Tk361 crore for Jalalabad gas eld, while pay-ing London-based Irish company Tullow Tk291 crore in cost recovery claims.

According to the production sharing contract (PSC), Petrobangla has to pay all costs related to gas extraction and development works carried out by the IOCs as cost recovery. Each month the IOCs submit invoices to Petroban-gla by mentioning the amount of the months produced gas and its price.

Another observation by the audit

team said the government su ered over Tk3,118 crore in losses as Petro-bangla violated existing rules by de-positting the money collected from selling pro t gas (Tk2,395 crore) and natural-gas condensates (Tk723 crore)into its own bank account, instead of the government treasury.

According to the PSC, apart from the cost recovery, the surplus gas that belongs to Petrobangla is known as pro t gas.

The audit team also observed that Petrobangla incurred losses of over Tk11 crore for irregularly paying ad-vance income taxes (AIT) for the pur-chase of equipment by the IOCs.

According to the PSC, the IOCs are exempt from paying advance income tax for the import of equipments for oil or gas exploration and extraction; in-stead Petrobangla will need to submit the AIT on the companys behalf into the treasury funds within 90 days of

unloading the equipments.The audit report read that the dis-

crepancy is created when IOCs pay the taxes during the unloading of goods and later bill Petrobangla for reim-bursement. However, the reimburse-ment invoices only include a copy of the bank cheque, but no details on the imported equipment.

The audit report recommended that necessary steps be taken for scrutinis-ing the cost recovery claims, ensuring that funds from selling pro t gas are deposited in the treasury funds, and for ensuring that the IOCs had paid AITs on behalf of Petrobangla.

However, Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Mansour denied the allega-tions and told the Dhaka Tribune that all the procedures had been carried out without violating any regulation. Re-fusing to comment in detail, the chair-man said he did not know how the au-dit team had found the irregularities. l

DMCH director abruptly postpones press conferencen Moniruzzaman UzzalAuthorities at Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday cancelled a sched-uled press conference, reportedly after sensing trouble following a protest by intern doctors.

Earlier a press invitation, signed by DMCH Director Brig Gen Dr Musta zur Rahman, was sent to di erent print and electronic media on Wednesday, re-questing them to send competent jour-nalists to cover a press conference to be held at the hospital Thursday noon.

However, most journalists came to know that the press conference was postponed after arriving at the venue.

A DMCH o cial, requesting ano-nymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that although the authorities had taken full preparations to hold the press brie ng, it was called o following a protest from intern doctors at the hospital.

A group of intern doctors met the director and demanded that they should be allowed to question the journalists on why they published or broadcasted fab-ricated reports, the o cial said.

If we organise a press conference, an untoward situation may arise and thus, we cancelled the press confer-ence, the o cial added.

However, when asked, Brig Gen Dr Musta zur Rahman said: We had to cancel the programme as all preparations were not completed. l

Health Services recruitment viva starts May 15n Moniruzzaman UzzalThe Directorate General of Health Ser-vices is set to hold viva voce examina-tions for over 9,000 health job aspi-rants from May 15 to recruit 1,808 3rd and 4th class employees in 26 districts.

The viva voce exam will carry 30 marks. A ve-member central recruit-ment committee headed by Dr Subash Kumar Saha, additional director gener-al of the DGHS, has recently taken the decision.

Dr Md Shah Newaz, director (ad-ministration) of the DGHS, and also member secretary of the central re-cruitment committee, told the Dhaka Tribune they invited the divisional health directors and district civil sur-geons to join the meeting on 12 May to discuss how the viva voce examination could be held smoothly.

The DGHS arranged a 70-mark written test on March 28. More than 1,00,000 candidates sat the test.

The health authorities picked up ve quali ed candidates instead of three to vie for a single post through the viva voce examination.

The DGHS brought this change after 2006 at the directives of Health Minis-try high-ups.

It has reportedly been said piles of recommendations are landing at the DGHS.

A lot of in uential persons such as ministers, secretaries, lawmakers, po-litical and doctors leaders were rec-

ommending the aspiring job seekers for the posts.

