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The joint forces on Monday arrested BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her younger son Arafat Rahman on charges of corruption.
   Khaleda was sent to jail after a court rejected her bail petition. Arafat was placed on a seven-day remand.
   This is for the first time Khaleda has been arrested since she entered politics in 1983.
   Her eldest son, Tarique Rahman, has been in jail since his arrest by the joint forces March 7.
   Khaleda in the court termed the graft charge against her as ‘false, ‘fabricated and a tool of harassment’ filed only to split her party by keeping her in confinement.
   The police arrested Khaleda and Arafat at her Shaheed Mainul Road residence at Dhaka Cantonment early Monday and drove them straight to the chief metropolitan magistrate court. Large contingents of lawmen, including Rapid Action Battalion in uniform and plain clothes, were deployed around the court since early morning. The lawmen kept watch also from rooftops of surrounding buildings.
   Khaleda was produced in the court of metropolitan magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah at about 8:00am. She was shown arrested in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission on Sunday night.
   Golam Shahriar Chowdhury, a deputy director of the commission, filed the case with Tejgaon police accusing Khaleda, Arafat and 11 others of causing more than Tk 1,000 crore loss to the government by awarding a contract of container handling of the Inland Container Depot at Kamalapur and Chittagong port to an incompetent firm, Global Agro-Trade Company Private Limited, in 2003.
   Wearing an off-white saree and carrying a handbag, a smiling Khaleda entered the courtroom at 8:15am. She signed six vokalatnamas for her counsels and seeking bail in the corruption case.
   Three of the lawyers, Sanaullah Miah, Masud Ahmed Talukder and Mahbub Uddin Khokan, were allowed to talk to the former prime minister about the case.
   Khaleda was allowed to sit on chair facing the prosecution in the court and proceedings started at about 8:20am. Her son, Arafat, also sat beside her.
   On behalf of the prosecution, an assistant commissioner, Mokbul Hossain, read out the first information report of the case.
   Khaleda was seen smiling and moving her head in a negative gesture as the prosecution was reading the FIR.
   Mokbul told the court that the lawmen had arrested Khaleda at her Shaheed Mainul Road residence in the morning in connection with the case.
   ‘She is the prime accused and named in the FIR. So she should be kept confined in the jail for the sake of investigation of the case,’ the prosecution said.
   A total of 10 lawyers defended Khaleda in the court. The lawyers and the court engaged in a brief debate whether Khaleda could seek bail as the complainant appealed to bring the case under the emergency power rules of 2007.
   The defence pleaded that they deserve the right to seek bail as it was only a proposal and not yet sanctioned by the government.
   Submitting the bail prayer, Rafiqul Islam told the court that there was no cognizable offence in the case.
   ‘A prime minister has to sign a document only as per rules of business after being approved by the ministry concerned,’ he said.
   Terming the case ‘false’, Sanaullah Miah submitted that there was no specific allegation against Khaleda.
   ‘The process of floating the tender for container handling in the ICD and Chittagong port was perfect and the contract was awarded maintaining all procedure,’ he said.
   Masud Ahmed Talukder told the court that a prime minister can only approve a contractor selected by the authorities concerned. By approving the GATCO as the contractor, Khaleda Zia did not make any mistake, he contended.
   Khorshed Alam, a senior lawyer, submitted that the case was ‘false and politically motivated’.
   ‘The allegation has been brought against Khaleda Zia more than nine months after she handed over power to the caretaker government. The nation knows why the case has been filed,’ he said.
   After argument of the defence, Khaleda herself told the court she was innocent.
   ‘The case is false, politically motivated and it has been filed only to harass me. If I had agreed to go into exile along with my family, the case might not have been filed against me,’ she said seeking bail and appealing that she be acquitted of the charge.
   ‘I expect justice from you,’ she appealed to the court.
   The magistrate did not record any of the statements Khaleda made for more than 10 minutes.
   After hearing both the sides, the court rejected the bail petition and ordered Khaleda to be sent to jail. The order was issued at 9:35am.
   The same court placed Arafat, also an accused in the case, on a seven-day police remand. Khaleda was seen defending Arafat during the hearing of the remand.
   After the court order, Khaleda hugged her son in the courtroom before the lawmen took them out separately.
   Khaleda announced expulsion of Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Ashraf Hossain from the post of the BNP secretary general and joint secretary general respectively.
   She said her adviser Hannan Shah would assist acting secretary general Khondokar Delwar Hossain in running the party.
   The lawmen did not allow Khaleda to talk anymore and took her out of the courtroom.
   A five-member women police team, led by assistant commissioner Rebeca, escorted Khaleda to the jeep parked outside the old court building.
   As Khaleda came out of the court, several hundred people and lawyers greeted her chanting ‘madam’, ‘Khaleda’. She responded by waving to the crowd before boarding the jeep waiting outside. But there were no senior party leaders in the court area.
   More than 200 newsmen also crowded the court since early in the morning to cover the proceedings but only a few were allowed to enter the courtroom on the ground floor of the old court building. The small courtroom was already jam-packed with the lawmen.
   From the court she was driven straight to the special jail in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex. The newly-constructed residence of parliament speaker was made a special jail and for keeping Khaleda there.
   Traffic remained halted on the busy Johnson Road in old Dhaka, shops were closed and even court activities did not start until Khaleda was taken out at about 10:00am.
   Hundreds of curious people crowded both sides of the road but the lawmen did not allow them to come closer.
   Earlier, the lawmen, including RAB, detective police, Aanti-Ccorruption Commission members and joint forces’ taskforce, went to Khaleda Zia’s residence at Dhaka Cantonment in a convoy of about 40 vehicles. A large contingent of police cordoned off the house soon after the case was filed with Tejgaon police.
   Several hundred newsmen from both the print and electronic media thronged the Shaheed Jahangir gate since early morning but none of them was allowed to enter the cantonment.
   As the lawmen entered the residence at about 5:00am, Arafat came out of the house and asked the reason. The lawmen said they had warrant for the arrest of Arafat and his mother, said sources present during the raid.
   Khaleda then appeared and sought some time to get ready.
   The lawmen came out of the house at about 7:45am. Both the mother and son were driven straight to the court in separate vehicles – Khaleda in a grey Nissan Patrol Jeep and Arafat in a red Pajero jeep. The security convoy followed the two.
   Khaleda, widow of former president Ziaur Rahman, was made the BNP chairperson after the government of Justice Abdus Sattar was forced out of office by General Hussein Muhammad Ershad on March 24, 1982. Sattar took over the charge of the party after the assassination of Zia in an abortive coup on May 30, 1981.
   In her political career, Khaleda was briefly placed under house-arrest during the Ershad regime before the general elections in 1986. Her party did not take part in the election

