Print Edition: January 31, 2014

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nJulfikar Ali Manik, Tushar HayatandTarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterday handed

down death sentences to 14 people in-

cluding former ministers Motiur Rah-man Nizami and Lutfozzaman Babar,

and four ex-defence personnel in in-

telligence agencies for masterminding

the countrys largest ever smuggling

of weaponries in 2004 that raised con-

cerns about national security.

They have been convicted and

awarded the highest punishment in

both arms and smuggling cases filed

in connection with the sensational sei-

zure of 10-truckloads of illicit arms and

ammunition on April 2, 2004 from thejetty of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Lim-

ited (CUFL), under Karnaphuli police

station.

Apart from giving death sentence

in the smuggling case, SM Mojibur

Rahman, judge of the Chittagong Met-

ropolitan Special Tribunal 1, awarded

them life-term imprisonment in the

arms case.

We usually award 15 years, 20

years, 25 years jail to accused in cases

for recovering one, two or three arms,

said the judge in an overcrowded

courtroom adding: It will not be cor-

rect to consider these cases case with

the nature of those ordinary [arms and

smuggling] cases.

About the size of the seized arms,

which were brought from abroad forthe Indian separatist group United Lib-

eration Front of Assam (Ulfa), the judge

said: A mini cantonment can be set up

with these arms.

So, I did not find any reason to take

the accused in a lenient view, Judge

Mojibur said. I have decided to award

highest punishment in these cases.

There were 50 accused in the arms

case and 52 in the other. Except forthe 14 convicts, Judge Mojibur acquit-

ted rest of the total accused from the

charges.

Apart from BNPs former state

minister for home affairs Babar and

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Nizami, the 12

other convicts are Ulfa leader Paresh

Barua; former director general of Na-

tional Security Intelligence (NSI) Brig

Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim; then director

of the Directorate General of Forces

Intelligence (DGFI) Maj Gen (retd) Rez-

zaqul Haider Chowdhury who was later

appointed as the DG of NSI; former NSI

director wing commander (retd) Sha-

hab Uddin; former deputy director of

NSI Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain; former

NSI field offi cer Akbar Hos sain Khan;

former additional secretary of the in-dustries ministry Nurul Amin, ex-CUFL

managing director Mohsin Talukder,

former CUFL general manager (admin)

KM Enamul Hoque, smuggler Hafi-

zur Rahman Hafiz, Deen Mohammad,and fishing trawler owner Hazi Abdus

Sobhan.

They have also been given seven

years imprisonment under another

section of the Arms Act related to the

ammunition issue. The judge also fined

them Tk5 lakh each in the smuggling

case in which they have been sen-

tenced to death.

Among the 14 convicts, Babar was

running the home ministry as the state

minister during the haul while Nizami

was the boss of industries ministry

which controls the CUFL.

Public prosecutor of the cases Ka-

maluddin Ahmed confirmed all the de-

cisions of the court to the Dhaka Trib-

une as it was hard to listen to the judge

in the noisy courtroom as the judge

was pronouncing the verdict withoutany microphone.

Among the convicts, except for

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

They knew it, they denied itnTushar Hayat, ChittagongFourteen convicts including minis-

ters and top intell igence offi cials were

implicated in two 10-truck arms haul

cases either for their involvement with

the countrys largest ever smuggling

attempt of weaponries or for their du-

bious role after the seizure on April 2,

2004 in Chittagong.

Their part in the incident has been

revealed by the statements of some

witnesses and also accused in the cases

filed in connection with the smuggling

of sophisticated military weapons

brought for Indias separatist group

Ulfa using the land of Bangladesh.

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rah-

man Nizami, who was then industries

minister, was reluctant to help in prob-

ing the incident even though the jetty

of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited

(CUFL) was used to unload the arms

from trawlers, said a prosecution wit-

ness.

The state-owned CUFL jetty oper-

ates under the ministry of industries.

Witness Maj Gen (retd) Imamuz-

zaman, former chairman of Bangla-

desh Chemical Industries Corporation

under the same ministry, told the court

that he had suggested Nizami to form

a probe committee since the incident

had taken place at the CUFL jetty.

The minister refrained from mak-

ing any comment in this regard and I

assumed that he was avoiding the mat-

ter, he said.Another prosecution witness Shoeb

Ahmed, the former industries secre-

tary, in his statement said he had met

Nizami after being informed of the sei-

zure of the arms.

I have heard about the incident

before you. However, we have nothing

to do in this regard. The highest au-

thorities are aware of it, Shoeb quoted

Nizami as saying when he wanted to

know their course of action regarding

the issue.Shoeb also said the minister had re-

buked him as he proposed to launch an

investigation. Do you think that I am

talking to you without consulting the

higher authorities? The home ministry

has been investigating the matter. The

prime minister is also aware of it. So

why do we have to investigate it sepa-

rately? Nizami told Shoeb.

Omar Faroque, former home secre-

tary who headed the probe committee,

in his deposition told the court that

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

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BusinessB4 In recent days we

have observed some

concerns on vault security.

Vaults of some banks are

successfully attacked by

bank robbers. This created

a scope to discuss certain

things about vault security.

News5The authorities of

Kutubbagh Darbar Sharif

illegally erected arches at

Farmgate for Urs, causing

untold suffering to people.

Nation6 Two people, including

a local BNP leader, were

killed in separate incidents

of gunfights with the lawenforcing agencies men

in Noakhali and Sirajganj

in the early hours of

yesterday.

Entertainment12 Celebrating the 50th

anniversary of Chhayanaut,

a leading cultural organ-

isation in the country, a

two-day programme is

starting today.

Sports13 By two oclock on the

fourth day of the first Test

against Bangladesh, the

Sri Lankan players were

playing football after wrap-

ping up the Tigers second

innings for 250 and walking

away with an innings and

248 run victory

INSIDE

9|PAK FESTIVAL THREATENS RUINS B1 | RMG LOSSES WIDELY FELT

I did not find any reasonto take the accused ina lenient view. I havedecided to award themhighest punishmentin these cases

Plotters to die for smuggling armsThe 14 death row convicts also getlife in arms case; other accusedacquitted; former home boss Babarterms verdict injustice, curses judge

The accusedunmaskedeach othernJulfikar Ali Manik and

Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Not only the witnesses, but many of

the accused in the two cases filed in

connection with the 10 truckloads arms

haul exposed each others roles in the

smuggling.

This was one of the observations ofSM Mojibur Rahman, judge of the Chit-

tagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal 1

who delivered the verdict in the arms

and smuggling cases handing down

death penalty to 14 accused including

some the then political and military

bigwigs.

Before delivering the verdict, the

judge b riefed the overcrowded court-

room about his observations. He saidthere was no chance that the cases

could be considered ordinary arms and

smuggling cases.

The judge repeatedly said some of the

accused had been holding important po-

sitions in some of the key agencies of the

government. Some of their high ranked

colleagues from the then administration

gave depositions against them.

This kind of witness deposition is

important. And their statements were

not like those given by common wit-

nesses, said the judge.

There were both accused and wit-nesses from the same force, he said.

After examining all the deposi-

tions, confessional statements and

cross examinations, the court found

out that som e offi cials o f the two im-

portant government agencies the

National Security Intelligence [NSI]

and the Directorate of General Forces

Intelligence [DGFI] who were accused

in the cases, gave confessional state-

ments against each other.

... [They said] the accused had con-nection with the Ulfa and its leaders

Anup Chetiya and Paresh Barua.

The judge said: The [then] director

general of NSI, the most important of-

fice of the country, along with his wife,

travelled to Dubai with an Ulfa leader.

One of the [NSI] directors said that be-

fore the court.

They had dealings with Paresh

Barua and Anup Chetiya.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Country tookrisk of beingbacker of IndiansecessionistsSays security analystAbdur Rashid

nTribune Report

Bangladesh ran the risk of being a pat-

roniser of secessionist movement in

northeastern India after 10 truck-loads

of weapons bound for fighters in Assam

were unearthed in 2004, said security

analyst Major Gen (Retd) Abdur Rashidyesterday.

The verdict on 10 trucks of arms

haul case yesterday proved that several

high offi cials o f the governm ent were

aware about the issue which clearly in-dicates the then governments support

to the smuggling, he said.

The incident stoked the existing

hostile relation between India and

Pakistan.

On April 02, 2004, the police cap-

tured 10 trucks full of modern so-

phisticated arms and ammunition in

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Convicts mostly calmnJulfikar Ali Manik andTarek

Mahmud, from Chittagong

Among those convicted in the sensa-

tional 10-truck arms case, AKM Enamul

Hoque was probably the person with

the weakest nerves in the dock as the

verdict was delivered by a Chittagong

court yesterday.

Enamul was the general manager

(admin) of Chittagong Urea Fertiliser

Limited (CUFL) at the time when the 10

truckloads of smuggled arms and am-

munition were seized at the CUFL jetty.