Besides, a section of lower-grade employees union leaders had been luring the interviewees into parting with money so that they could surely get them the jobs. They have been de-manding Tk2,00,000 to Tk4,00,000 from each candidate.

Sources in the Health Ministry and health directorate said Health Minister Mohammad Nasim and State Minister for Health Zahid Malik had been close-ly monitoring the recruitment process.

The health minister instructed the DGHS to cancel the recruitment pro-cess of 911 3rd and 4th class employees in nine districts.

It is being alleged that no candidate will get job without recommendations and a secret nal recruitment list of 1,808 employees has already been prepared.

A source in the health directorate said recommendations of lawmakers were top priorities. It also said the law-makers requested the health minister to provide a few jobs for the health job aspirants of their constituencies in the interest of party politics.

Earlier, an o cial of the DGHS said there were anomalies in candidates se-lection, but this time it was fair enough.

Asked about the piles of recommen-dations landing at the health director-ate, Dr Md Shah Newaz told the Dhaka Tribune it was a common allegation that the directorate was ooded with recommendations. l

Bangladesh, Myanmar border guards hold ag meetingn Our Correspondent, Coxs BazarBangladesh Border Guard (BGB) and Myanmars Border Guard Police (BGP) held a ag meeting yesterday at a sea-side hotel in Coxs Bazar town.

The sector commander-level meet-ing discussed ways to curb cross-bor-der crimes, like smuggling and drug tra cking, as well as the illegal entry of Rohingyas from Myanmars Rakhine state into Bangladesh.

The sector commander of BGB Coxs Bazar, Colonel Khondokar Farid Hasan, led a 22-member Bangladesh team, while the commanding o cer of BGPs Mondu camp, Think Ku Ku, headed a 21-member Myanmar delegation at the talks.

Bangladesh expressed concerns over rampant smuggling of such as alcoholic beverages and yaba tablets, and killing of its citizens by buried land mines or shooting by guards at the border. It also called for establishing direct tele-phone links between the neighbouring countries, release of Bangladeshis from Myanmar jails.

Myanmar, on the other hand, suggested building a new river port at Teknaf to boost bilateral trade. It also demanded the arrest and extradition of criminals involved in robbery, abduction and illegal logging in border areas, quick repatriation of Bangladeshi prisoners at the end of their terms and a stop to the construction of a concrete embankment on the frontier Naf River. l

Jeweller killed by cousin in Chittagongn Tarek Mahmud, ChittagongA jeweller was allegedly killed by his cousin in Raozan upazila, Chittagong on Wednesday night over disputes about land ownership.

The victim was Kiran Mohajan, 45, was from Bania Para in Raozan.

Police sources said Bishu Mohajan, Kirans cousin, stabbed him around 9pm. Kiran died on his way to the hos-pital, the OC said. A case had been led with Raozan police station in this re-gard, he said. l

Three children draw pictures sitting on a roadside bench after attending school at Rajshahis Poba upazila. These children travel a noticeable distance everyday to attend school as their village does not have a proper educational facilities DHAKA TRIBUNE

Rickshaws clog the main road in front of the National Press Club during the morning rush in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

The real activists of Gonojagoron Moncho are those who were with Imran as they have been continuing the movement since February 5, 2013

Dhanmondi playground still under threat of losing spaceSheikh Jamal Club authority converting the public playground to a social club, say green activists

n Abu Hayat MahmudDhanmondi playground continues to lose its open space as the Local Gov-ernment Department and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Ltd goes on building concrete structures inside the premis-es, occupying the public space for their personal interests.

Environmental activists and res-idents of the area have alleged that although the Dhaka South City Cor-poration had reopened the ground to all by placing sign boards, the ground remains occupied by the respective sporting club which continues to con-struct concrete structures for social club activities.

Architect Mubasshar Hussain, who was a former president of the Institute of Architects Bangladesh (IAB), told the Dhaka Tribune: The city corporation only installed signboards on gates of the public playground, but had done nothing to halt the construction.

Local Government Department and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club continue to construct concrete struc-tures, occupying almost half of the public playground. he said.

