Investigative Stories
Spin doctors go into overdrive ahead of polls
With the national election just around the corner, both pro-government and anti-government elements are out to manipulate public opinion through a vigorous campaign on social media platforms and private messaging apps, turning them into hotbeds of spin doctoring, disinformation and fake news.
Electronic Voting Machines: Tk 940cr lost due to poor upkeep
Electronic voting machines, first introduced in 2011 in Bangladesh, and touted as a great tool for voters to exercise their franchise, were adopted on a large scale for voting in six constituencies in 2018.
Of illegal sand lifting and Dipu Moni’s 15 letters
There were no signs of life on the Meghna river as our engine boat cut through the darkness on the night of October 5. It was around 12:30am.
Cardiac Implants For Children: Top hospitals using unauthorised devices
Unauthorised companies are smuggling a number of cardiac medical devices into the country and selling those to some of Dhaka’s top public and private hospitals without proper vetting, raising questions about health regulations and patient safety.
Barind Farmers: At mercy of ‘water lords’
On April 9, Mukul Soren, a Santal farmer in Rajshahi, drank pesticide in a suicide attempt over not getting irrigation water from the same deep tubewell that allegedly led to the suicide of two farmers, also Santals, last year.
S Alam's Aladdin's lamp
No official record of a single taka taken out of country, yet he and his wife obtain citizenship of Cyprus through investment, go on property-buying spree in Singapore
Graft is his middle name
Internal GCC enquiry upon directive of LGRD ministry exposes countless misdeeds of suspended mayor Zahangir Alam
Tk 2.60cr into thin air
A bank account was opened in the name of ex-mayor Zahangir Alam, and was later used for the transaction of Gazipur City Corporation’s money.
28 Axle Load Control Centres: Crucial RHD project runs into snag
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has failed to start the physical work of a project taken up two years ago for installing 28 axle load control centres despite a call by one of its wings for implementing axle load control on highways ungently to reduce road damages.
‘It felt like I was in a grave’
“I decided not to shave the beard. I’ve just trimmed it a bit, I think I quite like the beard,” laughed Shafiqul Islam Kajol, his eyes twinkling with amusement at the irony of keeping the large, shaggy, grey beard that grew out over his 53 days of enforced disappearance and seven months in prison.
Toxic ships sail in on false papers
In 2018, aged just 43, Mazidul Haque developed severe breathing problems, consulted a doctor and was diagnosed with asbestosis, a potentially fatal respiratory disease which scars the lungs. After more than a decade working in the shipbreaking yards of Chattogram, he lost his job, and the means to support his family.
Target forex reserve
The burgeoning forex reserve, now hovering around $40 billion, is turning a lot of heads, alarmingly though, as big borrowers shift their eyes from exhausted public banks to the secured coffers.
9 prison doctors for 90,000 inmates
Over 23 inmates are dying every month, amid a shortage of doctors, nurses, and ambulances, and poor medical facilities in 68 prisons of the country.
TRAFFICKED into nightmares
Transnational trafficking gangs allegedly backed by some ruling party men have long been using different border points of Jashore to traffic women and children to India.
YABA, CHARITY hand in glove?
The other side of Abdur Rahman Bodi, widely known as a yaba godfather, is quite intriguing. The former Awami League lawmaker has been spending roughly Tk 19 crore per annum for the last three years on distributing rice among 56,000 poor people in Teknaf every month.
Licence of lies
It is a piece of paper full of lies and yet it is the legal government document that allows a person to drink alcohol in Bangladesh.
Out of watch with legal shield
Almost every time any government agency tried to ensure accountability and transparency of the duty-free liquor trade, it found itself in a legal limbo. Over the last two decades, diplomatic bonded warehouses, who import duty-free liquor for diplomats and foreigners, filed writ after writ with the High Court challenging the legality of the government action.