He along with 11 other accused was

present in the dock of the court during

the pronouncement of the verdict.

Enamul fell on the floor due to a

nervous breakdown as his death pen-

alty was handed out. His son, from

outside the dock, tried to wake him up

saying nothing would happen to him

and that they would appeal with higher

courts against the verdict.

Major (retd) Liakat, who was also

sentenced to death, was standing in

the dock quietly ever since they were

brought there.

Liakat came forward with a bottle of

water to help Enamul. He poured some

water on Enamuls head to make him

feel better.

Former state minster for home Lut-

fozzaman Babar was busy talking with

journalists. He angrily cursed the judge

and his children saying Allah would try

them.Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman

Nizami was quiet as well. When jour-

nalists asked for his reaction he said it

was an unfair trial.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Lutfozzaman Babar

Liakat Hossain

Motiur Rahman Nizami

Rezzaqul Haider Chy

KM Enamul Hoque

Akbar Hossain Khan

Shahab Uddin

Hazi Abdus Sobhan

Mohsin Talukder

Deen Mohammad

Paresh Barua

Abdur Rahim

Hafizur Rahman Hafiz

Nurul Amin

A platoon of BGB keeps a watchful eye outside the Chittagong court during the 10-truck

arms haul case verdict yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

All the 14 were convicted

in the two cases related

to the arms haul and

were sentenced to death


2/21

News2 DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, January 31, 2014

The accused unmasked each otherPAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Maj Liakat [convicted accused] used to

maintain contact with the leaders of the

separatist group [Ulfa]. This fact was

cited in the statements and depositions

of their colleagues, said the judge.

Maj Liakat also gave shelter to

the criminals in the country and

maintained relations with the foreignterrorists during the Operation Clean

Heart. He also used to regularly inform

the higher authorities about his liaison,

the court observed.

Those involved in the smuggling

discouraged p olice offi cials as they

challenged the unloading of smuggled

arms at the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser

Limited (CUFL) jetty on April 2, 2004.

One of them told the police oficials

that they had the governments

permission (for unloading illegalarms in the jetty). He said the

policemen would lose their jobs if

they prevented the unloading.

The judge said these observations

came out from the statements given by

the witnesses and the accused.

The judge also said when DGFI chief

Maj Gen Sadik Hasan Rumi informed

then prime minister Khaleda Zia about

the matter, she did not show much

reaction.

Later, the then state minister for

home formed a probe committee

comprising five members. One of the

members of the committee was DGFI

director Maj Gen (retd) Rezzaqul

Haider Chowdhury, later made

accused in the cases after further

investigation.

It is a trial court. I did not make any

decision on my own. I am delivering

a verdict that was finalised after

examining the confessional statements

of the accused, depositions and cross-

examinations of the witnesses, the

court said.

Shoeb Ahmed, the then secretary of

the industries ministry, and Maj Gen

(retd) Imamuzzaman, then chairman

of BCIC, both gave statements against

the then industries minister Moitur

Rahman Nizami.

The CUFL jetty of the Chittagong

Port is under the industries ministry

and the minister is responsible for the

organisation.

Then state minister for home Babar

ordered police to release the five Ulfamen, who were held on the spot on the

night of the arms haul.

Later, he visited Chittagong to

see the arms and ammunition. He

also prohibited the then Chittagong

Metropolitan Police commissioner

from telling much to the media about

the cases. The court also considered

these facts.

Babar and Nizami claimed that

they had been sued from politicalintentions; but the court did not find

any witness, who was an activist of any

political party.

The arms and ammunition seizure

was not only the biggest ever in

Bangladesh, it was also unprecedented

in the world, the judge said.

A mini cantonment can be operated

with the seized weapons, the court

said.l

Convicts mostly calmPAGE 1 COLUMN 3

Initially Babar and Nizami sat on the

bench of the courtroom, enjoying some

privileges as former ministers. Their

lawyers were taking their pictures on

their mobile phones and iPads. Some

journalists took the opportunity to

speak to them.

Suddenly a group of policemen

came into the courtroom and grabbed

the iPad from a young lawyer who was

filming NIzami and Babar. Quickly the

other defense lawyers hid their devic-

es. Police asked around repeatedly for

others who were taking pictures, but

no one replied.

Shortly afterwards police took Babar

and Nizami inside the dock.

Just after the verdict some relativesand lawyers of the convicts came to the

dock to talk to their family members.

Akbar Hossain Khan told his lawyers

to console his wife who was waiting

outside the courtroom.

The death sentence came as a shock

to Hazi Abdus Sobhan, owner of the fish-

ing trawler which brought the arms and

ammunition to the jetty. He was on bail.

The verdict was shocking for his

family as well. He went to the court

to appear. The judge after sitting on

the bench wanted to be sure whether

Sobhan was present.

When Sobhan confirmed his pres-

ence police took him into the dock as

per the judges direction.

After his verdict Sobhans son Os-

man and his daughter broke into tears.

The daughter lost later consciousness

and fell to the ground at the secondfloor of the court building.

Sobhan has seven daughters and

two sons. Osman said his father was

not guilty as he had only rented out the

trawler and was not involved with the

smuggling.

When police was taking the convicts out

of the courtroom to the prison van, police-

men stood in two rows to ensure security.

When Liakat was coming out from the

courtroom he secretly told something to

a policeman who was standing in a row.

My husband was innocent. He just

discharged his duty. We will go to the

High Court, said the wife and daugh-

ter of Wing Commander Shahabuddin,

former director of NSI.

Wasiur Rahman, brother of smuggler

Hafizur Rahman, was seen stoic while

no other member of the convict was

found. He said they would take a decision

after consulting with the convicts family.

My husband fought for the country

in 1971 an d he was a govern ment offi -

cer. He was not involved with the in-cident. Government brought the arms

and the government is responsible for

this, said Selima Sultana, wife of con-

vict Akbar Hossain Khan, former field

offi cer of N SI.

Miwara, the wife of Deen Moham-

mad, said her husband was a jetty

worker; so it was not possible for him

to be involved with the incident.l

They knew it, they denied itPAGE 1 COLUMN 5

former state minister for home affairs

Lutfozzaman Babar had asked him for

not mentioning in his report the in-

volvement of a number of National Se-

curity Intellig ence (NSI) offi cials.

Farroque Ahmed, another member

of the probe body, said he had directed

the Criminal Investigation Department

(CID), the investigating agency of the

cases, to send a requisition letter for

quizzing NSI offi cial Akbar Hossain and

informed Babar about the matter.

He [Babar] told me that national

interest was connected with many is-

sues, so we will have to proceed con-

sidering this aspect, Farroque added.

Law enforcers had seized 4,930

types of sophisticated firearms; 27,020

grenades; 840 rocket launchers; 300

rockets; 2,000 grenade launching

tubes; 6,392 magazines; and 11,40,520

bullets.Former NSI director wing com-

mander (retd) Shahab Uddin Ahmed, in

his confessional statement, said its for-

mer chief Brig Gen (retd) Abdur Rahim

had informed him about the matter

and directed to co operate in offl oading

the consignment.

According to the case document,

the names of Rahim and Maj Gen (retd)

Rezzaqul Haider Chowdhury, the direc-

tor of DGFI, first came in the statement

of Shahab Uddin.

Shahab Uddin said he had been ad-

mitted at Combined Military Hospitalfor physical illness on March 30, 2004.

The next day Rezzaqul, accompanied

by Ulfa leader Paresh Barua, visited

him at the hospital.

He left the hospital along with

Paresh Barua after informing me that

the date of arrival of the arms and am-

munition has been deferred, Shahab

Uddin added in his statement.

Sergeants Helal Uddin and Alaud-

din, who reached the spot of unload-

ing the weaponries first, said in their

confessional statement that former NSI

director Maj (retd) Liakat Hossain had

monitor ed the offl oading of consign -

ment identifying himself as one Abul

Hossain.

Sabbir Ali, former commissioner of

Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said

Liakat had been detained from the spot

during the recovery. However, they set

him free following directives from the

state minister for home affairs.

Akbar Hos sain, fo rmer field offi cer

of NSI who hired trucks for carrying

the arms and ammunitions, said in his

confessional statement that he had

hired the trucks after being directed by

Shahab Uddin.

Akbar was first among the detained

intellige nce offi cials . He was he ld

based on the confession of prime ac-

cused Hafizur Rahman Hafiz, an arms

smuggler in Chittagong.

Prosecution witness Mobin Hossain

Khan, form er assistant sec urity offi cer

of the CUFL, told the court that former

additional secretary of industries min-

istry Nurul Amin came to Chittagong

on the date of inc ident and he was tak-en to the CUFL guest house at night.

Mobin said he had informed former

managing director Mohshin Talukdar

about the recovery around 2am. The

MD directed me to intensify security of

CUFL, he said.