A court in Dhaka on Monday placed Arafat Rahman, arrested along with his mother Khaleda Zia, on seven days’ remand for interrogation in connection with a graft case.
   Khaleda, who was prime minister twice, and her younger son Arafat are among the 13 persons being sued by the Anti-Corruption Commission for their alleged involvement in giving a dubious and inexperienced company the contract for container handling in the Inland Container Depot in Dhaka and Chittagong Port to get monetary benefit.
   The joint forces arrested BNP’s chairperson and her younger son Arafat at their cantonment residence on early Monday and produced them in metropolitan magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah’s court.
   Officials of the ACC filed two petitions with the court. One petition said, ‘The accused former prime minister should be sent to jail for the sake of investigation of the graft case,’ while another petition said, ‘Arafat should be placed on a ten-day remand for interrogation.’
   Opposing the remanding of Arafat, Khaleda Zia, who was sitting beside him, pleaded, ‘He is sick, and he was remanded earlier after law-enforcers picked him from my cantonment residence.’
   Khaleda also told the court that her sons had not committed any crime as they did not need money. Her elder son, Tarique Rahman, also joint secretary-general of BNP, was remanded for four days by the court on March 8 for interrogation over an extortion case. Tarique is now in jail on a detention order issued by government.
   Arafat, wearing a T-shirt and jeans, said nothing but seemed nervous. Lawyers loyal to the BNP opposed remand the ACC’s prayer for remand and sought bail for him. But magistrate ABM Abdul Fattah granted the plea for seven days remand for Arafat Rahman.
   Khaleda hugged Arafat and held him in her arms for two minutes before the police separated the two and took away Arafat. Arafat was sent on remand, and Khaleda was taken to the special sub-jail in a house in the premises of the parliament.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Monday called upon people, irrespective of their opinions, to stand against political persecution and plot to malign politicians.
   She said conspirators were out to jeopardise Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty and stop the country’s democratic forward march by hindering the electoral process.
   ‘I call upon you all, no matter whatever parties you have allegiance to, to come forward to raise your voices against harassment and repression and maligning of politicians in various ways including filing of false cases,’ the former prime minister said in the court after her arrest in the morning. ‘All should work together to ensure that law takes its own course.’
   Rejecting the charges in the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission against her and her son, Arafat Rahman, she said her confinement is a plot to split the BNP and keep her family away from the country’s future politics.
   ‘Today, they are conspiring not only against me, but also against the country and its people,’ Khaleda said in her 13-minute speech before being sent to jail. ‘The conspirators are out to jeopardise the independence and sovereignty of the country and stop the democratic forward march by hindering the electoral process.’
   She also alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to destroy the BNP. ‘Had I agreed to go into exile, no case would have been filed against me. But I am a patriot so I will not go anywhere and I have no address other than Bangladesh. I was born in this country and will die here.’
   She also expressed her confidence that the conspirators would not be able to destroy her party and the people would foil the plot against the national interests.
   ‘The BNP exists and will last overcoming all conspiracies. We will not allow anyone to act against the country’s independence and sovereignty,’ she said and asked the countrymen to pray for her early return to politics.
   In an oblique reference to the intervention that led to the cancellation of the January 22, 2007 general elections, the BNP chairperson said that if polls were held right now, her party would win with a comfortable majority and form the next government.
   About the case, Khaleda claimed that it was nothing but a conspiracy. ‘I am innocent. False cases have been lodged against us to harass us.’
   Despite interruptions, Khaleda continued to say: ‘We do not need money. The people’s support we enjoy is our greatest asset. Their love and support are the most precious things I have ever got in my life.’
   She told the court that she had been treated as a detainee in her own residence since the promulgation of a state of emergency.
   Khaleda said she did neither influence anybody nor had she been influenced by anybody. ‘I did whatever I considered good for the nation,’ she said.
   She expressed the hope that she would get justice saying, ‘The court is the last resort for the citizens. I want justice, so does my son. Please look into the matter and make sure that none is harassed in the process.’
   Recalling the contribution of her husband late president Ziaur Rahman, to the country’s development, she said his assassination could not end the nationalist politics nor could it ruin the BNP.
   ‘I was not interested in joining politics. It was the people and the student community who compelled me to come to politics and lead the party,’ Khaleda said recalling her joining politics in the early 1980s.
   ‘I along with others had to struggle for nine years to restore democracy. Our struggle was also to protect the national sovereignty,’ she said and added that she had faced harassment and repressions including house arrest.

