Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested eight people from Maghbazar and Mowchak areas in Dhaka city last night allegedly for spreading rumour on social media over tomorrow’s national election.
A team of Rab-2 conducted drives in the areas and arrested them, said Rab sources.
The Rab members recovered video making equipment, laptop and mobile phone sets from their possession.
Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sayeed Khokon today said all the temporary election camps set up during the 11th national polls will be removed within the quickest possible time.
The Mayor said this while inaugurating removal work of makeshift election camps at Segunbagicha in the city on Saturday.
Sayeed Khokon said that earlier instruction was given to remove all election-related posters, banners, and other campaign materials within next 48 hours. Most of them were removed by this time while some are still visible in differed areas of the city, he said.
"If you see any poster, banner or festoon on flyover or in any other place then you will inform us to keep the city clean," Khokon said.
"We want to remove all the temporary election camps so that people can walk freely on pavements and we can keep our city clean," he added.
It is alarming to learn from a recent report that some members of a law enforcement agency, allegedly connected to a local Awami League leader in Dhaka, may have planted evidence to implicate an individual in a firearms possession case. The plight of such victims, and the apparent ease with which evidence can be manipulated, underscore the urgent need for accountability within our law enforcement agencies.
The case details show that on the night of March 30, a Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) team arrested two men in the capital's Madhya Pirerbagh area, accusing them of fleeing on a motorbike while in possession of a firearm. However, security camera footage from that night, a written statement from a Rab member present at the scene, a witness account, and allegations from one of the arrestee's family members present a different story. These sources indicate that the men were allegedly picked up in a microbus by several Rab officers from another location, and were not attempting to flee on a motorbike. In fact, footage shows two Rab members (later identified by their team) riding a motorbike that belonged to one of the arrestees.
One of the arrested men alleges that he was detained, handcuffed, and transported to another location in a microbus. He claims that Rab officers later instructed him to lift the seat of his motorbike, which they had brought there, where he then found a revolver and bullets allegedly placed there by the officers. His mother also accused Rab officers of framing her son at the request of a local Awami League leader, his business rival. In April, she filed a case against several Rab members and the leader in question. In response to her complaint, Rab also formed a three-member committee to investigate the incident.
This disturbing case of "arms recovery" echoes numerous reports from the previous regime where evidence was tampered with or planted to falsely implicate innocent individuals. Given the interim government's commitment to enhancing law and order, it is imperative that all such cases are thoroughly investigated or re-investigated, with strict disciplinary action taken against guilty officials. Besides, the authorities must ensure that instances of arbitrary arrests and frivolous cases do not recur. They should also thoroughly reform the accountability mechanisms within all law enforcement agencies, not just the police. Allegations of this gravity should be handled by independent investigators rather than internal committees, as the latter often failed to meet public expectations for impartiality in the past.
The High Court (HC) today rejected a writ petition that challenged the legality of oath taking by lawmakers elected in the December 30 general election.
The court came up with the order saying that there is nothing illegal in taking oath taken by the lawmakers as they took charges of their offices on January 30.
The HC bench of Justice Sheikh Hassan Arif and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil passed the order.
Earlier on February 6, the court concluded hearing on the petition and fixed today (February 18) for passing an order.
On that day, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon argued that oath taking by the lawmakers on January 3 was unconstitutional as the tenure of the 10th parliament expired on January 28.
“Therefore, there were two parliaments from January 3 to January 28 -- which is unconstitutional,” he told the court on February 6.
Attorney General MahbubeyAlamhad argued that as new lawmakers took charge on January 30, oath taking was not illegal.
Faster internet service has been switched back on 37 hours into its suspension.
The 3G and 4G service have been resumed at 10:00am, a spokesperson with the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) told The Daily Star this morning.
Most of the private telecommunications operators also confirmed about it.
The services were switched off at 9:00pm on December 30 (election day) three hours after restoring the mobile internet.
During the period, people were not able to use the internet on their phones, stream or upload pictures or videos.
This the third time the telecom regulator shut down the 3G and 4G services in last two days.
According to the BTRC, there were 8.78 crore active internet connections in the country as of June this year and mobile phone connections accounted for 93.43 per cent.
As of November of 2018, over 6 crore people are currently using the 3G and 4G mobile internet.
According to BTRC data, there were 57.35 lakh broadband connections in November.
On December 26, the BTRC in a meeting with the International Internet Gateway representatives said social media sites, especially Facebook, would be blocked if needed.
BTRC in the night of the following day slowed down mobile internet by shutting down 3G and 4G services. However, the service was restored on Friday morning 10 hours into its suspension.
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has pressed charges against Regent Group Chairman Mohammad Shahed and its Managing Director Masud Parvez in a case filed over possessing fake notes of Tk 1.14 lakh in July this year.
Mohammad Zakir Hossain, a sub-inspector of Rab-1 and also the investigation officer of the case, yesterday submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka, showing 13 people as prosecution witnesses.
The charge sheet will be placed before the court on November 22 for its next course of action.
According to the prosecution, it was alleged that a team of Rab-1 raided a house at Sector-11, Road 20, House 62 of Uttara Paschim around 8:40pm on July 15 and seized fake notes of Tk 1,14,500 from their possession.
Later, Rab filed a case against them with Uttara Paschim Police Station under the Special Powers Act-1974.
On September 28, Shahed was convicted for life in jail for possessing firearms.
Shahed, accused in over 56 cases, was arrested on July 15 from Satkhira when he was leaving the country on a boat while Masud was arrested from Gazipur on July 14.
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