He also said none of the MD or for-

mer general manager Enamul Hoque

had visited the spot on the date of the

incident or even the following day.

Their attitude suggested that they

were informed about the incident be-

forehand, he added.

Prime Accused Hafiz in hisconfessional statement said after being

assigned by Ulfa leader Paresh Barua,

he along with Deen Mohammed,

another smuggler, had gone to the

deep sea near the Saint Martins Island

and complet ed o ffl oading of the

consignment on two trawlers from a

mother vessel.

He said Deen Mohammed had also

supplied labourers for unloading the

weaponries. Of the two trawlers, one

was owned by Hafiz himself while one

Abdus Sobhan hired another. l

Plotters to die for smuggling armsPAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Ulfa leader Paresh Barua and former

additional secretary Nurul Amin, the

rest 12 were present in the dock.

Abdus Sobhan was freed on bail, but

as he confirmed his appearance before

the court in the beginning of the pro-

ceedings yesterday, the police put him

in the dock.

Shortly after the verdict, Babar ex-

pressed anger from the dock: It is in-

justice. Allah will ensure justice for this

injustice. The judge will be tried, his

children will be tried, and Allah will en-

sure the final justice.

He continued saying: It has been

a stage-managed verdict, delivered to

make someone happy. When a report-

er asked Babar to clarify about some-

one and who had brought the arms,

Babar stopped talking.

The other convicts in the dock ex-

pressed disappointment similarly and

said they all would appeal against the

verdict.

Among the accused the dock, only

Enamul Haque fell on the floor, as sud-

denly he was not feeling well.Meanwhile, the prosecution natu-

rally expressed satisfaction over the

verdict. Shortly after the proceedings,

the pro-BNPJamaat lawyers brought

out a procession and held rally on the

court premises. They chanted slogans

terming the verdict illegal.

The judge in his very brief speechbefore pronouncing the verdict told

the lawyers that any of the two parties

in the cases would win while the other

lose.

Considering sensitivity of the case,

special security measures were taken

on and around the court premises as

well as the port c ity.

The judge sat on the bench at

12:20pm and gave some observations

about the case. He then pronounced

short order of the verdict that ended at

1:40pm.

Judge Mojibur in his introductory

speech said the verdict had been pre-

pared based on the depositions of the

witnesses and confessional statements

of the accused.

The convicts of the cases will have

the scope to appeal with the higher

court, which will decide on the judge-

ment delivered yesterday. Death penal-

ties have to be executed upon the ap-

proval of the High Court. l

Country took riskPAGE 1 COLUMN 1Karnaphuli River near Chittagong port

which was supposed to be delivered to

the United Liberation Front of Assam

(Ulfa), an insurgent group in neigh-

bouring India.

Abdur Rashid thinks that such arms

smuggling by using the countrys land is

a clear violation of the its foreign policy.

Absolute secrecy was maintained

by the then government about the arms

smuggling, he added.

The retir ed army o ffi cial s aid the

punishment to the persons involved in

the weapons smuggling was a must as

it will give a good lesson to the author-

ities concerned to refrain themselves

from such secret foreign policy.

Veteran journalist and researcher

at the Brac Afsan Chowdhury said the

country had engaged itself in the rival-

ry between Pakistan and India by giv-

ing space to use its land for deliveringarms to Ulfa.

The politics in South Asia is gradu-

ally heading towards violence centring

the hostile relation between India and

Pakistan, Afsan said.

The small countries like Bangla-

desh and Nepal have already got in-

volved in their fights to establish su-

premacy in the region. These countries

should come out of the vicious cycle of

India-Pakistan rivalry.

A Chittagong special court has sen-

tenced 14, including two ministers

Motiur Rahman Nizami and Lutfoz-

zaman Babar of the then BNP-ledfour-party alliance government to

death in arms smuggling case of the 10

truck arms haul yesterday afternoon.

Nizami was the industries minister

while Babar was the state minister for

home of the then BNP-led alliance gov-

ernment. The same court awarded life

term imprisonment to 12 others in the

arms case.

Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions

Judge and Special Tribunal 1 judge SM

Mojibur Rahman delivered the verdict

in presence of 11 accused, including Ja-

maat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman

Nizami and BNP leader Lutfozzaman

Babar.l

HC order for not harassing Fakhrul stayednNazmus Sakib

The Appellate Division yesterday

stayed the High Court order that di-

rected law enforcers not to harass BNPacting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul

Islam Alamgir or show him arrested

without following due process of law,

in three cases.

A five-member bench headed by

Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain

passed the order after granting leave

to appeal of the state against the High

Court order of January 16. It also fixed

February 18 for the appeals hearing.

Earlier, the High Court bench of Jus-

tice Borhanuddin and Justice KM Kam-

rul Kader told lawyer of the BNP leader

that police could arrest Fakhrul any

time after the submission of the charge

sheet against him.

Calling for scrapping the HC order,

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said

the HC bench that earlier had passed

the not to harass-arrest order, had no

jurisdiction to pass such an order as it

did not have the authority to deal with

writ petition-related matters.

SC lawyer Zainul Abedin represent-

ed Fakhrul. All three cases against

Fakhrul were related to killing people

by torching buses.

Meanwhile, a Dhaka court yesterday

rejected the bail petitions of five BNP

top brass in three cases filed with Moti-

jheel police station and two with Ram-

na police station.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge

Md Zohirul Hoque passed the order

in the afternoon after hearing the bail

plea of defense lawyers Md Sanaullah

Miah and Masud Ahmed Talukder. He

said their bail prayers were rejected as

investigations under the cases were on.

The five leaders are Moudud Ahmed,

MK Anwar and barrister Rafiqul Islam

Miah, Fazlul Haq Milon and party lead-

er Maj (retd) Hafizuddin Ahmed.l

Two suspects in bankburglary remandednOur Correspondent, Kishoreganj

A Kishoreganj court yesterday placed

two suspects on a seven-day remand

in the case filed in connection with a

Tk16.40 crore robbery at a Sonali Bank

branch in the district.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Ha-

midul Islam, of Judicial Court 1 of

Kishoreganj, granted the remand after

the investi gating o ffi cer in th e case,

sadar poli ce station Offi cer-in-Ch arge

Abdul Malek, sought a 10-day remand

for the two accused.

Police identified the two suspects as

brothers Yusuf Munshi and Idris Mun-

shi, who had previously used the fake

names of Habibur Rahman, alias Sohe,l

and Idris Mia respectively.

Yusuf, the mastermind of the bank

roberry, and Idris were arrested with

the stolen money in the capitals Shy-

ampur Balurmath area on Tuesday. An-

other relative of Yusuf, Motahar Hos-

sain, was also arrested from a nearby

building.

Later on Wednesday afternoon, they

were handed over to Kishoreganj police.

Earlier on Sunday, the authorities of

the Rathkhola branch of Sonali Bank in

Kishoreganj district sadar noticed that

Tk16.4 crore had been looted from its

vault via an underground tunnel.

On the same day, eight police per-

sonnel who were stationed in a bar-

racks located in the basement of the

branch were suspended following theincident.

On Monday, some 45 people, includ-

ing 12 Sona li Bank offi cials , were held

in Kishoreganj for interrogation in con-

nection with the burglary.l

48-hr hartal in

Netrokona from todaynOur Correspondent, Mymensingh

The local unit of BNP called a 48-hour

hartal in Madan upazila of Netrako-

na, the constituency of LutfozzamanBabar, protesting his death penalty in

the 10-truck arms haul case.

The shutdown will be enforced in

the area from 6am today, upazila BNP

President MA Hares told the Dhaka Tri-

bune yesterday afternoon.

Babar, the former state minister for

affairs, was awarded death sentence

along with 13 others in the smugging

case. He was also given life-term im-

prisonment in the arms case.l

BNP mum, Jamaatdecries verdictnMohammad Al-Masum Molla

and Manik Miazee

The BNP kept mum over the verdict on

the 10 truck arms haul case even though

the incident took place when the BNP-

led four-party alliance was in power.

The party did not issue any press

release nor briefed the media about

their stance over the verdict although a

minister of the then f our-party govern-

ment and a BNP leader was sentenced

to death in connection with the case.

A Chittagong special court sen-

tenced 14, including two ministers

Matiur Rahman Nizami and Lutfoz-

zaman Babar of the then BNP-led

4-party alliance government, to death

in arms smuggling case of the 10-truck

arms haul on Thursday afternoon.

Nizami was the industries minister

while Babar the state minister for home

of the then BNP-led alliance government.

Though the BNP did not give its re-

action organisationally a number ofits senior leaders gave their individual

opinions.

Everything is politically motivated

and there is no rule of law in the coun-

try. So question has already been raised

in the minds of people over the credi-

bility of the judgment, Amir Khoshru

Mahmud Chowdhury, adviser to the

BNP chairperson, said.