Two top conformist leaders in BNP on Monday said the party would not take part in any discussion with the Election Commission on electoral reforms until the government releases party chairperson Khaleda Zia and relaxes restrictions on political activities.
   ‘We will not join in any discussion with the Election Commission keeping her (Khaleda Zia) in jail,’ acting BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain told a briefing at his residence.
   BNP chairperson’s adviser ASM Hannan Shah echoed Delwar, saying ‘We will not consider holding any discussion about any reforms, within and outside the party, until and unless the chairperson is freed,’ he said.
   ‘We will not join in the dialogue with the Election Commission. The council session of the party will not be held,’ he added.
   Earlier on August 12, acting Awami League president Zillur Rahman told newsmen that the AL could not take part in any discussion with the EC on electoral reforms until restrictions on political activities were relaxed.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Monday expelled party secretary general Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and joint secretary general Ashraf Hossain accusing them of breaching party discipline and conspiring to split the party.
   She appointed standing committee member Khandaker Delwar Hossain as secretary general of the party.
   Exercising the authority vested in her as the party chairperson by articles 5 (GA) and 8 (KHA) of the party constitution, Khaleda made the changes through three letters addressed to Mannan Bhuiyan, Ashraf, and Delwar.
   The former prime minister signed the letters on Sunday, hours before her arrest the next morning on charge of corruption.
   BNP chairperson’s adviser ASM Hannan Shah read out the letters on expulsion of two of the party’s top office-bearers before a news briefing at Delwar’s residence on Monday.
   Earlier, while leaving the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate of Dhaka in the morning, Khaleda also told reporters about Bhuiyan’s expulsion.
   In the letter addressed to Bhuiyan, Khaleda blamed him for holding meetings with the ‘so-called reformists’ amid the state of emergency and ban on politics. ‘You [Bhuiyan] formed various personal opinions on party reforms and internal affairs, which had then been shared with the media without the approval of the party council, standing committee and chairperson,’ the letter reads. It says, ‘Such actions were aimed at splitting the party and opposed to its discipline, constitution, interests and regulations.’
   The BNP chief also cancelled Bhuiyan and Ashraf’s primary party membership.
   She called upon all leaders and activists of the party to cooperate with the acting secretary general. Delwar will be assisted by Hannan Shah and joint secretary general Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Khaleda said.
   Since the promulgation of the state of emergency, both Bhuiyan and Ashraf have been advocating sweeping reforms in the party while Hannan and Gayeshwar stood loyal to Khaleda against the dissidents.
   In an instant reaction to Khaleda’s arrest, the newly appointed acting secretary general, Delwar, on Monday demanded her immediate release, terming the allegations levelled at the BNP chairperson conspiratorial and baseless.
   Delwar said a panel of lawyers would be appointed to free the party chief.
   Asked how the party would be run with the chairperson in detention, he said, ‘There is no provision in the party constitution for appointing an acting chairperson. But, the chairperson can appoint a secretary general.’

Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan has rejected his expulsion from the party and the post of secretary general as per an order from the party chief Khaleda Zia prior to her arrest Monday morning, terming the step ‘undemocratic, unconstitutional and unacceptable’.
   He said he had learned from the media that the BNP chairperson expelled him and his deputy Ashraf Hossain.
   ‘This announcement regarding expulsion is undemocratic, unconstitutional and unacceptable. I strongly reject the chairperson’s declaration,’ Mannan Bhuiyan told a briefing at his Gulshan house in the afternoon.
   Bhuiyan described the arrest of Khaleda Zia and sending her to jail as a ‘sad event’ and said that legal procedures would determine her future.
   ‘We are still in BNP,’ he said, ruling out the idea of floating a new party.
   He said he would talk to leaders and activists of the party about next steps to counter the expulsion order, which, he said, came at a time ‘when the party is in severe crisis, when efforts to strengthen the party’s unity become the prime need.’
   Expulsion orders were ‘conducive to the party’s disunity,’ he said.
   He claimed that the efforts made by him and his colleagues were intended to reorganise the party and salvage the party’s sliding image.
   Bhuiyan urged leaders and activists of all tiers of the party to follow the ideals of patriotism, honesty and
   sincerity of party’s founder late president Ziaur Rahman and implement the reforms move initiated by them in recent times.
   ‘At the same time, I urge all not to be confused by any undemocratic action like the expulsion order,’ Bhuiyan said.
   Being reminded that the past secretaries general were also changed in the same manner; Bhuyan said those moves were at least discussed in the party standing committee meeting.
   ‘Holding power does not necessitate its misuse,’ he replied when asked that the party chairperson has the authority to hire or fire anybody without discussing others.
   At the same briefing, BNP standing committee member Mahbubur Rahman read out a statement of about 130 leaders of the party’s national executive committee that mostly echoed Bhuiyan’s statement. Names of leaders were included in the statement, but there was no signature.
   ‘Begum Khaleda Zia has pushed the party towards division by expelling the party secretary general and a joint-secretary general in an undemocratic process,’ the statement said.
   Senior leaders loyal to Bhuiyan started rushing to his residence as the news of his expulsion spread.
   They had a series of close-door meetings until 4:00pm to determine next steps.
   Among the standing committee members, only Mahbubur Rahman was present at the meeting. Party chief’s advisers ZA Khan, Abdul Hakim and Mufazzal Karim, vice-chairmen Hafiz Uddin Ahmed and Chowdhury Kamal Ibne Yusuf, expelled joint-secretary general Ashraf Hossain, former lawmakers Zahiruddin Swapan, Sardar Sakhawat Hossian Bakul, SA Sultan, Shah Mohammad Abul Hossain, Ali Newaz Mahmud Khayam, Masur Arun, Nazir Hossain, Nasirul Huq Sabu, Ziaul Huq Mollah, Masud Arun and Shariar Aktar Bulu were among the leaders present at the meeting.

