A Dhaka court today issued arrest warrant against BNP leader Mirza Abbas and 19 others in connection with two separate arson attack cases filed with Mirpur Police Station in June 2010.

After framing charges against a total of 46 people including the 20, Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mahbubur Rahman passed the order.

The court issued arrest warrant against the 20 as they did not appear before the court today. The court also directed the officer-in-charge of Mirpur Police Station to submit a report on the execution of the arrest warrant by October 10.

According to the prosecution, a group of BNP led the then 18-party alliance leaders and activists brought out a procession in the city’s Mirpur area on June 26, 2010 and carried out vandalism and arson attacks.

The High Court yesterday cleared the way for a lower court to continue the trial of a corruption case filed against BNP leader Mirza Abbas.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice KM Hafizul Alam, after hearing, passed an order rejecting a petition filed by Mirza Abbas for scrapping the case proceedings.

Following the HC order there is no legal bar on the court to continue the trial proceedings against Abbas, said Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, lawyer for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Abbas filed a petition with the HC on October 4 for scrapping the trial proceedings of the case.

ACC filed the case with Ramna Police Station on 2007 accusing Abbas of amassing illegal wealth beyond known sources of income and concealing information about his wealth.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has opened a Facebook page titled 'Rab Cyber News Verification Centre' to make people aware of false news and rumour spread during the upcoming general election.

Director General (DG) of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) Benazir Ahmed revealed it at a press conference regarding the elite force's preparation for the 11th parliamentary election at its media center in Dhaka's Karwan Bazar today.

If anyone becomes confused about any news, he/she will have to share it on the Facebook page and the Rab team will instantly reply it after verifying the truth, said the Rab DG.

Rab officials will work round the clock, he added.

He also said the Facebook page will remain open to counter all lies, rumours and false news centering the election slated for December 30.

A total of 10,000 Rab members have been deployed across the country ahead of the election, said the Rab DG.

"If anyone dares to carry out violence in any place, we will obstruct them and the force is ready to resist them," he added.

Two army helicopters will remain standby on the election day, he said adding, "A special force will be kept standby for travelling to any part of the country if needed."

Benazir also requested all to inform them any kind of violent incidents so that they can take instant action.