DT e-Paper, Saturday, 12 November, 2016

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2 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2016 DT News ‘What kind of justice is this?’ • Liakat Ali Badal, Rangpur “We were beaten and our houses were burnt to ashes after being looted. We were shot and wounded critically. And now they have handcuffed my ailing husband and tied a rope around his waist – what kind of justice is this?” Pani Murmu, the wife of a critically injured indigenous Santal undergoing treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital, posed the question while talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday afternoon. Her husband Charan Soren was shot by police during a clash between Santals and police on November 6 at Gobindaganj, Gaibandha. Demanding immediate arrest of those who attacked the Santals, Pani sought for the interference of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “There is no law in this country for us. The law is for the police,” she said in desperation. The bloody clash, where police were backed by a group of goons allegedly loyal to the local lawmaker, ultimately left three Santals killed at Madarpur and Joypur villages of Gobindaganj. During a spot visit to the hospital, this correspondent found severely wounded and handcuffed Charan Soren undergoing treatment at a surgical ward. Two policemen were guarding him. Charan, who was shot by rubber bullet, said: “A group of people aided Charan Soren by police evicted us from the land that belonged to our predecessors. They beat us and threw us out of our houses. They did not even allow us to take our belongings. They looted our valuables and set fire to our houses. “Police fired bullets at us indiscriminately when we tried to save our homes. I was shot at both my legs.” When he asked the police the reason for handcuffing, they said he had been accused in a violence case. As tears trickled down his cheeks Charan said he does not have the capability to bear the treatment cost. “The cost is being maintained by borrowed money and people’s donation.” Meanwhile, in orthopaedic Ward 31, this correspondent found a handcuffed Bimal Kisku, severely wounded by police bullets. He was put to sleep with sedatives due to severe pain. Assistant Sub-Inspector Asad was tying a rope around his waist. Bimal also was shot at the legs. The doctor on duty said Bimal’s condition was not very well. Bimal’s wife Chichil said: “Instead of filing a case against those who looted and burnt our houses, the police filed cases against the helpless indigenous people.” She said: “What kind of humanity is this when a critically injured man is handcuffed and tied with a rope!” ASI Asad said: “The handcuff has been put to prevent him from fleeing.” • Santal people’s fate remains unchanged • Nure Alam Durjoy and Tazul Islam, Gaibandha Fates of the Santal victims of Madarpur village in Gobindaganj, Gaibandha are unchanged six days into violent attacks on their homes. Death toll from the incident reached three as another Santal man Romesh Shoren, 40, died on Thursday while under treatment. Family members said Romesh died while undergoing treatment secretly to avoid arrest; however, police say it was a regular death. Gobindaganj police OC Subroto Kumer Sarker told the Dhaka Tribune it was a regular death and had no connection with the conflict. The village, close to Sahebganj-Bagda farm in Gobindaganj, was looted and burned down on November 6. The affected families have taken shelter in neighbouring villages. Victims said yesterday that they have been in the same state without any security since the attack. Men, women and children cannot go out of their shelters due to fear of further assaults on the streets, they said. Rather the administration has asked them to leave their shelters, they alleged. “We are still in the same state. If you people from Dhaka do not help us, where will we go?” said Bhupen Mardy, one of the victims. Gobindaganj UNO Abdul Hannan said: “We visited Madarpur village yesterday and assured them that their children can go to schools and they can go out of the villages. “We also gave them our contact Police: New JMB runs arms smuggling syndicate • Mohammad Jamil Khan Using loopholes in border security, the terrorist group New Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) is now smuggling arms into Bangladesh from India, police have said. Members of the old JMB hiding across the border in West Bengal are the suppliers of these weapons. The two groups mainly use the Chapainawabganj and Joypurhat borders to bring in the arms, sometimes putting them inside mango baskets and sometimes inside shopping bags. The weapons originate in Malda and Bihar in India. Information from the interrogation of four New JMB members in custody and also some Indian arms smugglers had unveiled this network, a senior officer from police DHAKA TRIBUNE Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTTC) unit told the Dhaka Tribune. The four terrorists are Mizanur Rahman, Toufiqul Islam, Abu Taher and Selim Miah, the officer said. Ahmedul Islam, Assistant Commissioner (AC) of CTTC, admitted yesterday that the police had uncovered some information on this and were analysing them. The outgoing director general of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed admitted that the force had limited capability to check smuggling of this nature. “We share a long border with India and we do not have sufficient capacity to check these activities,” he said. “We know that arms smugglers Losing everything, Santals of Gobindaganj, Gaibandha are now spending days under the sky. The photo was taken recently at Madarpur, Gobindaganj MEHEDI HASAN use sacks of rice or onion in big trucks to bring arms, but we have no vehicle scanners. It is quite impossible to check all these vehicles manually,” Maj Gen Ahmed said. BGB had placed demands to the Home Ministry for better equipment, the DG said. He pointed out that the lack of cooperation from law enforcement further aggravated the problem. “BGB members often check trucks manually based on intelligence reports and are sometimes successful in apprehending smugglers. The problem is, we do not got updates from the investigators once we turn the criminals in,” he said. Investigators say most of the arms used by New JMB came from India, even the modern AK-22 rifles. The modified AK -22 came from Bihar and entered Bangladesh through Chapainawbaganj. CTTC chief Monirul Islam says New JMB brought in the weapons through their own channels. “The militants did not take assistance from professional arms smugglers,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. “Although we have information that the AK-22s were modified in India, we are not sure where they were manufactured,” he said. According to investigators, New JMB leader Sagor of Joypurhat, Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan of Gaibandha and Mizanur alias Chhoto Mizan worked as arms carriers, bringing the weapons through the border, while former JMB leader Sohel Mahfuz, who currently works for New JMB, looks after the syndicate’s activities in numbers so that they can inform us whenever they need security. But the problem is that the Santals do not want to talk to us. So it will take time to improve the situation here,” he said. But fear remains in the affected community. They say they cannot trust anyone anymore. “We are still suffering. There is nothing to trust anymore,” said Sri Ezekiel, another villager. A five member delegation of ruling Awami League, comprising of central working committee members, will visit the Santal living areas in Gobindaganj tomorrow. Human rights activists and leaders of indigenous community yesterday demanded judicial inquiry into the incident and compensation for the people affected during the clash. • West Bengal. The group’s leaders Nurul Islam Marjan and Rajib Gandhi handled the arms after they were delivered into Bangladesh by the carriers. ADC Sanowar Hossain of CTTC said: “We have not found any connection between New JMB and any arms smuggler. They collect them through their own sources and bring them into Bangladesh through the border.” According to sources, New JMB leader Shariful Islam, Mamunur Rashid and Junayed Khan have fled to India after the Gulshan attack and joined hands with Sohel Mahfuz there, trying to increase their capacity by collecting firearms. “We are now trying to assess New JMB’s arms capacity,” ADC Sanowar said. •
News 3 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2016 DT Awami League getting strict with its own • Tribune Desk Awami League leadership has taken a tough stance on unruly behaviour of its leaders and activists as well as members of all its affiliates, in a bid to maintain the party’s image as well as its relationship with the public. The ruling party has recently has taken steps against a number of central leaders for their “disruptive and illegal activities”, and the party regulators have decided not to take responsibility for its members’ personal opinions and actions, party insiders told the Bangla Tribune. Awami League is committed to upholding discipline in the party. Anyone who harms that or undermines the government’s achievements will be punished The decision to have firmer control over party members came after they were accused of being involved – or found to be involved – in criminal activities that put the party in an embarrassing situation on several occasions. Sabbir Ahmed, general secretary of the Dhaka South unit of Chhatra League, the student affiliate, was expelled after he was seen toting a gun and shooting in broad daylight during a city eviction drive in Gulistan, Dhaka. A case was promptly filed against him as well. Meanwhile, three leaders of the local Awami League wing in Brahmanbaria’s Nasirnagar upazila were also expelled after they were found to have been involved in the vicious attack on the local Hindu community. Obaidul Quader, the newly elected general secretary, has said on several occasions that anyone compromising the party’s reputation will be dealt with accordingly. Senior leaders have said leaders and activist at all levels of the party would be informed of this new stance and would be instructed to maintain party reputation at all costs. Sources said Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is unhappy about Nasirnagar attack and local MP Obaidul Moktadir Chowdhury’s part in it. During a meeting of the party’s central committee on Wednesday, she said the situation in Nasirnagar spiralled out of control because of a conflict between Obaidul and Fisheries Minister Sayedul Haque, which was unacceptable. “I made him district president of the party. I put him in the central committee? Why is he behaving like this, then? I will take him out of the committee?” she told other leaders, according to the insiders. Sources said the upper echelon of the party is focused on maintaining the party’s image ahead of the next general elections, which is why the leaders are adamant about establishing discipline within the party and its affiliates. Awami League Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah said: “Awami League is committed to upholding discipline in the party. Anyone who causes harm to that, or undermines the achievements of the government, will be punished accordingly.” Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif reiterated Zafarullah’s stance. “Awami League is the people’s party. It will never support those who are in the wrong – no matter which party they belong to. No one who is guilty will be spared,” he said. • BNP: Nasirnagar attacks are a conspiracy Students from different educational institutions stage demonstration at Shahbagh, Dhaka yesterday, protesting communal attacks and demanding removal of Minister of Fisheries and Livestock MP Sayedul Hoque RAJIB DHAR Dawood Merchant sent to India • Tribune Online Report Notorious gangster Abdul Rauf Merchant, commonly known as Dawood Merchant, was deported to India last week, following his release from Dhaka Central Jail on November 6, reports The Hindu. Merchant was flown to Mumbai on Thursday morning and produced in the Bombay High Court. Merchant, a former aide of top Mumbai-based criminal cartel boss Dawood Ibrahim, was convicted for the 1997 murder of singer and founder of record label T-Series Gulshan Kumar in 2002 and sentenced to life imprisonment. He jumped parole in 2009 and reportedly moved into hiding in Bangladesh. He was arrested in Brahmanbaria in November 2009 for trespassing and possessing a fake Bangladeshi passport and was sent to Kashimpur jail in Gazipur. In November 2014, he was sent to Dhaka Central Jail after he was arrested – only four days after being released on bail – under Section 54 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which gives police the right to arrest anyone under suspicion. Since 2013, the Indian government has been pressing Bangladesh administration to fast-track his extradition. The talks gained pace in last couple of months since Merchant was up for release in the first week of November. Quoting top Indian police officials, The Hindu reports that Merchant was taken to Meghalaya by the Bangladeshi authorities and handed over to the Border Security Force, following his release from prison. A source in Bangladesh police high command, seeking anonymity, confirmed the matter to the Dhaka Tribune. A team of Mumbai Crime Branch officers went to Meghalaya on Wednesday to take his custody, The Hindu reported quoting Crime Branch officials. The Hindu says the whole extradition operation was conducted in close coordination by both the neighbouring governments with help from Interpol. However, an official statement says the BSF detained Merchant while he was trying to enter the country illegally. On November 11 last year, Anup Chetia, leader of the Indian separatist group United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa), was handed over to the Indian authorities. India in return, extradited Nur Hossain, the prime suspect in Narayanganj seven-murder case. Since then, rumours spread that Merchant might be handed over to India in exchange for notorious Bangladeshi criminals arrested in India and currently under Indian law enforcers’ custody. The process could not take place at the time as Merchant was accused in two cases. Later, he was released by the courts and he finally walked out of prison on Sunday. However, the jail authorities and the Ministry of Home Affairs said that he was released as he had fulfilled his sentence. • • Manik Miazee BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said Nasirnagar attacks are part of a conspiracy hatched by the ruling party as they benefit from countrywide unrest. Yesterday at a human chain programme in front of the National Press Club, Nazrul stated the attacks are plotted to harass opposition party leaders and activists. “The pre-independence era saw these types of incidents. Analysing history, when the opposition party tries to protest against the government, the government responds by attacking minorities,” he added. Nazrul once again raised the demand for a judicial committee to carry out a neutral investigation into the Nasirnagar incidents. The human chain was held under the banner of Samprodayik Sampriti Forum, an organisation which protects the rights of the minority societies. “The ruling party planned the attacks on minority groups in Nasirnagar for political benefits. All religious groups should unite to prevent these incidents,” said BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at the programme. Participants at the human chain demanded resignation of Fisheries Minister Sayedul Haque for his comments about Hindus. •
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Page 7 and 8: News 7 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2016
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