The concerned authorities suspect there might have been an underhand deal behind the agreement between the Dhaka City Corporation and Belhasa Accom JV and Associates and its local agent, the Orion Group, for construction of the proposed Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover in the city.
   The LGRD and cooperatives ministry at a meeting with its adviser, Anwarul Iqbal, on Monday decided to send the relevant documents to the advisory committee on economic affairs for further review of the agreement.
   The implementation of the flyover project came to a stop as the chairman of the Orion Group, Obaidur Rahman, who has been accused of misappropriating nearly Tk 600 crore from a private bank, has been absconding following the army-led joint forces’ drive against corruption and serious crime.
   The meeting, attended by experts and representatives from the authorities concerned, observed that there were some clauses in the agreement that go against the interest of the country.
   ‘As per the agreement, the government will not be able to take up any development projects in the area that may affect the traffic through the flyover. This is obviously against the interest of the country,’ Iqbal told reporters after the meeting.
   He said the matter would again be placed in the meeting of the advisory committee on economic affairs for review of the total plan of the Tk 670 crore flyover project.
   The authorities decided to omit several ramps of the proposed Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover from the original design for reducing obstructions to traffic movement on the roads under the flyover. There were also reports of flaws in the flyover’s design.
   The government awarded Belhasa-Accom JV the contract to construct the flyover on a build-own-operate-transfer scheme. The agreement on the flyover proposal of the DCC with the private company was approved on June 20, 2005 after the law ministry vetted the agreement.
   On June 4, 2006, former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia laid the foundation stone of the 8-km flyover from Gulistan to Jatrabari.
   The construction company has already completed ‘test piling’ which will be followed by ‘root piling’ before the main work begins as per the modified design.
   The flyover is scheduled for completion in three years, but the work on the project has not progressed due to various complications including infrastructure reconstruction of utility services. If the project is implemented, this will be the third flyover in the city and the first one constructed on a build-own-operate-transfer scheme.
   Urban planning experts believe the Tk 670 crore Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover project, undertaken by the BNP-Jamaat government, should be thoroughly reviewed as it has been politically influenced to protect the interest of a vested interest group.
   Sources involved in the project allege that the upward revision of the estimate was done to keep the toll rate high and the 24-year toll period unchanged.
   The revised estimate, which shows that it will require over Tk 126 crore for infrastructure reconstruction of the utility services, prompted the Prime Minister’s Office to form an inquiry committee led by the then vice-chancellor of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
   The committee, in its report submitted on February 8, 2006, said that it would require only Tk 6.5 crore for the reconstruction work.

Some public universities outside Dhaka may reopen before Ramadan while resumption of academic activities in Dhaka and Rajshahi universities remains uncertain in the backdrop of arrest of some teachers and students.
   Education adviser Ayub Quadri told vice-chancellors of 27 public universities at a meeting Monday that the government would have no objection if any university decided to resume classes as per approval of the respective syndicate.
   ‘The ministry will issue formal letters to the universities within two or three days requesting them to reopen at their convenient time and if circumstances allow them. Vice-chancellors are very much eager to reopen their institutions,’ the adviser said after the meeting.
   ‘I hope some of them, especially those outside Dhaka, will reopen before Ramadan.’
   But Dhaka University VC professor SMA Faiz and Rajshahi University VC professor M Altaf Hossain said they are not sure when their syndicates will meet. They did not give any hint that the two universities would resume academic activities ‘very soon’.
   ‘We held a very fruitful meeting. From the government’s side, there will be no objection if the authorities decide to reopen their institutions,’ he said. The National University will announce reopening of colleges in the divisional headquarters in a couple of days.
   The government ordered closure of all public universities and colleges in six divisional headquarters on August 22 in the wake of student protests at Dhaka University that also spread to city streets and different campuses across the country.
   Following the incidents between August 20 and 22, a number of cases were filed implicating about 87,000 persons, including students and teachers, across the country. Most public universities are dogged by session jams and the closure of the institutions for indefinite period will further prolong the academic life of more than 10 lakh students, campus insiders said.
   The universities will need to begin admission process very soon as the results of higher secondary certificate and equivalent examinations were published on August 26.

Prison personnel are keeping a close watch on detained politicians and political activists in different jails and hospitals to avert any untoward incident following the arrest of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
   ‘We have asked the jail supers and other prison officials to closely monitor the movements of all detained political leaders and activists at every prison,’ the deputy inspector general of prisons, Shamsul Haider Siddiqui, said on Monday.
   The detained politicians who are now undergoing treatment at hospitals outside the jails are also under strict vigilance of prison officials and guards, Shamsul Haider said, adding, ‘We don’t want to give them any chances.’
   Prison officials said, apart from ensuring security of the two former prime ministers, Awami League president Sheikh Hasina and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, now confined in special jails set up in two houses on the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban premises, their main concern at the moment was to prevent any disturbance in jails.
   Hundreds of political leaders, including around 60 high-profile ones, have been detained since the Fakhruddin Ahmed-led interim government in January launched its drives against crime and corruption across the country.
   Of the VIP prisoners, 45 are now in the Dhaka Central Jail, the country’s largest but most crowded prison, and various hospitals in the capital, including the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University.
   Certain politicians known as master conspirators in politics are under round-the-clock vigil, a senior prison official told New Age. ‘Do you think all of them will sit idle in this situation?’
   He said the surveillance was most intense in the Dhaka Central Jail, which also houses hardened criminals, convicts of Bangabandhu murder, and Islamist militants in a jam-packed condition.
   The prison directorate has warned its intelligence unit to keep constant vigil on all affairs of the jails, with a special focus on the visitors to detained politicians and their behavioural patterns.
   ‘But, we find it hard to handle the jail affairs smoothly due to the acute shortage of manpower and logistic facilities,’ the official said.
   He said the prison authorities had to engage a number of officials and guards to man the two special jails. ‘We brought them from other jails as ensuring the security of Hasina and Khaleda is our top priority.’
   Among the political bigwigs detained in the Dhaka Central Jail are Nazmul Huda, Amanullah Aman, Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin, Ruhul Qudus Talukder Dulu, Mirza Abbas, Pankal Devnath, and Silver Selim.
   Salauddin Quader Chowdury and Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan are in the Comilla Central Jail, Mizanur Rahman Minu in the Rajshahi Central Jail, and Mohiudin Khan Alamgir and Ali Asgar Lobi in the Kashimpur jail-1.
   Abul Jalil, Kamal Ahmed Majumder, Tariqul Islam, Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, Obaidul Kader, Lutfozzaman Babar, and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim are undergoing treatment at the BSMMU.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, detained in a special jail in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban complex, has been provided with the facilities usually enjoyed by prisoners allowed division as per the jail code.
   Deputy inspector general of prisons (Dhaka division) Major Shamsul Haider Siddiqui, told New Age, ‘We have provided Khaleda Zia with all facilities as permitted by the jail code.’
   She is provided with seven newspapers at the special jail, sources said.
   To a query, Major Siddiqui said, ‘Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have been provided with the same facilities,’ adding, ‘I do not know whether Sheikh Hasina knows about the arrest of Khaleda Zia.’
   The distance between the two houses, where Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have been kept, is about 22 metres, he said in reply to another question at the entrance to the special jail.
   ‘Security at the special jail has been tightened with the deployment of additional forces of RAB and police and some jail guards, 20 of them male and four women, under the jurisdiction of a deputy jailer,’ he said.
   Siddiqui said, ‘Khaleda Zia did not look perturbed rather she was smiling when she was taken to the special jail asking the attendants for her daily requirements.’ He said the BNP chairperson would stay in a room on the first floor of the two storied house with plenty of air and light.
   A seven-room building allocated to the speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad was refurbished earlier with beds, a dressing table, sofa sets, ceiling fans, air conditioners, a fridge, a television set and utensils, he said.
   ‘Khaleda is quite well,’ Siddiqui said quoting physician Suraiya Begum, of the directorate of health who attended her at the special jail in the morning.
   The DIG (prisons) said Khaleda Zia was served with rice, lentil, vegetables and chicken in her lunch and rice, fish, lentil and vegetables in dinner on Monday.