Abdullah Al Noman, vice chairman

of the party, alleged that many innocent

people were implicated and convicted

in the case and the government had

used the case to gain its political benefit.

Mahbubur Rahman, a standing com-

mittee member of the party and also a

former army chief, declined to makeany comment saying the party spokes-

person might talk on the issue. I do

not want to comment on it.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami in an

immediate reaction condemned the

death sentence handed down to its

chief Matiur Rahman Nizami in the

arms smuggling case, saying the po-

litical motivated verdict was a bid to

make the party leaderless.

The party acting chief (Ameer) Mok-

bul Ahmed in a statement said: We are

left speechless, surprised and shocked

by this judgement. We are countering

this government conspiracy both polit-

ically and legally.

From the beginning, we have been

deprived of right judgement. Now our

doubts have become true. Nizami did

not get fair judgement, he added.l

NHRC: State is rich-friendlynMuktasree Chakma Sathi

National Human Rights Commission

Chairman Mizanur Rahman said yes-

terday that the state had become a

rich-friendly institution, and was not

looking after the underprivileged citi-

zens of the country.

Prof Mizan also said it was now time

to raise the question of whether or not

the state wanted welfare for the poor

sections of soc iety.This state has become too pro-

wealth. Does this country actually want

to bring change to the lives of the under-

privileged, oppressed and poor citizens

of the country? Does this state really

want empowerment of the citizens who

have long been deprived? he asked.

The NHRC chief also opined that

most of the laws in the country were

pro-rich rather than inclusive of the

needs of all quarters.

Law is not a tool which teaches

people to love. But it is obviously a tool

which bars citizens from expressing

hatred towards one another, he said

while giving a speech at a seminar.

The seminar, entitled Convention

on the Elimination of all forms of Dis-

criminations Against Women and Dalit

women: Bangladesh Context (Cedaw)

was held at Cirdap in the c ity. Jahangir-

nagar University teacher Farzana Islam

presented the keynote paper.

Pointing out Bangladeshs opt-outs

in the Cedaw, Mizanur said discrimi-

nation in the country would not end if

such opt-outs were not withdrawn im-

mediately. It is a mockery, particularly

when we ratified the Cedaw to put opt-

outs in its core articles.

Bangladesh ratified the convention

in 1984 but opted out of article 2, which

says the state will condemn discrim-

ination against women in all its forms

and will pursue by all appropriate

means introduce a policy to eliminate

discrimination against women, and ar-

ticle 16, which says the state will take

all appropriate measures to eliminate

discrimination against women in all

matters relating to marriage and family

relations.The NHRC chairman said the em-

powerment of Dalit women was related

to the empowerment of women in gen-

eral.l


3/21

3NewsDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, January 31, 2014

Paresh Barua The Ulfa mannTribune Report

Paresh Barua, the commander-in-chief

of the military wing of the United Lib-

eration Front of Assam (Ulfa) which is

seeking sovereignty for Assam fromthe Indian state, uses several other ali-

ases namely Kamruj Zaman Khan, Nur-

uz-Zaman and Zaman Bhai.

Born in 1957 at Jeraichakali Bhar-

iagaon, Assam, was a soccer player in

his young life. He studied at Dibrugarh

University.

He worked for the railway from 1978

to 1982 before he joined the Oil India

Limited at Duliajan for some time.

He is married to Boby Bhuyan Barua

and have two children named Tahshim

Khan and Akash Khan.

Another source says that his elder

son is named Tahsan Ankur Khan

Sunlee.

Barua became a member of the Unit-

ed Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa)

in 1979.

On May 10, 1985, he and other mem-

bers of his group carried out a bank

robbery by shooting to death the man-

ager and robbed Rs27, 549 and fled the

scene in a vehicle taken from someone

they had kidnapped.

In 1989 he came in contact with Na-

galand Rebels and Kachin rebels based

in Myanmar who provided strategic

training to his group. In 1990, his group

became engaged in extortion.

He stayed in Bangladesh for a few

years from 1990 under the pseudonym

Kamruj Zaman Khan but after a brief

stay he left in April 2004 after being

charged for arms smuggling in the 10

truck-loads of arms and ammunition

haul in Chittagong.

He reportedly runs big businesses

in Bangladesh, including a tannery,

a chain of departmental stores, gar-

ment factories, travel agencies, shrimp

trawlers and transport and investment

companies besides a star hotel.

In September 2011, the Myanmare-

se Army was able to trace Barua along

with some Ulfa members in the forestof north-west Myanmar.

Barua received injuries in a fight

with them but he survived the on-

slaught.

Barua on April 30, 2013, who ad-

heres uncompromisingly to the de-

mand of the sovereignty of Assam

renamed the organisation as the Ulfa

(Independent).l

Arms haul strained Bangladesh-India relationsnSheikh Shahariar Zaman

The 10-truck arms haul case had an

impact on Bangladesh-India relations,

said former Bangladesh high commis-

sioner to India Tofail K Haider.

Now the verdict has been declared

and the other party should be happy

about it, said Haider, who was the high

commissioner in India during 2004.

On April 1, 2004, po lice seized 4,930

types of sophisticated firearms, 27,020

grenades, 840 rocket launchers, 300

rockets, 2,000 grenade launching

tubes, 6,392 magazines and 11,40,520

bullets when they were being loaded

on to 10 trucks from two engine boats

at the jetty of the CUFL.

A Chittagong special court yesterday

sentenced 14 accused, including Mat-

iur Rahman Nizami and Lutfozzaman

Babar of the then BNP-led four-party

alliance government, to death in arms

smuggling case.

Another diplomat who also served

in the Bangladesh Mission in India said

that time the relationship was bad.

Everybody knows what happened

at that time. We had strained relation-

ship and also we had clashes, he said.

It was very di ffi cult to co ntain bu t

somehow the diplomats after working

very hard managed to do so, he said.

Former ambassador Mahmood

Hasan, who also served in Bangladesh

mission in India, said had the destina-

tion of the arms been India, it would

have an impact on the relations be-

tween the two countries.

People who did this were appre-

hended and put on trial and it was the

right thing to do, he said.l

Law minister: The verdict upholdsthe rule of lawnMohosinul Karim

The government pledge to estab-

lish the rule of law has been fulfilled

through the verdict on the sensational

10-truck arms haul case, Law Minister

Anisul Huque has said.

The minister made the statement in

his instant reaction regarding the ver-

dict yesterday

He said the verdict on the sensation-

al 10-truck arms haul case was positive.

He claimed that it was found in the

investigation that the high-ups of the

then government were involved in the

incident.

It was an initiative of the then ad-

ministration to inspire the terrorism

and the terrorists, said the minister.

After the verdict, now the criminals

will have to think twice before commit-

ting such crime again. The court has

given the verdict considering the evi-

dence and statements of the accused,

Anisul Huque added.

Asked whether the large amount

of arms haul was a threat to the coun-trys sovereignty, the minister said: A

mini-cantonment could have been set

up with the arms which were hauled.

It was also disclosed who brought the

arms and for whom.

It could disrupt the relations be-

tween Bangladesh and the country

for which the arms were brought, he

claimed.

He added that the-then governmenthad a plan to cover the incident and let

go of those involved in the arms smug-

gling. They would have been inspired

to commit the crime again if the gov-

ernment set them free.

A Chittagong special court has sen-

tenced 14 accused including Matiur

Rahman Nizami and Lutfozzaman

Babar of the then BNP government to

death in the 10-truck arms haul case

yesterday.

The same 14 convicts were award-

ed life term imprisonment in the arms

case.l

A wake-up call for security agenciesnTushar Hayat, Chittagong

The law enforcement agencies are now

better equipped than ever to prevent

incidents like the Chittagong 10-truck

arms haul, offi cials have said.

In the wake of the pronouncement

of the verdicts in the two cases filed

in connection with the 2004 haul, of-

ficials said they had taken a series of

steps immediately after the incident to

prevent repetition of such scams.

Shahidul Islam, regional command-

er of the Coast Guard, said security had

been beefed up at the outer anchorage

of the Chittagong port and the coastal

areas after the biggest ever arms and

ammunition recovery.

The Coast Guard was heavily un-

dermanned during the incident, he

said.

However, detection capacity mustbe continuously upgraded so that so-

phisticated and state-of-the-art vessels

and weapons could be traced, Shahidul

added.

The policymakers immediately re-

alised the dire needs for modernising

the Coast Guard after the recovery tenyears ago, he said, adding that they

were yet to attain the capacity to keep

vigilance over the entire coastal belt.

It is hard for us to monitor each and

every trawl er during offl oading. But,

we keep our informants active round

the clock to gather information for pre-

venting such incidents.

Mohibul Hoque, secretary of the

Chittagong Port Authority, said there

was not a chance anymore that such a

huge consignment could reach the port

undetected.

