An assault case was meanwhile filed against detained former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar in Netrakona while an extortion case was lodged against former AL lawmaker Advocate Rahmat Ali with a Gazipur court yesterday.

The joint forces yesterday arrested Dhamrai Pourasabha Chairman and local BNP leader Dewan Nazim Uddin Manju on different charges including land grabbing and extortion.

Our correspondent in Rajshahi reports: A Rajshahi Metropolitan Magistrate Court yesterday sent Mizanur Rahman Minu, Rajshahi district BNP Vice President Nazrul Huda and former city BNP general secretary Shafiqul Haque Milon to jail after they surrendered before it following a High Court (HC) order over an extortion case.

Earlier on May 28, an HC bench asked Minu and two others to surrender before the court within three weeks.

Shamsul Alam Khan, a governing body member of Evergreen Model College, filed the case with Rajpara Police Station on April 21 accusing 11 persons and Sub-Inspector Abdur Rahman Sarkar pressed charges against them on May 16.

According to charges, at the direction of Minu the accused waylaid Shamsul Alam at the Baharampur bypass intersection on March 29 and demanded Tk 4 lakh toll. They also assaulted him.

Minu allegedly called Shamsul and college Principal Abu Yusuf Selim at his office last year and requested them to include Nazrul and Milon in the college's governing body.

As Shamsul did not agree to do it, Nazrul, Milon and Sentu went to the college and demanded Tk 1 lakh toll on July 4 last year. They forcibly took away bricks worth Tk 25,000 and furniture worth Tk 13,000 from the college.

LOBI, OBAIDUL, MAMUN REMANDED
Lobi was placed on a three-day remand when police produced him before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court, Dhaka with a prayer for seven-day remand in the case filed against him on March 11 with Gulshan PS.

Complainant Zakaria Khan Julu accused Lobi of trespassing into his house, threatening on his life and plundering valuables from his house in Gulshan.

Lobi was arrested on February 5.

Giasuddin Al Mamun, business partner of BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Tarique Rahman, was also sent on a five-day remand in a criminal case.

Selim Malik, chairman of Japan Bangladesh Group, filed the case with the Gulshan PS on May 31 accusing Mamun and his two associates of extorting Tk 8.4 crore from him at different times between December 8, 2001 and December 20, 2006.

The other accused--Rajib Siraj Apu and Kawsar Zaman Bappi--have been absconding.

Mamun had earlier been remanded for 50 days in different cases.

AL leader Obaidul Quader was sent on a three-day police remand for further investigation into his anti-state activities. He was taken into custody in March and the court had sent him on detention under the Special Powers Act.

Obaidul was brought to the court from Kashimpur Jail where he had been put after his arrest on March 8.

CASE AGAINST BABAR
Our Correspondent in Netrakona reports, rice trader Mushfiqur Rahman of Khaliajuri in Netrakona filed an assault case with a district magistrate's court accusing Lutfozzaman Babar and 36 others including Babar's assistant personal secretary Mirja Haider.

In the case statement, the complainant said Babar forced him to withdraw the nomination paper he had submitted as an independent candidate to contest the general election in 2007 from Netrakona 4 constituency.

He also said on December 26 last year Babar and the other accused confined him to a house in Khaliajuri and asked him to withdraw the nomination paper so that Babar could win the election uncontested.

Babar also demanded Tk 1 lakh from Mushfiq for his release. As he failed to pay the toll, Babar and his cohorts beat him up.

The complainant also mentioned that Babar's associates, using Babar's influence and assistance, made crores of taka through terrorist activities, extortion and misappropriation of government property in the area during the five-year tenure of the immediate past government.

CASE AGAINST RAHMAT ALI
A Correspondent in Gazipur reports, retired army lance corporal Mohammad Ziarat Hossain of Dainikini village under Kaliakoir filed a case yesterday against former AL lawmaker Advocate Rahmat Ali and five others.

The case was filed with Cognizance Court-3 in Gazipur.

One of the accused in the case is Mujibur Rahman Yasin -- the one who earlier on Sunday filed a case with the same court against BNP standing committee member Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiqi. The four other accused are Liton, Abdul Wahab, Abdul Hakim and Rafiq Miah.

In his complaint, Ziarat alleged that the accused patronized by advocate Rahmat Ali intimidated him on different occasions.

When Hossain wished to make peace with the accused, they demanded Tk10 lakh from him. Hossain made a payment of Tk 1.15 lakh to Rahmat Ali at the residence of Mujibur Rahman Yasin on July 18, 2003.

As he was unable to pay the rest of the toll, the criminals forcefully constructed a road over Hossain's paternal property.

Hossain said he did not dare to talk about this matter publicly earlier as Rahmat Ali was a member of parliament.

Magistrate Humayun Kabir ordered the officer in charge of Kaliakoir Police Station to take necessary actions after investigating the matter.

Meanwhile, the charge-hearing of a graft case against former Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Nasim could not be held Wednesday as the defence counsel sought more time to start the hearing, reports UNB.

Seeking two weeks' time, Anisul Huq, the defence counsel for Nasim, told the special anti-graft court that the hearing should start in presence of the co-accused in the case. He informed the court that the co-accused, now on bail, left for Canada for treatment.

But public prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission opposed the defence counsel's plea.

After hearing both sides, Judge Shahed Nooruddin of the makeshift court set up at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, fixed today (Thursday) for order on the matter.

According to the case, the then telecommunications minister Nasim through abuse of power allowed WorldTel Holdings Limited to install 3 lakh digital telephones in the country without floating any tender.

Meanwhile, the army-led joint forces yesterday picked up SM Shahjahan Kabir, general secretary of the Fourth Class Employees Union of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), from the hospital compound.

The reason why Shahjahan was picked up could not be known immediately.

Hospital sources said Shahjahan has wealth worth around Tk 1 crore and allegedly earned a huge amount of money through appointing a good number of people in the DMCH in connivance with authorities in exchange for money.