A Thai criminal court on Monday approved a second arrest warrant for ousted and exiled premier Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife over corruption charges stemming from a controversial share sale.
   ‘The court approved an arrest warrant’ for Thaksin and his wife Pojaman, said Pornchai Asavawattanaporn, the deputy chief of the Justice Ministry’s Department of Special Investigations.
   The DSI is investigating the former first couple’s alleged fraudulent filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission over a 2003 listing of a property company owned by Thaksin’s family.
   It said the arrest warrant was issued as the couple repeatedly failed to appear in Bangkok to hear fraud charges. They currently live in Britain, where Thaksin has bought the Manchester City football club.
   Thaksin and Pojaman were already slapped with arrest warrants by the Supreme Court in August over separate graft charges over a real estate deal in 2003.
   The Supreme Court is set to consider on September 25 whether extradition proceedings should begin in that case.
   In the land controversy, Thaksin is accused of illegally influencing the deal to allow his wife to buy prime Bangkok real estate from a government agency for the bargain price of 772 million baht (22 million dollars), about one-third its estimated value.
   The couple have been placed on an immigration blacklist, meaning that they can be immediately arrested if they try to enter Thailand.
   But Thaksin has repeatedly said he will not return to the kingdom due to fears for his safety under the military-installed government. The couple have denied all the charges against them.
   Pichit Cheunban, a lawyer for Thaksin, said Monday he would inform the billionaire ex-premier of the second arrest warrant.
   Meanwhile, premier Surayud Chulanont said Monday the government was considering lifting martial law amid growing calls for its end before the nation’s post-coup elections in December.
   Martial law was imposed across the country a day after the military toppled Thaksin Shinawatra’s government on September 19, 2006.
   The junta in January lifted martial law in 41 provinces, including Bangkok. It remains in force in 35 other provinces, including Thaksin’s northern stronghold and the country’s restive Muslim-majority south.
   Surayud said a decision would be made only after the king signs off on the December 23 election date, probably some time in October.

The Anti-Corruption Commi-ssion on Monday claimed that the two former prime ministers, Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, are being prosecuted because of allegations against them filed by various persons and quarters.
   ‘The ACC received many complaints and allegations of corruption from different entities against the two former prime ministers, so it carried out preliminary inquiries into the allegations and found prima facie evidence against them,’ the ACC’s secretary, Mokhlesur Rahman, told reporters at a regular press briefing.
   He was asked whether the ACC lodged the first information reports against Hasina, the Awami League’s president, and Khaleda, the BNP’s chairperson, on its own motion or because of allegations filed by others.
   He answered that the cases were based on allegations by others, but refused to name them.
   He said that two officials of the ACC were appointed investigators of the cases and the probe into the corruption of the two former premiers had started on Monday. He, however, could not name the investigation officers.
   According to sources in the ACC, deputy director Zahirul Huda was appointed investigation officer in the case against Khaleda.
    The name of the investigation officer of Hasina’s case could not be obtained.
   ACC’s director Nasrin Ara Surat Amin told reporters, on being questioned, that she was yet to know the name of the investigation officers.

The United States and the United Kingdom have urged the government to ensure a proper and fair judicial process in trying former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia.
   Khaleda was arrested on early Monday in a graft case filed against her by the Anti-Corruption Commission and a magistrate court in the morning denied her bail and remanded in jail custody.
   In a statement, the British high commission in Dhaka said, ‘We are aware that former prime minister Khaleda Zia has been arrested. We call upon the caretaker government to ensure that due process is followed and the rule of law upheld.’
   The US embassy to Bangladesh said, ‘All individuals should be treated fairly and receive the full range of their legal and constitutional rights.  It is also incumbent upon the government to prove its case in a court of law.’
   ‘The embassy is following all cases to see if they meet international standards of due process,’ the statement added.