Mubasshar further added that their movements would continue until legal steps are taken against the occupants and all illegal establishments on the playground were demolished.

We will never accept that someone will convert the public playground into something like Dhaka Club or Dhan-mondi Club Ltd, he warned.

Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan Joint Secretary Iqbal Habib said: Authorities of Sheikh Jamal Club has been trying to convert a portion of the public play-ground for its private social club.

He said basically children and

youths mostly play football and cricket in the open eld, but the sporting club has been constructing tennis, badmin-ton and basketball courts on the play-ground.

The club authority has been con-structing the structures for their own

reap, not for public, he added.He also noted that the activists went

to the court due to get the court order in favour to public, but the High Court bench has repeatedly felt embar-rassed to hear a petition seeking its di-rectives to remove the structures built

on the Dhanmondi playground.We have understood everything.

Our movement would continue until the country passes its verdict, he add-ed.

The protesters are expected to gath-er in front of the Dhanmondi play-

ground at 9:30am today demanding immediate demolition of all illegal structures and halting all illegal con-struction on the public space.

During a visit to the playground yes-terday, the correspondent observed that two tennis courts, two badminton

courts and a basketball court were be-ing built on the space. The playground now seems to be cut in half by estab-lishments of the private sporting club.

When contacted, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Sports-In-Charge Abdul Ga ar brushed o the protest-ers allegation and said there was no relation between the sporting club and Dhanmondi Club Limited and the two clubs were separate.

Lt Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Limited is registered sporting club while Dhanmondi Club Limited is a so-cial club.

Claiming that the protesters were mixing up the two clubs for their per-sonal motives, he further added: We are not concerned over tomorrows (to-day) demonstration because the play-grounds authority is the city corpora-tion and they will take steps.

Following a petition led by Ban-gladesh Poribesh Andalan and IAB in 2004, the High Court directed the then city corporation (now Dhaka South City Corporation) to free Dhanmondi play-ground from the illegal occupation of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club.

On April 24, DSCC authorities re-opened the public playground after al-most two years following protests and criticism from environmental activists, local residents and sports personalities.

Meanwhile, several High Court bench had felt embarrassed to hear petitions led by activists seeking di-rectives to remove illegal structures on the playground.

The petition, lodged on April 22, by six persons including architects Mubassher Hussain and Iqbal Habib, also sought the courts directive to en-sure access of all people to public play-grounds. l

5NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, May 9, 2014

PRAYER TIMES Fajar 3:56am Sunrise 5:18am Jumma 11:55am Asr 4:33pm Magrib 6:31pm Esha 7:54pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Source: Accuweather/UNB

F O R E C A S T F O R T O D A Y

Dhaka 39 28Chittagong 32 27Rajshahi 44 31Rangpur 39 26Khulna 40 28Barisal 38 28Sylhet 30 24Coxs Bazar 32 28

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 6:31 PM SUN RISES 5:19AM

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW38.0C 20.6C

Rajshahi Sylhet

WEATHER

FRIDAY, MAY 9

THUNDERSHOWER

Two lakh teachers to receive trainingn Mushfi que Wadud The government has taken up a proj-ect to train around two lakh secondary schoolteachers as quality of teaching at the secondary level not up to the mark.

Banamali Bhowmick, director of the project titled Teaching Quality Im-provement II, told the Dhaka Tribune that the training was already under way and 13,000 teachers had been trained so far.

Jointly funded by the government and Asian Development Bank, the Tk646 crore project will continue until

June 2017.A regulatory body named National

Teaching Council will also be formed under the project to improve the stan-dard of teaching.

Banamali also said around 225 teachers would be trained abroad.

We hope that after the projects completion, teaching quality at the secondary level will improve on a great scale, he said.

Under the project, a 21-day training will be provided to the head teachers, principals and madrassa teachers, fol-lowed by a 35-day in-service training. l

Obaidul: Government to take steps to stop abductions, killings n Our Correspondent, SavarCommunication Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said the government cannot escape from the responsibility of killing and abduction which had tak-en place across the country recently.