He also said the Chittagong port was

the heart of the countrys economy and

that they had been putting in all-out ef-

forts to avert such incidents, thus up-

holding the images of the port and the

country.l

Heroes punished, villains rewardednTarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Two people were punished, tortured

and harassed because they did the right

thing, and someone else, who did the ex-

act opposite, was awarded with a presi-

dential medal.On the night of April 1, 2004, it was

Sergeant Alauddin and Sergeant Helal

Uddin Bhuiyan, who discovered that

10 truckloads of arms and ammunition

were being smuggled through the Chit-

tagong port.

They risked their lives to challenge the

people offl oading the ammo onto trucks

from two trawlers at the Chittagong Uria

Ferliser Limited jetty.

They were told that the authorities

were aware of the goods being offl oad-

ed and threatened with dire consequenc-

es. They were also told that the arms and

ammunitions were being transported for

the separatist Indian group United Liber-

ation Front of Assam (Ulfa).

However, Alauddin and Helal braved

the threats and called in security rein-

forcements to round up the smugglers

and the arms stash.

However, instead of being rewarded

for bravery, these two sergeants were

framed in fake arms cases, fired from the

force and brutally tortured in custody

during the tenure of the BNPJamaat-led

four-party alliance government.

In 2005, two other men, nabbed with

AK-47 rifles in Feni and Noakhali, told

law enforcers that they got the weapons

from Alauddin and Helal.

Then, we were suspended and made

accused for supplying those two with

the rifles. We were tortured in custody

as part of an attempt to twist the sensa-

tional cases [filed in connection with the

10-truck arms haul], Alauddin recount-

ed.

The torture in custody was so brutal

that they had never been the same per-

son again neither physically nor men-

tally, Alauddin said. One of Helals legs

was broken.

However, the two policemen were

later proved innocent and got back their

jobs in 2011 during the tenure of the

Awami League-led government.

At present, Alauddin is serving as an

inspector of the Special Protection Bat-talion (SBPn) at Ganabhaban the prime

ministers offi cial residence and Helal as

a traffi c sergeant with Chittagong Metro -

politan Police (CMP).

According to Alauddin, on the night

of the arms haul, they, along with other

policemen, picked up five suspected Ulfa

men from the jetty area.

He and Helal later came to learn that

the five men they had rounded up were

later released from the custody of Abdul-

lah Hel Baki, the then DC (port) of CMP.We mentioned the names of those

five in our first information report. But,

they were freed. Later, we were forced

to tear up some of the pages of the FIR.

There were some indirect pressures for

concealing Ulfas connection with the

haul, Alauddin described.

Additional Superintendent of Police

Md Moniruzzaman, investigation offi cer

of the 10-truck arms haul cases, said the

release of those five men and the fram-

ing of the two sergeants were part of at-

tempts to hide the involvement of Ulfa

and the higher authorities of Bangladesh

with the smuggling.

Abdullah, who played an obedient

role to the then government by releas-

ing the Ulfa men and hiding facts, was

awarded with the President Police Med-

al in 2005 the same year Alauddin and

Helal were framed with false arms cases,

fired from the force and tortured in cus-

tody.

Sources from the police said not just

the medal, DC Abdullah and his assistant

Mahmudur got a number of promotions

and recognitions during the BNPJamaat-

led governments tenure.

We seized the biggest ever arms haul

in the countrys history; yet we were

made victims. Someone else took all the

credits and also got all the recognitions,

although he was guilty of hiding facts

and letting suspects go. He did those fol-

lowing the then governments orders,

Alauddin continued.

If the five Ulfa men were not released,

the investigation would not have taken

such a long time, said ASP Moniruzzam-

an, investigation offi cer of the arms haul

cases.

Abdullah Hel Baki is currently an addi-

tional deputy inspector general of police

and Mahmudur a superintendent of po-

lice in the Sylhet range. Both have been

made offi cers on special duty (OSD).

A special Chittagong court yesterday

sentenced 14, including two cabinet

members Matiur Rahman Nizami andLutfozzaman Babar of the then BNP-led

4-party alliance government, to death in

connection with the arms haul. l

Jamaat leader Motiur Rahman Nizami, left, sits inside a prison van while BNP leader Lutfozzaman Babar, right, wears a blank look inside another van in front of the Chittagong Metropolitan Special Tribunal 1 after receiving capital

punishment in the 10-truck arms haul case yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Death verdict:Assam silenton Paresh BaruanTribune Report

The government of Assam declined

to give a formal reaction to the death

sentence of Ulfa commander-in-chief

Paresh Barua in the 10-truck arms

smuggling case.

Assams Home Secretary GD Trip-

athy said he was aware of the verdict,

Mizoram-based MizoNews reported

yesterday after the verdict.

However, we are yet to receive of-

ficial communication in this regard,

Tripathy said. I can comment only

after I receive formal communication.

Paresh Barua, leader of a faction of

the United Liberation Front of Asom

(Ulfa), is currently on the run and is one

of Indias most wanted militants.

He along with 13 others, includ-

ing Bangladeshs former junior home

minister Lutfozzaman Babar and Ja-

maat-e-Islami leader Motiur Rahman

Nizami, were sentenced to death in oneof the 10-trucks arms haul cases. l

WHO SAID WHAT: 10-TRUCK ARMS HAULNizamiI [Nizami] haveheard about theincident before you.We have nothing todo in this regard. ehighest authoritiesare aware of it

Shoeb Ahmed, former industries secretary, quoted former

industries minister Motiur Rahman Nizami as saying when

he wanted to know thei r course of action regarding the

issue. Shoeb also told the court that the minister had

rebuked him as he proposed to launch an investigation.

Do you think that I am talking toyou without consulting the higher au-thorities? e home ministry has beeninvestigating the matter. e primeminister is also aware of it. So why dowe have to investigate it separately?

Akbar Hossain[I] hired the trucksaer being directedby Shahab Uddin.

Akbar Hossain, former NSI field

offi cer, said in his confessional

statement. He was first among

the detained intelligence offi cials.

BabarHe [Babar] told methat national interestwas connected withmany issues, so wewill have to proceedconsidering thisaspect

Farroque Ahmed, member of home ministry probe body

Hafizur RahmanAssigned by Ulfaleader Paresh Barua,[I] along with DeenMohammed wentto the deep sea nearthe Saint MartinsIsland and completed

unloading of the consignment on twotrawlers from a mother vessel.

Deen Mohammed also suppliedlaboure rs for offl oading the consi gn-ment of the weaponries.

Abdus Sobhan hired one trawlerwhile another trawler used for thetask was mine.

Prime Accused Hafizur Rahman Hafiz said in his confes-

sional statement

Rezzaqul HaiderHe [RezzaqulHaider] le thehospital along withParesh Barua aerinforming me thatthe date of arrival ofthe arms cache has

been deferred

Shahabuddin Ahmed, former NSI director, who was then

admitted at Combined Military Hospital

Liakat HossainFormer NSI directorMaj (retd) LiakatHossain monitoredthe offl oading of theconsignment identi-fying himself asAbul Hossain.

Sergeants Helal Uddin and Alauddin, who reached thespot first, said in their confessional statements

Liakat was detained from the spotduring the recovery of arms andammunition. However, he was freedfollowing directives from Babar.

Sabbir Ali, former commissioner of Chittagong

Metropolitan Police

S L H / D T I N F O G R A P H I C

V E R D I C T O N 1 0 T R U C K A R M S H A U L C A S E

In September 2011,the Myanmarese Armywas able to traceBarua along with someUlfa members in theforest of north-westMyanmar


4/21

News4 DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, January 31, 2014

City High Low

PRAYER TIMES

Fajar 5:22am

Sunrise 6:39am

Jumma 12:12am

Asr 4:08pm

Magrib 5 :44pm

Esha 7:02pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

WEATHER

Weather to remainunchangednUNB

Weather may remain dry with tempo-

rary partly cloudy sky over the country

until 6pm today.

Moderate to thick fog may occur over

Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions and the

river basins and light to moderate fog

elsewhere over the country during mid-

night till morn ing, Met Offi ce said.Mild cold wave is sweeping over the

regions of Sitakunda, Srimangal and

Kushtia and it may continue.

Night and day temperature may re-

main nearly unchanged over the coun-

try.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:44pm

today and rises at 6:40am tomorrow.

Countrys highest temperature 30.5

degrees Celsius was recorded yesterday

in Coxs Bazar and lowest 8.8 degrees

in Srimangal.Highest and lowest temperature re-

corded in some major cities yesterday

were:

Dhaka 27.4 13.5

Chittagong 27.5 14.2

Rajshahi 25.2 10.8

Rangpur 25.3 11.5

Khulna 26.4 12.2

Barisal 26.8 11.4

Sylhet 30.0 13.5

Coxs Bazar 30.5 16.5

Loan defaulters to bebarred from upazilaParishad electionnTribune Report

The Finance Ministry has asked all

banks and other financial institutions

to provide information on loan default-

ers to disqualify them from contesting

in the Upazila Parishad poll slated for

February 19.

