Jatiya Party leader Ruhul Amin Hawlader today filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the Election Commission (EC) order that rejected his nomination on loan default ground.
Hawlader, a presidium member of JP and also a lawmaker, submitted the petition seeking HC directives upon the EC for accepting his nomination.
His lawyer advocate Ashik Al-Jalil told The Daily Star that the EC cancelled his nomination for Patuakhali-1 following a letter issued by the Bangladesh Bank stating that he is a loan defaulter of Shahjalal IslamiBank.
And Shahjalal Islami Bankhas allowed Hawlader to reschedule his bank loan but the EC did not considerthe matter when it heard the JP leader’s appeal filed challenging the rejection order of the returning officer, Jalil said.
The central bank has no authority to announce a person loan defaulter, the lawyer said adding that the bank which gives the loan only can declare a person loan defaulter. And Shahjalal IslamiBank has not declared Hawladeras a loan defaulter, he said.
Therefore, the EC’s decision to cancel his nomination is “illegal”, the lawyer added.
The HC may hear the petition later in the day.
Hawlader’s nomination was rejected by the returning officer concerned on December2 during scrutiny.
In a latest development, JP Chairman HM Ershad has made Hawlader his special assistant.
Related News
Body:
Alleging mass discrimination to push it out of election, major political opposition Jatiya Oikyafront says it is now depending on the vote of the people.
“It's too apparent, the arrangement is complete to oust Oikyafront from the election,” Dr Kamal Hossain, key leader of the alliance, said in a press statement.
He alleged that the government had made “the arrangement” by pulling strings of the administration, judiciary, law enforcers, goons and the Election Commission.
“At this point, the people's vote is our hope. Voters never made a mistake in the past and they never will,” Kamal said.
He hoped that people would unite and overcome all challenges to appear for voting at the centres during the election on Sunday.
Meanwhile, expressing concern over Kamal's safety, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) yesterday offered to provide security for him.
Kamal, also the convener of Jatiya Oikyafront, however said he will seek police security only if he feels the need for it.
Some DMP mid rank officials went to Kamal's chamber in Dhaka's Motijheel to discuss “security issues” around 12:10pm yesterday.
Prior to the meeting, several police teams took position in front of the chamber.
The meeting took place a day after a Jatiya Oikyafront delegation, led by Kamal, walked out of a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda following a heated exchange over the role of police during electioneering.
After meeting with the DMP, Kamal told reporters that the police officials said they would take security measures for him at both his house and chamber if needed.
“They even said they would provide transport security,” Kamal said.
Even though the DMP Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia was supposed to meet Kamal, he could not go due to some other commitment and sent his apologies, he added.
Deputy Commissioner of Motijheel Division Anwar Hossain claimed that Kamal has expressed satisfaction over the security measures taken for him by law enforcers.
“We're here as part of our regular duty. We had an open discussion and wanted to know if he [Kamal] has any observations regarding his security and he said he'll inform us over phone if he notices anything,” Anwar said.
Responding to a question on whether the alliance would stay in the election, Kamal said, “We have to hold on to this. So that they [rivals] cannot say that we moved away. This is our right. Why should we move away? If they make it impossible at the end of the day, then people will see.”
He also said, “The government's actions are casting doubt regarding the credibility and fairness of the polls.”
Meanwhile Bangladesh Police Service Association protested a comment about police made by Kamal during Tuesday's meeting with the CEC.
“His comment was motivated, objectionable and inconsiderate,” they said in a statement.
Kamal, at the meeting, had said some police officials were “acting like beasts".
Body:
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said she would not say anything about Sunday's national election.
She said this when reporters asked her about the election after a hearing of the Niko graft case at a makeshift court inside the Old Dhaka Central Jail.
As she was being taken back to her cell in a wheelchair, she said, “My legs ache too much.”
During the hearing, she told the court, “I won't come to the court if it sits at a place like this. The court can't run here. Our people can't come here. Give me sentence if you want….I won't come to this court.”
Judge Sheikh Hafizur Rahman of the Special Judge Court-9 of Dhaka said, “Start the charge hearing afresh as I am new in this case. I will hear everyone's speech.”
After that, Public Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission Mosharraf Hossain Kajol read out the charges against Khaleda and 10 others.
BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed, an accused in the case, told the court, “We are yet to get the documents stating the allegations against us although we have applied for them before. We need to read those documents to be able to fight the legal battle.”
He also said the setting of the court was not appropriate for holding a trial as there was no proper seating arrangement for lawyer and others.
Prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajol argued that the defense was trying to delay the charge framing by saying those things.
The court fixed January 13 for the next hearing.
The judge also kept a petition in the case file submitted by Attorney General Mahbubey Alam on November 22 last year seeking permission to produce an FBI agent and two Canadian police as witnesses before the court to testify.
On December 9, 2007, the ACC filed the case with Tejgaon Police Station accusing Khaleda and 10 others of abusing power to award a gas exploration and extraction deal to Canadian company Niko.
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.
Body:
Main opposition BNP today claimed that over 9,200 of its activists were arrested since the declaration of election schedule on November 8.
“Our activists were sued in 806 ghost cases since then,” Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, senior joint secretary of the party, said at a press conference at Nayapaltan.
He claimed, 12,588 activists of BNP and its alliance Jatiya Oikyafront were injured in 2,716 incidents of attacks throughout the country in the last 22 days.