The minister said not only people of the country but also the government was passing days in insecurity.

The minister made the comment while inspecting progress of the con-struction work on the Nabinagar-Chan-dra Highway at Ashulia in the capital.

The recent killing and abduction across the country was a sensitive is-sue to the government, he said, adding that regardless of political in uence,

none found to be involved would be spared from justice.

The stable economy of the country is an example for Asian countries and for this reason a vested-interest group is hatching conspiracy to tarnish the image of the country and create an an-archic situation, he said.

Urging political parties not to politi-cise the issue, he said the government had taken a strict position in this regard.

The abduction and killing will be stopped soon, the minister hoped.

Earlier, the minister visited the highway at Kaliakoir. Local lawmak-er Dr Enamur Rahman and o cials of Roads and Highway Department ac-companied the minister. l

Another minor hurt in red ball blastn Mohammad Jamil Khan A ve-year-old boy was severely in-jured from a crude bomb blast in the capitals Pallabi area at 11:15am yester-day.

The victim, Mohammad Arif, found the stray crude bomb in a dustbin and went to pick it up, thinking it was a ball, when it exploded, said his grand-mother Ojufa Begum.

He received splinters in his hands and was taken to Dhaka Medical Col-lege Hospital (DMCH) around 12:30pm, she said.

Arif was seen crying at the hospital, asking his mother, Sabina Begum, to al-

leviate his pain.Mother, my hands hurt too much.

I cannot bear it any more. Please help me, he appealed to Sabina.

Dr Riaz Morshed, registrar at the DMCH emergency unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that Arif had received severe injuries in two ngers of his right hand, his right leg and part of his face.

We have treated him and given him medication. It seems he will not be able to move the ngers any more, but we are still hopeful, he said.

Arif lives with his family in a slum in Kalshi area in Pallabi. His father, Anju Miah, is a day labourer.

He, along with Sabina and Ojufa,

had been going through the dustbin near their residence in search of usable things when the incident took place, Ojufa said.

Muniara, sub-inspector at Pallabi police station, con rmed the incident to the Dhaka Tribune and said police had visited the scene to check if there were more crude bombs lying around in the area, nding none.

This is not the rst time that a mi-nor has got hurt by unknowingly setting o abandoned crude bombs. A number of children have been re-ported to receive injuries from these blasts, some even su ering loss of vitalbody parts. l

Death anniversary of Wazed Miah todayn Tribune ReportThe fth death anniversary of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas husband Dr M A Wazed Miah (Sudha Miah) will be observed today.

Also a renowned nuclear scientist, Dr Wazed died on May 9, 2009.

Many organisations are having day-long programmes to observe the day. Dr Wazed Smriti Sangshad, district and city units of Rangpur Awami League, and its Pirganj upazila unit will o er prayers and place wreaths at the grave of Dr Wajed in his paternal village Fate-hpur at 9am. Milad mah l at mosques in Rangpur city will be held after Jum-ma prayers as well.

In the capital, several organiza-tions have organised programmes to observe the death anniversary. Dr Wazed was born in Pirganj, Rang-pur on February 16, 1942. The former chairperson of Bangladesh Atomic Commission made a valuable contri-bution to nuclear research throughouthis life. l

Six murdered across the country n Tribune ReportAt least six people were murdered in Noakhali, Rangamati, Sirajganj ,Coxs Bazar and Khulna districts yesterday.

In Noakhali, criminals killed a man at Porkot village near Kaji Saheber Pol area of Porkot union under Chatkhil upazila.

The victim was identi ed as Shuvo Chandra kuri 25, son of Makhan Lal Kuri of village Vadur of Ramgonj upazi-la in Lakshmipur district.

Aminul Islam, o cer-in-charge of Chatkhil police station quoting the lo-cals said, locals found the body lying beside a canal and informed police.

On information, the police recov-ered the body.

In Rangamati, Two siblings were shot dead by some criminals at Paku-jachhari in Baghaichhari upazila.

The deceased were identi ed as Su-

shanta Chakma, 35 and his brother Tri-deb Chakma, 40, son of Kamini Mohon Chakma of the area.