Law and information adviser Mainul Hosein on Monday termed the arrest of the two former prime ministers, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina, ‘revolutionary steps’ of the military-backed interim administration saying the government was now ‘more confident’ and thinking about review of its policies in different sectors.
   ‘Khaleda Zia has been arrested on a specific charge. As she was an elected representative, she might be charged with breach of trust for her alleged involvement in corruption of Tk 80 crore in connection with a container handling contract.’ Mainul told a news briefing at the information ministry five hours after the arrest of the BNP chairperson.
   Terming the arrest of Khaleda and Hasina a ‘revolutionary move of the present government’, the adviser said they would be given due honour during trials since both were former prime ministers.
   Awami League president Sheikh Hasina was arrested on July 16 on charge of ‘extortion’.
   ‘The arrest of Khaleda Zia has again proved that the government is strictly neutral in its drive against corruption,’ the law adviser said denying allegations of balancing acts in arresting political leaders. ‘They [Khaleda and Hasina] have been arrested on specific charges…Law enforcing agencies found sufficient evidences of irregularities against them and it is now the responsibility of the government to look into whether justice is being done to them.’
   Asked whether the government would now lift the ban on politics, the adviser said, ‘In fact, indoor politics is continuing. The government is planning to limit political activities by imposing some conditions…It is time to make policies reasonable. We are already considering lifting of restrictions on indoor politics.’
   He said the present crisis originated from politics and that was the reason the government should be cautious about politics. ‘The Dhaka University incidents have proved how a crisis could be created if there is an opportunity.’
   ‘It is clear from the Dhaka University incidents that the number of the people trying to embarrass the government and destabilise the country is very few. This has enhanced the confidence of the government,’ Mainul claimed.
   The government on August 22 clamped curfew on six cities to quell violent student protests triggered by scuffles between students and some army personnel on the Dhaka University campus on August 20.
   ‘Accountability and honesty of the politicians must be ensured to establish rule of law in the country and save lives and property of the citizens,’ the adviser said.
   ‘If the rulers cannot keep away from corruption, corrupt people become more encouraged and more active. So rulers should be accountable to the laws of the land,’ Mainul said. He, however, denied charges that the government was favouring some politicians in its drives against corruption.

Awami League acting president Zillur Rahman on Monday said BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia has the right to justice and she should get justice.
   ‘As a citizen and as a former prime minister of the country, Khaleda Zia has the right to get justice,’ Zillur told reporters at his Gulshan residence in the afternoon, without making a direct comment on the arrest of Khaleda Zia.
   Replying to a query, Zillur said that the arrest of Khaleda Zia would not balance the arrest of Awami League president Sheikh Hasina as the regimes of the two former prime ministers were totally different.
   ‘The regime of Sheikh Hasina government was a golden era for the country while Khaleda Zia established a regime of corruption and misrule. So it will be ridiculous to draw a parallel between the two arrests,’ he said.
   Zillur said Khaleda Zia always had problems in handing over power peacefully after completion of tenures, once in 1996 and again in 2006. He held the past BNP-Jamaat government responsible for the existing situation of the country.
   Replying to another query, the acting AL president said all corrupts, irrespective of parties and opinions, should be arrested.
   ‘It is unfortunate that the Anti-corruption Commission found no corruption charge against Tarique Rahman and an adviser to the interim government found all Jamaat leaders honest and innocent,’ he said.
   Zillur termed the corruption charges filed against AL president Sheikh Hasina as ‘false, baseless and intentional.’
   ‘Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana have no plot of land of their own in the city since the residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was made the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust,’ he said, adding that the allegation of taking bribe to purchase land for the Bangabandhu Memorial Trust is unbelievable.
   AL presidium members Matia Chowdhury and Ataur Rahman Khan Kaiser were among the party leaders present at Zillur’s residence at that time.

The army chief, General Moeen U Ahmed, on Monday said his forces would accomplish the task of preparing a voter list and national identity cards along with photographs with absolute professionalism to hold a credible election by 2008.
   ‘We assure you, we will accomplish the task with absolute professionalism,’ he said as the major cellular phone operators and a private bank donated army a total of 950 laptops as technical assistance to prepare the electoral roll and national ID cards.
   General Moeen said the donation would greatly help expedite the process of preparing the roll along with the ID cards to accomplish the task within the deadline of October 2008 under the election roadmap to stage the polls by the end of the next year.
   The army chief added that under the routine public procurement system, some 8,000 laptops would be reached to the army to assist the Election Commission to carryout the task while ‘your contribution will expedite the process of modern voter registration with biometric records’.
   General Moeen said army extended hands to the process as asked by the caretaker government, which took over on January 12 with a promise to hold a credible election.
   Warid Telecom topped the list of laptop contributors offering 500 laptops along with accessories to be followed by Grameenphone and Dutch Bangla Bank with 200 and 100 computers.
   City Cell, Bangla Link and Aktel contributed the process offering 50 laptops each.
   Senior officers of army headquarters and officials engaged in the voter list registration process were present as the top executives of the telecom companies and the bank presented the laptops on behalf of their respective organisations.

A Chittagong court on Monday sentenced Dastagir Chowdhury, former city unit general secretary of BNP, and his personal assistant Mohammad Shahjahan Mia to six years’ rigorous imprisonment in an extortion case.
   The judge of third metropolitan sessions judge’s court La Mong handed down the verdict. Jalal Mia, owner of a tea stall at Kadamtoli, filed the case on February 19.
   According to the prosecution, Dastagir and Shahjahan extorted Tk 8,000 and a gold chain from the cash counter of the tea stall. They demanded Tk 20,000 from Jalal, the prosecution said.
   The police submitted charge sheet on May 14 and the court framed charges against them on August 5. After examining seven witnesses in 20 working days, the judge gave the verdict. The joint forces picked up Dastagir, also a former deputy mayor of the Chittagong City Corporation, from his Kadamtoli residence on January 16 for his alleged involvement in criminal activities.

The government has suspended 12 more municipal chairmen while removed one in action under the Pourashava Ordinance 1977 as they are ‘under-trial prisoners in criminal cases’.
   The suspended chairmen are Manirul Haq Sakku (Comilla municipality), Md Sohrab Hossain Biswas (Narail municipality), Harun-ur-Rashid Azad (Noakhali municipality), Md Joynal Abedin (Khagrachari municipality), Enayet Kabir (Lalmohan municipality of Bhola district), Md Azaduddin Chowdhury (Ramgati municipality of Laksmipur, Kazi Fariduzzaman Tipu (Baufal municipality of Patuakhali district), Sajjad Karim Montu Miah(Moksudpur municipality of Gopalganj district), Haji Didar Pasha (Melandah municipality of Jamalpur district), Md Belayet Hossain (Ramgarh municipality of Khagrachari district), Akkas Ali (Bagha municipality of Rajshahi) and Md Sydur Rahman (Durgapur municipality).
   ‘Besides, chairman of Dhamrai municipality of Dhaka district Dewan Nazimuddin Manju has been removed,’ said an official announcement on Monday.
   Earlier, 12 municipal chairmen, 19 union parishad chairmen and 11 members were removed or suspended or their posts declared void on charges of corruption, money embezzlement, abuse of power, women repression, going abroad illegally, remaining absent from meeting for more than three days and for being accused in criminal cases.
   Of them, two UP chairmen were removed, two chairmen posts declared void and 15 suspended. Among the UP members, posts of six were declared void for remaining absent from meeting for more than three days and five posts declared void for going abroad illegally.