The Bank and Financial Institution

Division of the ministry directed the

banks and financial institutions to pro-

vide the information to the respective

returning offi cers, by issuing a circ ular

yesterday.

As per the Upazila Parishad Act

1998, loan defaulters are not eligible to

contest in the poll.

Any candidate found to have failed

to pay a loan instalment on time, would

be disqualified regardless of their post,

be it the upazila parisad chairman,

vice-chairman or a member, said the

circular.

It also said the loan defaulters infor-

mation must be submitted within the

last date for screening the nomination

papers.

The circular says candidates can

submit nomination papers for the elec-

tions to be held in 102 upazila parisads

until January 25 and withdraw until

February 3.

Branch managers or authorised of-

ficers of respective banks and financial

institutions will be responsible for pro-

viding any incorrect information and

will be penalised, said the circular.All offi cers concerned of the

banks and financial institutions have

been asked to be present at offi ce on

government holidays and after regular

offi ce hours u ntil the c ompletio n of

scrutiny of the nominations papers in

order to provide the information

to the returning offi cers as per

requirement. l

ACC sues Tariques mother-in-lawnSyed Samiul Basher Anik

The Anti-Corruption Commission yes-

terday filed a case against Syeda Iqbal

Mand Banu, the mother-in-law of BNPSenior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman,

for not submitting her wealth statement.

ACC Deputy Director RK Majumder

filed the case with Ramna police station

since she had not submitted her wealth

statement on time as asked by the com-

mission , an ACC public relations offi cerconfirmed the Dhaka Tribune.

The anti-graft body served a notice

upon Iqbal Mand Banu on January 25,

2012, asking her to submit her wealth

statement. Zakir Hossain, the c aretaker

of her house, received the notice on her

behalf.

However, she acquired a stay order

from the High Court on the request.

Later the commission obtained an order

from the Supreme Court on September

26 on stalling the High Court stay order.

Following the Supreme Court or-

der, the ACC was free to collect Banus

wealth statement, particularly to inves-

tigate the wealth of BNP Senior Vice-

Chairman Tarique Rahman. However

she has not complied with the ACC no-

tice till date, sa id an offi cial.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Syeda

Iqbal Mand Banu appealed to the anti-

graft body to initiate a fresh inquiry

into her wealth through her lawyer

Nasiruddin Asim. The lawyer told re-

porters that his client would complywith the commissions instructions if it

launched a reinvestigation.

However, the ACC said it would

move ahead with its plan to file a case

against her for not submitting her

wealth statement as instructed.

If they have any objection in thisregard, they should clear their position

before the court, ACC Commissioner

M Shahabuddin said.

The ACC on Tuesday took the deci-

sion to file the case against Syeda Iqbal

Mand Banu.

The commission, earlier on May 29,

2007, served a notice upon Tarique

Rahman, asking him to submit his

wealth statement. Later, analysing his

statement, the commission found that

Tarique had accumulated wealth worth

Tk4.82 crore through illegal means and

concealed information of his proper-ties valued at Tk4.23 crore.

Following the findings, the ACC on

September 26, 2007 filed a case with

Kafrul police station against Tarique,his wife Zubaida Rahman and mother-

in-law on charge of concealing wealth

information. Sources said of the Tk4.82

crore, the commission had found

Fixed Deposit Receipts for Tk35 lakh in

Zubaidas name. But Tarique claimed

that Zubaida had received the money

from her mother.

The ACC, however, did not find any

evidence supporting the claim. It rath-

er got proof that Zubaida and her moth-

er had aided Tarique in his attempt to

show illegal income as legal. l

Bangladesh-Indiatarget broaderconnectivitynSheikh Shahariar Zaman

Bangladesh and India have their eyes

set on a whole new level of connectiv-

ity beyond the traditional idea of tran-

sit, said offi cials of the countries.

Indian High Commissioner to Dha-

ka Pankaj Saran, after a meeting with

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yes-

terday, said they were working on a

whole concept of connectivity.

The whole concept of connectiv-

ity was discussed in the meeting. The

concept of connectivity is now becom-

ing broader, growing beyond the old-

fashioned concept of transit.

Expanding the sphere of connectiv-

ity to such fields as power, telecom,

water and others would be mutually

beneficial for both the countries, he

said.

These are areas we are working

on now and we are hopeful some real

progress can be achieved.

About the BCIM economic corridor,

he said the matt er had become o ffi cialafter a meeting in Kunming last Decem-

ber. This is another interesting area of

cooperation for us in the future.

Pointing to the fact that Bangla-

deshs exports to India reached $560

million last year, he said it was not

enough and more Indian private in-vestments should come to Bangladesh

to reduce bilateral trade deficits.

More Indian private investments

will mean more jobs and it will also

help increase Bangladeshs exports to

its neighbouring countries including

India.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed

said Bangladesh would benefit froma functional BCIM economic corridor.

Bangladesh will benefit more through

the BCIM corridor rather than the Saarc.

He also said he had proposed trans-

shipment with India in 1998 but it was

not materialised.

We will have broader connectivity

when we have improved infrastructure.

We want to have connectivity with all

countries. We have now exports to the

seven-sister states and with a broader

connectivity we can export more.

About the trade problems with India,

he said Bangladeshi businessmen were

facing tariff and non-tariff barriers.When I went to India, I discussed

the matter with the Indian prime

minister, commerce minister, national

security adviser and the business

leaders. l

8 get life for killing twonMd Sanaul Islam Tipu

The Speedy Trial Tribunal 4 yesterday

sentenced eight individuals to life im-

prisonment while eight others to tenyears of rigorous imprisonment in

connection with the murder of two sib-

lings in Gazipur in 2000.

It also fined the former group

Tk20,000 each, a failure to pay which

will result in an additional year in

prison. The fine from those getting ten

years is Tk5,000 each and a failure topay the amount will result in additional

six months in prison.

The verdict was pronounced by the

tribunals judge ABM Nizamul Haque in

the afternoon. Those receiving life sen-

tences are Abdul Ali (now at large), Nu-

rul Islam, Nazrul Islam, Fozlul Haque,

Md Rahmat Ali Sikdar, Hasen Ali, Haz-

rat Ali and Zakir Hossain.

On the other hand, those who got

ten years are Bahadur Ali, Sujan Ali,

Chan Ali, Shahidul Islam, Buzrat Ali,

Akbar Ali, Amzad Ali and Azizul Haque.

However, five others accused in the

double murder case were acquitted on

all charges. They are Abdur Rahman

Khan, Najar Ali, Md. Aminul Islam, Ra-

hima Khatun and Sabera Khatun.

The case was filed after brothers

Makbul Dewan and Kolimuddin Dewan

were killed over a land dispute in the

Golachipa area of Kaliakoir upazila on

December 6, 2000.

A total of 21 individuals were ac-

cused in the case filed by the de-

ceaseds elder brother Md ShakhawatHossain, of whom Abdul Ali has been

absconding since the incident.

The i nvestigati on o ffi cer o f the

case Md Tofazzal Hossain submitted

a charge sheet to the court on July 15,

2003. A total of 31 witnesses out of 47were examined after the court framed

charges against the accused.

However, in his immediate reac-

tion to the judgment, the complain-

ant expressed his discontent and said

he would appeal against it in the High

Court.l

EC to send six AL lawmakersaffi davits to ACCnMohammad Zakaria

The Election Commission has asked the

concerne d returning offi cers to sen dtwo certified copies of affi davits of the

six Awami League lawmakers, whose

wealth statements suggest a rather

unusual increase in their wealth over

the last five years, to the commission

by February 5, Deputy Secretary of EC

Mihir Sarwar Morshed said yesterday.

He said the commission had direct-

ed them to send the copies via specialmessengers.

The EC would send one copy of the af-

fidavit of each MP to the Anti-Corruption

Commission next week while the other

copy would be preserved at the commis-

sions offi ce, the senior offi cial said .

Earlier, ACC issued a letter to the

Chief Election Commissioner request-

ing him to provid e copies of affi davitsof the six - former Health Minister AFM

Ruhal Haq, former State Minister forHousing and Public Works Abdul Man-

nan Khan, former State Minister for

Water Resources Mahbubur Rahman,

and three lawmakers-Abdur Rahman

Badi from Coxs Bazar, Aslamul Haque

from Dhaka and Abdul Jabbar from Sat-

khira.

Although ACC is investigating into

the exorbitant rise of wealth of Awami

League lawmaker Enamul Haque from

Rajshahi, it did not request EC for his

affi davi t. l

Writ on politicalparty registrationrejected

nNazmus Sakib

The High Court yesterday rejected a

writ petition that questioned the legal-ity of a provision of the Representation

of the People Order (RPO) 1972, relating

to some conditions for the registration

of a political party with the Election

Commission.

The joint bench headed by JusticeFarah Mahbub delivered the verdict af-

ter hearing the matter.