The two siblings were members of The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sangha-ti Samiti (NM Larma group).

Police and locals said a group of unidenti ed men swooped onto their house at about 5 am while they were sleeping.

The men shot them numerous times, sprayed bullets at the brothers, leaving them dead on the spot. Upon informa-tion, police recovered the bodies.

O cer-in-charge of Baghaichhari Police Station Azizul Haque said the bodies were handed over to the fam-ily members of the deceased without a post-mortem examination following their request.

In Sirajganj, a three year old girl was accidentally killed after she was hit

with a shovel at house in Mosipur vil-lage of Shahjadpur upazila.

The deceased was identi ed as Mithila,3, daughter of Bahadur Pra-manik, a resident of the village.

Quoting the girls mother Runa Be-gum, O cer-in-Charge of Shahjadpur Police Station Shamim Iqbal said Mith-ila died on the spot when she was ac-cidentally hit with a shovel while her mother was digging up soil at their home at around 10:00am. On informa-tion, police visited the spot.

In Coxs Bazar, a man was murdered by his nephew at Chokoria upazila over a domestic dispute

The deceased was identi ed as Is-mail Hossain , 24, son of Farhad.

Sources say, Ismail was locked into an altercation with his nephew Ariful Islam in Immauddin Para over a do-mestic dispute.

At one stage, Aiful beat his uncle leaving him critically injured.

Later, he was sent to the upazila health complex where he died.

In Khulna , a youth was beaten to death by some drug addicts in BIDC Road around the vicinity of Khalishpur Police station.

O cer-in-charge of the police sta-tion Md.Quamruzzaman said an em-ployee of a semai factory, was playing video game at Padma gate on BIDC road last night.

A gang of drug addicts ordered Kalu to bring a phensidyl bottle from a local drug seller.

When he refused to comply, they physically assaulted Kalu mercilessly, leaving him critically injured.

He was rushed to the Khulna Medical College Hospital in critical condition, where he succumbed to his injuries. l

7 arrested for theft n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Police arrested seven people in Chit-tagong city yesterday with board paper worth Tk15 lakh that had been stolen from the Chittagong Port.

AKM Mohiuddin, OC of Kotwali police station, said police acted on a tip-o and stopped two covered vans carrying the stolen paper and the sev-en individuals in the citys Anderkillah area around 2:30am.

They were arrested when they failed to show legal documents for the goods in the vans, the OC said, adding that they had confessed to stealing the pa-per during the primary interrogation.

A syndicate has been working to steal the imported paper stored in the port area, Mohiuddin said, The ar-rested, who were mainly carriers, mid-dlemen and buyers of the goods could be part of the syndicate. l

Two workers prepare cricket bats near Rajshahi Bus Terminal yesterday. These bats are sold at Tk70-Tk450 per piece DHAKA TRIBUNE

Concrete infrastructures are being built inside the Dhanmondi playground by Local Government Department and Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club yesterday ABU HAYAT MAHMUD

KIDNEY SMUGGLING

Mastermind placed on 3-day remand n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj A Sirajganj court has put Jahangir Hos-sain Chad, the mastermind behind the sensational abduction and murder of a child by cutting his kidneys, on a three-day remand.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Rubina Parvin passed the order yesterday fol-lowing hearing. Earlier in the day, sub-inspector Abdul Jalil, also investigation o cer of the case, produced Chad be-fore court and petitioned for placing him on remand for 10 days.

Meanwhile, Assistant Registrar (surgeon) of Sirajganj Sadar Hospital and autopsy o cer Dr Md Imam-al-Nazimul Haque Biplob, after carrying out the post-mortem, has submit-ted the report to the civil surgeon. He mentioned in the report that the child named Harun from Tebaria village of Udhunia union in Sirajganjs Ullapara died of excessive bleeding after both his kidneys had been cut.

The High Court, meanwhile, has summoned o cer-in-charge of Ul-lapara police station Tajul Huda and in-vestigation o cer Abdul Jalil to know about progress of the case. The two

have been asked to appear in court in person on May 18.