Janmastami, the celebration of the birthday of Lord Krishna and one of the biggest religious festivals of the Hindus, will be observed across the country today.
   Krishna is regarded as the epitome of transcendental qualities in the Hindu mythology. His mission was to free the earth from evil, destroy the wrongdoers and protect the pious. The Hindus worship Krishna as an incarnation of divinity.
   The day is a public holiday.
   Different religious organisations have arranged elaborate programmes including prayers of Krishna, puja, geeta jagna, kirtan, discussions, drama, rally and peace processions.
   The traditional Janmastami procession from the Dhakeshwari Temple will be brought out in the afternoon.
   The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, and the Awami League acting president, Zillur Rahman, have given separate messages felicitating the members of the Hindu community.
   In his message, president said, ‘Lord Krishna’s endless love for human beings and his endeavour to create a bond of friendship is known to all.’
   The chief adviser wished the Hindu community happiness, peace and progress on the occasion.
   The Awami League acting president also wished Hindu community peace and happiness.

The Dhaka University Teachers’ Association has urged the university authorities to take proper steps to remove the ‘sense of insecurity’ prevailing among the teachers and the students, and restore normalcy on the campus.
   A DUTA delegation made the request when they met DU vice-chancellor Professor SMA Faiz on Monday.
   The delegation included DUTA vice-president Professor Dr Tajmeri S Islam, joint secretary Mamun Ahmed, and executive members Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Professor Sadeka Halim, Professor Shajahan Miah and Sukumar Barua.
   When contacted, Professor Arefin Siddique told the news agency that they informed the VC of the situation on the campus.
   ‘We told the VC that the teachers were in panic… afraid of moving freely. We also demanded proper steps to restore normalcy on the campus gradually,’ he said.
   Professor Arefin Siddique said the DUTA delegation also urged the university authorities to contact the government to ensure that the teachers and students were not subjected to any harassment.

The government has postponed its decision to increase the tuition fees for the MBBS students in public medical colleges, sources in the health ministry said.
   Earlier the government decided to increase the annual tuition fees for the medical students from Tk 400 to Tk 1,000 each and hostel seat rent from Tk 60 to Tk 500.
   Professor Khandaker M Shefayet Ullah, director of medical education wing under Directorate General of Health Services, told New Age on Monday that considering the students’ sufferings, the government postponed the decision that was taken in July.
   The new fees were set to be implemented from the upcoming session for MBBS and BDS courses beginning in November.
   Shefayet also said that the distribution of admission forms for the MBBS course will begin at the end of this month while the admission tests will be held at the end of October.
   The government had already taken decision to bring major changes in the admission process in medical and dental colleges from the next academic session, he added, saying that the government has also plans to take help from the law enforcing agencies during the admission tests to stop irregularities in the written examination.
   According to the new admission rules, if a candidate answers wrong, he or she will lose 0.25 per cent of marks in the written test.
   Candidates having minimum GPA 8 in the SSC and HSC examinations and at least 3 point in biology can take part in the admission tests. Applicants from tribal community will require minimum GPA-3 in the SSC and HSC exams to qualify for medical education.
   There are 2,120 seats in the 15 public medical colleges, including Armed Forces Medical College, in the country. Of the total seats, 40 are reserved for freedom fighters’ children, 20 for indigenous students and 80 for foreign students including 50 seats for SAARC countries.

Russia looks forward to expanding business contacts with Bangladesh under the auspicious of the two chambers of commerce and industry, as Dhaka and Moscow open talks for updating their ties in the changed context.
   Russia accords high importance to the visit of Bangladesh foreign adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury as ‘since 1991, this is the first arrival in Russia of a head of foreign affairs ministry of Bangladesh, said Russian foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin on Sunday.
   ‘We regard the foreign adviser’s visit as a significant stage in bilateral relations and as evidence of efforts to intensify our constructive dialogue on all issues of mutual concern.’
   Asked by journalists as to what the central features of the bilateral talks between Iftekhar Chowdhury and Russian foreign minister Surgei Lavrov will be, the Russian spokesman stated: ‘They will focus on regional and international problems within the framework of the upcoming UN General Assembly session.
   ‘Both sides have constant approaches towards the problem of the formation of world pattern ensuring global security and stability. Our two countries are for the central role of the UN and its Security Council in maintaining peace and continuing efforts of the world community against international terrorism.’
   He also remarked that the two ministers would discuss arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation issues.
   The spokesman also stated that ‘bilateral cooperation in trade and economy, culture and education would also be on the agenda’, as will ‘mutually advantageous relations on the energy sector’.
   Meanwhile, the Bangladesh foreign adviser, who arrived in Moscow Sunday, said: ‘I’m looking forward to our talks starting tomorrow with deputy prime minister Naryshkin, foreign minister Lavrov and other Russian colleagues.’
   The two countries will work to convert their many commonalities to ‘much greater cooperation’.