The writ challenged section 90B of

the RPO, which sets several conditions

for the political parties including se-

curing at least one seat with its elector-

al symbol during the past parliamen-

tary polls, securing 5% of total votes

cast in the constituencies in which its

candidates took part in, and establish-

ing a functio nal central o ffi ce, distric t

offi ces in at least in one- third admin is-

trative distr icts, and o ffi ces in at least

one hundred upazilas or metropolitan

thanas with each having at least 200

voters as members.l Jamaat to launch overseas campaignagainst killings of party mennManik Miazee

The Jamaat-e-Islami is planning tolaunch an international campaign to

highlight the torture and deaths of its

leaders and activists at the hands of the

countrys law enforcement agencies,

said party sources.

Jamaat has also reportedly decided

not to go for any stern anti-government

movement in the next two month; in-

stead focusing on an international cam-

paign based on a list of party activistswho have been killed since the Inter-

national Crimes Tribunal handed death

sentence to its leader Delwar Hossain

Sayedee on February 28 last year.

The party, along with its student

wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, has pre-

pared a list of 184 activists who havebeen allegedly been murdered between

February 28, 2013 and January 5, 2014;as well as making several documenta-

ries on police action against its activists.

Party insiders said Jamaat has

planned to arrange processions and

human chains in front of Bangladeshi

embassies abroad, and showing docu-

mentaries to foreign nationals and dip-

lomats in a bid to present the govern-

ments autocratic activities.

Sources also said the party assistant

secretary general, Barrister Abdur Raz-

zak, was currently abroad with the list

and the documentaries.

Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher,

working committee member of Ja-maats central committee, said Jamaat

always conducted its politics in a dem-

ocratic process. The party always keeps

a list of its leaders who are killed, he

added.

The list of victims who allegedly

died during demonstrations to free Ja-

maat leaders from war crimes charges

reportedly contains the names of 31

deceased from Rangpur, 57 from Ra-

jshahi, nine from Dhaka, two from

Faridpur, one from Barisal, three from

Sylhet, 21 from Comilla, 33 from Khul-

na and 27 from Chittagong. l

Surer Dhara congratulates Prof Anisuzzaman on his achieving the Padma Bhusan award, the India's third highest civilian honour, in

Dhanmondis Bengal Gallery yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Dhaka South City Corporation authorities in an eviction drive pulls down an illegal structure on the capitals Topkhana Road yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE


5/21

Kutub Bagh Urs causes suffering for visitors

nAbu Hayat Mahmud

The authorities of Kutubbagh Darbar

Sharif illegally erected arches in the

capitals Farmgate Park for Urs, a giant

gathering, with the permission of the

Public Works Department (PWD), caus-

ing untold suffering to the visitors and

inhabitants.

The PWD offi cials sa id they had giv-

en the permission to arrange the func-

tion in the park at the request of influ-

ential ruling party members.

The authorities of the Darbar Sharif

also said they had arranged the pro-

gramme with the permission of the au-

thorities concerned.

Md Kabir Ahmed Bhuiyan, chief en-

gineer of PWD told the Dhaka Tribune;

We have permitted the function for

two days on the recommendation of an

influential person.

We do not know about the long-

term programme of Kutub Bagh Dar-bar, Kabir said.

The month-long programme will

damage the beauty of the park. If the

Kutubbagh Darbar does not remove

the illegal structures, we will file a case

against them, he said.

Residents of the adjoining areas In-

dara Road, Rajabazar Green Road and

Jahanara Garden opposed the Urs as it

will hamper their normal lives.

Altaf Hossain, 58, an inhabitant of

East Rajabazar told the Dhaka Tribune:

Every evening I go to the peark for

refreshments and a walk. But the Urs

authority has started to block the re-freshment area.

Students of Tejgaon College also

echoed the sentiment. Students of the

college Saidur Rahman, Raju Das and

Afroza Sultana said because of the Urs

they would not be able move freely

about the park.

When asked, seeking anonymity, a

person of the Darbar Sharif said; We

have made tin-shed houses to store

foods such as rice, pulses, cattle and

other sacrificial animals, which will be

given by the pirs murids (followers).

Md Motaleb, a murid of Kutubbaghi,

told the Dhaka Tribune: We got per-

mission from the authorities to use the

park for Urs. l

News 5DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, January 31, 2014

2nd phase of Biswa Ijtema beginstoday with multi-layer securitynMohammad Jamil Khan, from Tongi

The 160-acre land on the bank of theTurag river, the outskirts of the capital,

is already full with thousands of devo-

tees as the second phase of Biswa Ijte-

ma begins today.

Police, Rapid Action Battalion and

members of intelligence agencies, in

uniform and plainclothes, have set up

a multi-layer security system to avoid

any untoward incident during the Ijte-

ma, which is the second largest congre-

gation of Muslims after the Hajj.

This is the fourth year that the Ijte-

ma is being held in two phases on the

banks of Turag, around 20km f rom the

capital, to enable smooth management

and security checks. The second phase

will conclude on Sunday with final sup-

plication Akheri Munajat. The first

phase of the Ijtema was held from Jan-

uary 24 to 26.

The devotees who reached the Ijte-

ma ground on Thursday morning did

not get any space under the main tent.

They had set up arrangements of their

own.

In the second phase, devotees will

join the Ijtema from 33 districts of the

country, especially from the southern

region.

Abdul Baten, police super of Gazi-

pur, told the Dhaka Tribune that no for-

eigner will join the second phase of the

Ijtema, but some foreigners were still

staying there and they would leave the

area shortly.

The security system will be main-

tained as usual like the first phase.

Abul Kalam Azad, an organiser, said

Maulana Abdul Wahab of Pakistan had

started giving sermons after Maghrib

prayers.

A mobile court realised Tk5,000

as fines from a hotel for selling unhy-

gienic foo ds, said Ismail Ho ssain, offi -

cer-in-charge of Tongi police station.

The first phase was participated

by devotees from 32 districts of the

country along with around 25,000 for-

eigners from 120 countries including,Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt,

Indonesia and Palestine.

Tabligh Jamaat has been organising

the annual congregation. The Ijtema

features delivery of sermons on funda-

mental matters of Tabligh, prayers for

spiritual adulation, exaltation and wel-

fare of the Muslim Ummah, and recita-

tion from the holy Quran and Hadith.l

Fire at Dada MatchFactory in KhulnanOur Correspondent, Khulna

A fire broke out at the Dada Match Facto-

ry, at Rupsha in Khulna, during the early

hours of Wednesday, burning valuablesand equipment.

Reject match sticks and some vital

factory equipment were destroyed, said

Senior Station Offi cer of Khulna Fire Ser-

vice Md Masud Sarder.

He said the fire might have been start-

ed by an electric short circuit.

But, General Secretary of Facto-

ry Workers Union HM Shahadat said

the fire was started by discarded ciga-

rette-ends left by drug addicts. He also

demanded an inquiry into the incident.

After being alerted, four units of fire

fighters rushed to the scene and brought

the situation under control.

The match factory has remained

closed since August 18, 2010 because of

the financial crisis, rendering thousands

of workers jobless.

Workers at the factory often stage

demonstrations in front of it. They de-

mand the re-opening of the factory,

which under the management of Bangla-

desh Chemical Industries Corporation.l

RU students protest fee hikes and evening coursesnRU Correspondent

Several thousand students of Rajsha-

hi University gathered on the campus

yesterday to demonstrate against in-

creased fees and the introduction of

new evening masters courses.

They gathered in front of various ac-

ademic buildings, marched throughout

the campus, locked all entryways for

hours, and abstained from attending

classes and examinations.

After a daylong protest, spurred on

by the explosion of three handmade

bombs earlier in the day, students de-

clared a continuation of their demon-

strations.

According to sources, over three

thousand students gathered in front

of the central library around 11am and

began their march around the campus,

ending with a meeting in front of the

administrative building.

They also held several rallies andkept the administrative building locked

between 11:30am and 2pm.

Later, a group of student represen-

tatives met with Vice-chancellor Prof

Mizanuddin to discuss their points but

the meeting ended in failure.

The protesters, vowing to continue

their protests until the demands are

met, alleged that the explosions were

orchestrated by university authorities.

The bombs were exploded around

9:30am, in front the VC residence, the

first science building, and the Rabindra

Arts building.

Proctor Tarikul Hasan denied the

protesters allegation.

The students started their protests

on January 16, after being angered by

a decision to increase all fees by up tofive times, and the introduction of new

evening courses in seven departments

of the social science faculty in

addition to the existing ones under the

BBA and law faculties.

However, in a press release

signed by the Public Relations

Administrator Prof Eliyas Hossain,

the authorities claimed that the

increased fees were logical and

proportionate to the increasing

prices of commodities.

