In Rajshahi, a court acquitted former lawmaker and Rajshahi city BNP General Secretary Nadim Mostafa and seven other accused of a case filed for misappropriating corrugated iron sheets meant for the government relief fund yesterday, a day after Nadim and 11 of his thugs were sued in an extortion case with Puthia Police Station.

In Kushtia a fund misappropriation case was filed against former BNP lawmaker from Meherpur-1 Masud Arun.

DULU CASE
Our staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that Dulu along with 23 other arrested accused were produced before the court during the charge framing.

Judge Abdus Sattar Bhuiyan fixed Sunday to start trial of the case.

The arrested accused include Dulu's brothers-- Nabi Talukhdar and Rafik Talukhdar, cousins-- Atikur Rahman, Nurunnabi Talukhdar, Abidur Rahman and Mojibor Rahman, nephews-- Rentu, Belal, Helal and Bulbul, nephew-in-law Rahim Newaz, Natore municipal ward commissioners Sadrul Huda Dambel and Nasim Khan.

Meanwhile, Natore Additional District Magistrate Rawnak Mahmud recorded statements of three witnesses-- Feroza Begum, Abdul Momin and Jaheda Begum-- in other part of the case. The court will hear the other witnesses today.

Natore district Jatiya Chhatra Samaj President Asaduzzaman Shah filed the case with Naldanga Police Station (PS) on February 25 accusing 105 people.

Arman Hossain, officer-in-charge of Naldanga PS, submitted two separate charge sheets-- one for arson and looting and another under explosives act accusing total 94 persons months later on May 3.

According to charges, the accused persons launched a series of attacks at Ramsa Kazipur (Dulu's home village), Shahpara and Amtali Bazar on Dulu's directives to retaliate murder of his nephew Sabbir Ahmed Gama on February 7 in 2004.

Hearing the murder news, Dulu rushed to the scene and began the attacks torching Asaduzzaman's straw-made-house himself.

In a couple of days, some 37 households and shops were torched spraying gunpowder and belongings of these houses were also looted and damaged.

Dulu's armed cadres unleashed a reign of terror in the areas blasting bombs and firing gunshots, it was said in charge sheets.

NADIM ACQUITTED
Second Additional District And Session Judge's Court, Rajshahi yesterday acquitted Nadim and seven others of the charges saying the prosecution could not prove that the seized CI sheets were from the government relief fund, according to our Rajshahi correspondent.

The other acquitted are-- Selina Khatun, her husband Salek Sarkar, Abdur Rahman Sarker, Munsur Rahman, Rakib, Zahidul Islam and Rokonuzzaman Alam.

Puthia police seized 22 pieces of CI sheets from houses of Salek Sarker and his neighbours at Zamira village on February 25.

CASE AGAINST MASUD
Our Kushtia correspondent reported that Tonik Biswas, a farmer of Sailmari under Sadar upazila, yesterday filed a case against former lawmaker Masud Arun with a first class magistrate court.

Magistrate Sheikh Sahadat Hossain accepted the case and ordered the officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station to investigate the case.

According to the complainant, Masud encroached a water body at Sailmari used by about 200 farmers for pisciculture after he became a lawmaker in 2001.

Some locals were the owners of 8 acres of the 26-acre water body while the rest was government khas land, said the complainant.

In 2002, Masud ousted the farmers from the water body with the help of the outlawed party cadres and his gang members and occupied it, according to the complainant.

Later, Masud allowed his men to use the water body and collected Tk 20 lakh from them.

Masud, now in Dhaka for the last five months, told to this correspondent over cellphone yesterday that the case is false and filed to tarnish his image.