So far, eight opposition activists have been killed in election violence, he added.
“The government is applying all its power to oust BNP and Jatiya Oikyafront from the election,” Rizvi claimed. “Our activists are targeted from rally footages.”
Body:
The families of two teenagers killed in Mohammadpur during a clash of Awami League factions ahead of the general election have been robbed of justice.
The family members of one of the victims said police submitted the final report in the case without talking to them. The report mentioned no clash even though it was widely covered by the media at that time. It termed the incident an “accident”.
Councillor Tarequzzaman Rajib of ward-33 also threatened the father of one of the victims not to file a murder case, they said.
A case was filed after the November 10, 2018, incident and the father of one of the teens was made the plaintiff.
The father maintains he did not file the case and that the signature on the case document could not be his since he is illiterate. He said Councillor Rajib put a gun to his head and told him to do as he said after the incident.
The families opened up to this paper only after Rajib was arrested this week.
On the morning of November 10, 2018, a procession of vehicles, largely comprised of flatbeds, with supporters of AL leader Sadek Khan was going towards the AL Dhanmondi office to buy nomination paper for Sadek’s candidacy in the polls.
Mohammad Sujon, 19, and Arif Hossain, 14, were on one of the pickup trucks when the procession was attacked allegedly by the men of rival AL leader and then lawmaker Jahangir Kabir Nanak.
During the melee Sujon and Arif fell off the vehicle and the driver, trying to avoid the brick chunks being hurled at the pickup, reversed and ran the two over, according to case documents, news reports, witness accounts, and statements of the families.
Sujan and Arif died in hospital.
Arif’s father Faruk Hossain was taken to a community centre in Mohammadpur when he was on his way to the hospital. He was confined there for 12 hours by Rajib’s men, Faruk told The Daily Star.
Late at night, Rajib, reportedly Nanak’s ally, at the community centre told Faruk to go to the police station to talk about getting the body of his son.
Faruk then went to the police station, gave his details, and told the officials there what he knew about the incident. He had no idea that police were filing a case making him the plaintiff. The police officials there asked him to identify the body at the Suhrawardy hospital, Faruk said.
On his way to the hospital from the police station, two men stopped him near Shia Masjid and took him to Rajib’s home.
Rajib told him at gunpoint to do as he said regarding the matter, Faruk told The Daily Star.
“You wouldn’t get anything if you file a murder case. Instead, you will be harassed and face the same consequences as your son. You are from Lalmonhon of Bhola and so am I. Do what I say. You will get a good compensation,” Faruk quoted Rajib as saying.
Faruk eventually identified his son’s body the next day.
Faruk said, “After the incident, I thought it was police who were the plaintiff in the case.
“This is my NID, sir. See, I can’t sign,” Faruk showed his NID to this correspondent which had his thumb print.
Faruk said not a single police officer talked to him about the investigation since then.
Sujon’s uncle Md Riaz told The Daily Star last night that the police never talked to them either.
He said councillor Rajib had promised them compensation and jobs for family members but he never delivered.
Sujon’s family did not know that the final report was submitted. They heard it first from The Daily Star correspondent.
After “investigating” the case for 11 months, police submitted the final report terming the incident an “accident”.
Police had arrested convener of Jubo League’s Adabar Thana unit Arifur Rahman Tuhin in connection with leading the attack but in the final report police said they found no evidence of Tuhin’s involvement.
Rajib, on behalf of then MP Nanak, had given Arif’s family Tk 30,000 and Sujon’s family Tk 25,000 as burial cost.
After the incident, AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader said the prime minister directed the authorities concerned to submit a probe report over the incident within two days.
Whoever is found involved would be given exemplary punishment, he had said, adding that the prime minister wanted to know “who destroyed the peaceful election environment”.
Sub-Inspector Mukul Ranjan of Mohammadpur police station, investigation officer (IO) of the case, said they submitted the final report of the case in the first week of this month as they could not find any evidence or witnesses.
Police also could not identify the pickup truck and its driver.
In the final report, police said the two factions of the ruling party came “face to face” near Mohammadi Homes Ltd on November 10 when the unidentified driver reversed in a hurry and could not see what was behind him. This led to the two getting run over.
The SI in his investigation found no evidence of the clash. He only said the two faction came “face to face”. The media, however, had extensive coverage of the incident.
They reported that the attackers, armed with hammers, sharp weapons and brick chunks, swooped on the procession of vehicles.
The IO said said Faruk did not know what had actually happened and had “filed the case” based on hearsay.
Taking to this newspaper, the SI claimed that he did not find anything in CCTV footage and no local wanted to be a witness.
Asked why the IO never contacted Faruk, the IO first claimed that he had contacted him but later said they could not reach him.
The IO claimed that Faruk had indeed filed the case.
At one stage of the conversation with this correspondent, the IO said he had written the final report with direction from a superior officer of Tejgaon Division Police.
Anisur Rahman, deputy commissioner (Tejgaon division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told The Daily Star that he had no knowledge about the development of the case as he joined the division only a few months ago.
“I will have to see the documents,” he added.
In November last year, Nanak said he had nothing to do with the attack on the procession.
Sadek had said that he did not want to blame anyone and demanded a proper investigation.
The Daily Star could not reach Nanak and Sadek for comments over the last few days.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. 