It also said that the decision to

introduce evening masters courses

was taken to provide opportunities of

higher studies to a greater number of

students.l

KU at standstill followingresignation of teachersnOur Correspondent, Khulna

Administrative activities at Khulna Uni-

versity have been hampered as 30 teach-

ers of the university resigned en massefrom 33 administrative posts, including

a head of department and a hall provost,

protesting against a perceived insult to

one of their female fellows.

The teachers submitted their resigna-

tion letters to the offi ce of the universi-

tys registrar on 23 January, university

sources said.

The sources said the teachers resigned

from administrative posts because Prof

Dr Afroza Parveen, acting director of

the Fine Arts Institute, was insulted by

Professor Mostafa Sarwar at the aca-

demic council meeting held on January

18. The meeting was presided over by

Vice-Chancellor Dr Fayequzzaman.

During the meeting, acting head of

Development Studies Discipline Prof Dr

Mostafa Sarwar raised question about

the validity of Dr Afrozas continuation

as the acting director of the institute, giv-

en a senior professor joined the institute

two months ago.

He then said as per the rules, the se-

nior professor should be made director

of the Fine Arts Institute, and that Dr

Afroza had no right to attend the aca-

demic council meeting as acting director.

Following the remark, Dr Afroza

tendered her resignation letter to the

vice-chancellor on January 22.

Meanwhile, syndicate members of the

university have appealed to the teachers

to restart administrative work, for great-

er interest of the university, and carry

on with the educational activities and

examinations. The deadlock will never

end until Mostafa Sarwar apologies to

Professor Parvin for insulting her, said ateacher on condition of anonymity.

The vice-chancellor said he would

sit with the teachers at any point, and

requested them to restart work and re-

solve the crisis in the interests of the

students.l

Public Works Department allegedly

permits to arrange the function

Bamboo structures are being built at Farmgate Park in the capital yesterday by Kutubbagh Darbar Sharif authorities on the

occasion of Urs SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Students of Rajshahi University p ut the main gate of administrative building under lock

and key, protesting fees hike and evening course DHAKA TRIBUNE

The security system willbe maintained as usuallike the first phase

DU BCL leader, activistsbeaten at Peacock barnArif Ahmed

At least fifteen Chhatra League activ-

ists of Dhaka University, including its

Salimullah Muslim Hall unit president,

were injured when a clash took place at

Peacock Bar & Restaurant at the capi-

tals Shahbag area yesterday night.

Witnesses said, the clash took place

at midnight after the bar staff prevent-

ed Mehdi Hasan, president of Ban-

gladesh Chhatra Leagues Dhaka Uni-

versity Salimullah Muslim Hall unit,from entering the restaurant as it was

already closed for the day.

Following the denial, Mehdi had a

heated debate with the bar staff. At one

stage, the bar staff reportedly confined

Mehdi and gave him a good beating.

Hearing the incident, BCL Salim-

ullah Muslim Hall unit general secre-

tary Nizamul Islam Didar and several

other activists rushed to the spot and

snooped upon the bar staff. Later,Shahbag police intervened and took

control of the situation.

After the clash, seven BCL men, in-

cluding Mehdi, have been admitted to

the Dhaka Medical College in critical

condition.

Meanwhile, when contacted, DU

Acting Proctor Amzad Ali told the Dha-

ka Tribune that an investigation com-

mittee has been formed to probe into

the matter and necessary measures

will be taken after the investigation has

been done.

Shahba g poli ce stati on Offi cer in

Charge Shirajul Islam said: We were

successful in stopping the clash. No

one has been detained and no case has

been filed in this regard. l

Students demand cut in extratuition fees at DUnArif Ahmed

Students from leftist organisations and

the Progressive Student Alliance of Dha-

ka University yesterday demanded the

immediate withdrawal of additional tu-

ition fees, which had been imposed on

students enrolling on the newly intro-

duced four-year bachelors degree course

at the universitys Television and Film

Studies department.

They raised their demands at a press

briefing at the universitys Madur Can-teen in the afternoon.

Terming the additional fees part of a

scheme to privatise the public institu-

tion, they demanded the cancelation of

all other such fees imposed by all depart-

ments.

The authorities should have ascer-

tained what support they were able to

give the new departments, rather than

depending on what the students are able

to pay, said Liton Nandi, general secre-tary of Bangladesh Students Union (BSU)

DU unit.

Samajtantrik Chhatra Fronts DU unit

President Rashed Shahriar said: Many

aspiring students were shocked to see the

unusually high fees, estimated at around

Tk 1.37 lakh.

On Wednesday, protesters besieged

the department offi ce, press ing home

their demand. They barricaded the de-

partment offi ce and halted admissions.

Later, AJM Shafiul Alam Bhuyian,

chairman of the Television and Film

Studies department, rushed to the scene

and held a meeting with the protesters.

The department head reportedly as-

sured student leaders that he would dis-

cuss the matter with the universitys au-

thorities, in line with their demands.

The protesters then took out a pro-

test rally inside the campus and held a

demonstration in front of Arts Faculty

Bhaban.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Shafiul

Alam said: We are compelled to intro-

duce high fees as it is quite impossible for

us to provide all the necessary facilities to

the students from the universitys funds.

I will discuss that matter with the author-

ities, and if they agree to provide us with

suffi cient funds, we will reduce the ad -

mission fees.

According to the department, each

student has to pay at least 1.30 lakh to

complete their undergraduate course,

which is quite rare when compared to any

other public university. The department

offi cials said 18 out of 30 students havealready been admitted to the course.l

National PoetryFestival 2014begins tomorrownArif Ahmed

A two-day long poetry festival is set to

begin tomorrow on the premises of Dha-

ka Universitys Central Library where

hundreds of poets will join and recite

their poems.

Organisers of the programme said

along with the Bangladeshi poets, 30

other poets from India, Nepal, Bhutan,

Italy, Syria, Australia and America will

join the countrys largest poetry festival.

Jatiya Kabita Parishad is organising

the National Poetry Festival 2014.

Convener of the festival Prof Muham-

mad Samad, at a press conference at the

Dhaka Reporters Unity in city said the fes-

tival would feature elaborate programs,

including recitation of poems, songs on

language movement, seminar and photo

exhibition on poets and poetry.

He added that a colourful procession

will be brought out from the venue of

the programme where renowned poets

and litterateurs from both Bangladesh

and India will participate.Among others, Jatiya Kabita Pari-

shads President Habibullah Siraji, and

General Secretary Aslam Sani were

present at the press conference. The

country has been observing the festival

since 1987.l

RECRUITMENT OF FOOD INSPECTORS

HC rules illegal fooddirectorates decision toincrease viva marksnNazmus Sakib

The High Court has declared illegal a

decision by a government food depart-

ment to increase by 10 percent the viva

marks for a recruitment exam for food

inspectors last year.

A joint HC bench led by Justice Far-

ah Mahbub made the ruling yesterday

after hearing a writ petition filed by

lawyer ZI Khan Panna.

Shahdin Malik, who represented the

petitioner, claimed that increasing the

viva marks from 20% to 30% was made

with mala fide intention.

Through the verdict, the HC for the

first time gave a ruling on this type of

cases involving (government) appoint-

ments, Malik said.

The HC ruling also restored the orig-

inally allotted 20% marks for the viva,

scrapping the food departments deci-

sion.

The petition, made in public inter-

est, stated that on September 21, 2010,

the Directorate General of Food under

the food ministry had issued a job cir-

cular for appointing 328 food inspec-

tors, 175 deputy inspectors and 403

assistant inspectors.

The circular declared that a written

examination would be held for 80% ofmarks, followed by a viva for 20%.

However, after the written exam last

year, an order was issued in June in-

creasing the viva marks to 30%, leaving

70% for the written test.

Earlier on October 3, the High Court

had issued a rule on the food director-

ate asking why the decision to increase

the viva marks should not be declared

illegal. l

College principalsues BCL president

nOur Correspondent, Sylhet

A Sylhet-based college principal sued the

institutions Chhatra League president

for extortion and vandalising his room.

Modon Mohon College Principal Prof

Abul Fateh Fattah had filed the case

against Arun Debonath Sagor Wednes-

day night. The principal said Sagor in-

cluding 10-15 of his supporters have

been accused in the case.

According to the case, on Sunday,

the Chhatra League president came tothe college and phoned the principal,

asking to meet him. At one point of the

meeting, the president asked for money

for Saraswati Puja. When the principal

denied, Sagor and his men vandalised

the principals room. Teachers have

been observing an indefinite strike from

Monday, protesting the incident. l


6/21

6 NationDHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, January 31, 2014

Invitation for Tenders

GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH

1 Ministry/Division Ministry of Railways.

2 Agency Bangladesh Railway.

3 Procuring En ti ty Name Chief Signal & Te lecommun icat ion Eng ineer/West , Bangladesh Rai lwayRajshahi.

4 Procuring Entity Code Not used at present.

5

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Print Edition: January 31, 2014