The summons was issued by Jus-tice Farah Mahbub and Justice Kazi Md Izarul Akhand in response to a writ petition led by a lawyer named Kazi Jakir Hossain Masud on May 5. In its order, the High Court also asked eight people, including the Home Sec-retary and the Director-General of the Directo-rate General of Health Services, to respond to the rule within four weeks.

On April 26, s i x - y e a r - o l d Haruns body, with both of his kidneys cut, was recovered from a swamp four days after he had gone missing on April 22. His uncle Abdul Mannan led

a suit against three people, all from neighbouring Tara aira village, in this connection.

Khalil, one of the three accused, was arrested on April 27 and two days later, he gave a confessional statement before the court of Senior Judicial Mag-istrate Kohinoor Arjuman. l

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, May 9, 2014Native shes going extinct in Narsingdin Our Correspondent, NarsingdiNative freshwater shes are going ex-tinct in the water bodies like rivers, bogs, canals due to lack of navigability, use of insecticides and water pollution in Narsingdi.

Pabo cat sh, stinging cat sh, dwarf gourami, Mola carplet, spiny eel, scribbled goby, snakehead murrel, spotted snakehead are hardly seen in the local sh markers, locals and shery o cers say.

The Meghna, Shitalakkha, old Brahmaputra, Arial Kha, Haridhoa, Paharea among some of the main rivers owing through the district were once the lifelines for thousands of shermen, they say.

Those shermen have now either switched to other professions or are still trying to do so because of poor catch in the rivers, they add.

Lack of navigability and water pol-

lution contributed to the sh depletion in the water bodies, they say, adding that water pollution is caused by ex-cessive use of insecticides and indus-trial wastages.

Our correspondent visited the Haji-pur Jeleparha. Roughly translated, Hajipur Jeleparha Fishermen Village. But he could see neither shing boats nor nets in the Meghna river owing by the village.

Almost all the villagers have changed their professions. They earn their living either through rickshaw pulling or through brick-laying work.

A dweller of Hajipur Jeleparha, Mohon Das, says, I only know how to sh in the river. I can hardly scrape a living by the amount of sh I catch every day. Yet, I go shing in the river everyday because I do not know any other job.

Another person of the same village, Indrajit Das, says, We do not own any

net nowadays. Once we had it, but now it is just a past. We just manage our livelihood through working as day la-bourers.

An inhabitant of Kauriaparha village situated on the bank of the Meghna river, Rashid Mia, tells the Dhaka Tribune: Many people could earn their living through shing in the past, but now they cannot do any longer.

Those who had once taken up sh-ing as profession have now changed their professions because this river does no longer have the amount of sh it once had. It has now turned into a useless river for shermen.

He blames industrial wastages and lack of navigability for the sh deple-tion in the river.

Another inhabitant of the same village, Akkel Ali, says, I used to live fishing in this river. This river does not have the amount of fish

we need for eating, let alone for livelihood.

Narsinghdi District Fisheries O cer Md Abul Farah tells the Dhaka Tribune: Fishes lose reproduction capacity due to excessive use of fertilisers and insec-ticides in the crop elds. Besides this, sh eggs and spawns are ruined in the polluted water.

Fish eggs and spawns are ruined due to excessive use of fertilsers and insecticides in the crop eld and indus-trial wastages owing through the riv-ers. Besides this, shes lose productiv-ity due to these reasons, he says.

The use of current nets is also a ma-jor factor behind the depletion of sh habitats, he adds.

Fisheries O cer Md ABul Farah says the government has taken many types of steps like imparting training for cul-tivating native species of sh in the water bodies like ponds to protect the native shes. l

Gaibandha residents unite to end gamblingn Our Correspondent, GaibandhaLocals formed a human chain to press home their demand to stoppage of gambling immediately, which is being played at the Shah Abdul Hamid Sta-dium in Gaibandha yesterday.

Around a hundred people took part in the programme organised by Gai-bandha Jubo Nagorik Forum.