Around 500 Afghan policemen have been killed in growing violence linked to Taliban attacks and anti-opium efforts in the past five months, the government said Monday.
   Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary described the death rate for the fledgling force as ‘very high’ but could not provide figures from last year for comparison.
   ‘About 500 policemen have died this year,’ he told reporters, referring to the Afghan year, which starts March 21.
   ‘They were martyred not only providing security but also in fighting insurgents, participating in poppy eradication activities as well as fighting drug traffickers,’ he said.
   Most of the deaths were in the country’s south and east where Taliban insurgents are most active and poppy cultivation is at its highest, he said after the media briefing.
   Afghanistan’s internationally trained police force, which now numbers 70,000 out of a planned 82,000, is often on the frontline of the Taliban insurgency, taking on army-type duties.
   In a report released last week, the independent International Crisis Group cited interior ministry figures that said nearly 630 policemen and officers were ‘killed in action’ in the year to March 2007.
   The high death rate was due in part ‘to the fact that ill-equipped and trained police are used inappropriately as a fighting force,’ the report said.
   Many police were seen by insurgents as ‘vulnerable, badly equipped representatives of the government,’ it said. Casualty figures for the Afghan army were much lower, the report said.
   The United Nations annual survey on opium cultivation, also released last month, said 15 Afghan police personnel were killed this year taking part in the eradication of opium fields as part of a crackdown on drugs production.
   Opium production shot up 34 per cent this year, it said. Afghanistan’s produces 93 per cent of the world’s opium, the raw ingredient of heroin.
   The drugs trade is said to finance part of the Taliban insurgency, which has intensified this year and left around 4,000 people dead, most of them rebels.
   Hundreds of civilians have also been killed as have more than 150 international soldiers, according to an AFP count.

Indian and global media reports claiming that a suspect of India’s Hyderabad blasts was arrested in Bangladesh have stunned authorities in Dhaka.
   Bangladesh authorities have denied the allegation of involvement of a Bangladeshi national in recent blasts in Hyderabad of India.
   Several Indian as well as international media on Monday reported that a Hyderabad blast suspect was held in Bangladesh.
   Indian private television channel, NDTV reported the man arrested by Bangladesh police was Sharifuddin, a Bangladesh national nicknamed Kanchan.
   ‘Bangladesh does not have any involvement in Hyderabad blasts. Foreign ministry will lodge its protest through diplomatic channel,’ home secretary Abdul Karim told New Age Monday.
   He said the international media reports that Bangladeshi national accused in Hyderabad blasts was arrested are unfounded. ‘We will verify the reports of different international and Indian media,’ Karim said.
   A high official of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said, ‘Such reports are baseless.’
   He denied any such arrest made by Bangladesh police.

Stalled talks on a deal between Pakistan military ruler Pervez Musharraf and former premier Benazir Bhutto are expected to resume soon, with the venue moving to Dubai, ministers said on Monday.
   Negotiations held in London last week between the two-time prime minister and president Musharraf’s top aides ended in deadlock, with Bhutto saying that she would fly back to the crisis-hit Islamic republic regardless.
   ‘Our stand is that dialogue should continue,’ the information minister, Muhammad Ali Durrani, said, despite the failure so far to thrash out a power-sharing deal between the embattled general and his bitter rival.
   He confirmed that Musharraf’s top aide was in the Gulf emirate and said that it would ‘probably’ be the venue for further discussions, as reported in several newspapers here.
   The talks ran into trouble after the ruling Pakistan Muslim League Party opposed Bhutto’s demands that Musharraf should quit as army chief before being re-elected for another five-year term as president.
   Bhutto said he should also cede his powers to dissolve parliament, allow premiers to serve a third term and give an amnesty to herself and other politicians covering her two terms in power between 1989 and 1996.
   ‘It is expected that the talks will be resumed,’ deputy information minister Tariq Azeem said.
   Azeem said some of Bhutto’s demands were ‘unrealistic’ but would not elaborate, adding only: ‘If the demands are realistic, there are more chances of reaching an understanding.’
   Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party confirmed that the ex-premier would be in Dubai late Monday. But spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the visit was ‘not linked to the dialogue’.
   Bhutto held secret talks with Musharraf in Abu Dhabi in July.
   She said on Saturday that she would end her self-imposed exile over corruption charges and announce the date of her return on September 14.

Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim, the senior most judge of the appellate division of the Supreme Court, will perform as the acting Chief Justice
   during the absence of Chief Justice M Ruhul Amin from September 8 to 16 or until rejoining of the chief justice to his own duties.

Four persons, including three of a family, were killed and two others injured as a passenger train rammed an auto-rickshaw at the Dogoria level crossing under Nangalkot upazila in the district Monday morning.
   Three of the dead were identified as Abdul Kadir, 60, his wife Mirunnessa, 45 and son Ibrahim, 9, of Narayanpur village under the Manoharganj police station. The injured were admitted to Comilla Medical College Hospital.
   Witnesses said that the accident took place at about 10:30am when a Dhaka-bound Samata express train hit a Laksam-bound auto-rickshaw at Dogoria, five kilometres off Nangalkot station.
   Railway sources said that there was no pointsman at the level crossing at the time of the accident.
   Train communication between Noakhali and other parts remained suspended for about one and half an hours after the accident. High officials of the railway and district administration visited the spot.

Writer Pranab Bhatta died of cardiac complications at his residence in Dhaka on Monday.
   A former customs official, Bhatta is survived by his wife and two sons. Family members said at around 11:00am he complained chest pain and was rushed to Monwara Hospital where doctors advised him to go home. After returning home, Bhatta fell sick and died.
   Pranab Bhatta was born in Noakhali on January 5, 1950. He studied at Noakhali College and Chittagong University. He was an MA in Bangla literature. He authored more than 200 books of novels and short stories. He won a number of literary awards. His funeral will be held at his ancestral home today.

The US president, George W Bush, is so preoccupied with Iraq he is neglecting Asia and allowing China to take a greater leadership role, a former senior US official said in remarks published Monday.
   ‘In every measure, China is making real hay right throughout Asia,’ Richard Armitage, Bush’s former deputy secretary of state told The Australian newspaper in an interview.
   ‘Right now, we’re just so preoccupied with Iraq that we’re ignoring Asia totally.’
   Armitage also criticised the secretary of state, Condoleeza Rice, for skipping two out of three annual meetings which bring the US together with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
   ‘In almost every measure – military budgets, population growths, the need for raw materials – our interests will force us back to Asia.’
   Armitage said there was a danger of Chinese leadership in Asia surpassing that of the US.