Speakers at the program said Gai-bandha is one of the least developed districts in northern Bangladesh where most of the people belong to the work-ing class. But district sports association started to operate housie from April 1 in the name of development.

They believe that crimes like armed robbery, stealing, snatching have multi-plied in recent times in the district town and its peripheral area due to gambling.

Even candidates of HSC and Honours exam are participating in this vicious game while teenagers of the rural areas are also playing by selling paddy.

They fear that law and order will be deteriorated further if steps are not tak-en to stop this menace now. They also alleged that loudspeakers were vandal-ised by miscreants on Tuesday night at the behest of the organisers which they had use to publicise their demand.

District administration sources said the housie is being run by the district sports association by the approval of the deputy commissioner as he is the ex o cio president of the organisation.

They said if any organisation wants to operate housie, circus, Jatra (a tra-ditional stage drama) etc, it has to give written application to the DC for per-mission as per the rules. l

54 students sick, after eating curdn Our Correspondent, KushtiaA total of 54 madrasa students fell sick in Kushtia after eating curd on Wednesday.

Rakib Khan, general secretary of the Ma Khadizatul Kobra Mahila Madrasas managing body, said all the students fell sick after eating lunch on Wednesday. The lunch was arranged by Dr Abdur Razzak, owner of The Medi Ace Diag-nostic Centre at Bheramara, he added.

When asked, Rakib said the food and curd, served at lunch, were pur-chased from Palash Hotel in town.

The students started complaining of being sick immediately after lunch, he said and added that all the sick stu-dents were admitted to Bheramara Upazila Health Complex around 8pm.

Medical O cer of the health com-plex Dr Nurul Islam said the students might have fallen sick because of eat-ing the curd. l

Girl sustains acid burn in Madaripurn Our Correspondent, MadaripurA schoolgirl sustained acid burn as groom side hurled acid at the bride fol-lowing a major disagreement between the two sides in Madaripurs Mohisher Char village on Wednesday night.

Family members said the marriage

between Badsha Khandakar and Liza was foiled following altercations. At one stage, the grooms side hurled acid at the bride around 9pm and the acid fell on Subarna Akhter, 13, cousin of the bride.

The victim is a class eight student of Donovan Government Girls High School. Habibur Rahman, father of the

victim, said he would take legal actions after completing the necessary treat-ments of his daughter.

Assistant Police Super Abu Bakar Sid-dique of Madaripur circle said police vis-ited the spot after being informed about the incident, adding that legal actions would taken against the culprits. l

Wheat for the poor misappropriatedn Our Correspondent, KhagrachhariMohammad Jamal Hossain, chairman of Pablakhali Cluster Village Project, also ex president of Kobakhali union Awami League of Dighinala upazila in the district, allegedly misappropriated 45MT of wheat, allocated for 290 poor families.

According to upazila nirbahi o ce sources, government had allocated 25MT rice and 45MT wheat for 290 families for January, February and March months Test Relief.

A total 87kg rice and 155kg wheat had been allocated for each of the 290 families.

The UNO o ce also xed second week of March to distribute the food grains in presence of monitoring o cer and Dighinala upazila Agriculture Of- cer Md Sala Uddin.

Mohammad Mahabub Alam, Abul Kashem, Rahomot Ali, Hasina Begum, Rehena Akhter in the village admitted that that project chairman had distrib-uted 25MT rice among the listed 290 card holders families but misappropri-

ated all 45MT wheat, worth over Tk9 lakh.

They also submitted a complain let-ter to the UNO to investigate the mat-ter.

When asked, the chairman denied his involvement with misappropriating and said: The incident was planned by my political rivals to tarnish my im-age.

Replying to another question, Jamal said he would ght legally against the complain.

Sala Uddin admitted that he had got rice during distribution the three months Relief.

I havent seen wheat in the go-down, he said adding that project chairman might have misappropriate the wheat.

The upazila Awami League Presi-dent Md Abul Kashem admitted the al-legation and said they had already sus-pended him for his anti-laws activities.

UNO Fazlul Zahid Pavel said: A committee is investigating the allega-tion and stern action would be taken if the allegation is proved.