The attorney general's office today informed the High Court that detained BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and standing committee member Mirza Abbas have been given division facilities in jail.

Deputy Attorney General (DAG) Abdullah Al Mahmud Bashar also placed a letter issued to the HC by the law ministry section concerned during hearing of two writs seeking directives upon prison authorities to give division facilities to Fakhrul and Abbas in jail.

A prisoner is supposed to get a separate room, a bed, a table, a newspaper and some other facilities in jail if he or she is granted division facilities under the jail code.

Bashar also told the HC bench of Justice KM Kamrul Kader and Justice Mohammad Ali that the division facilities given to Fakhrul and Abbas was executed today and therefore, the writ petitions are ineffective.

The writ petitioners' lawyers requested the HC bench to order the government to produce necessary documents of execution of the division facilities before the court.

The bench then fixed 12:00pm tomorrow for hearing and passing order on this issue.

A section of pro-BNP lawyers including AJ Mohammad Ali, Zainul Abedin, AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Bodruddoza Badal, Kayser Kamal and Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal appeared for the writ petitioners during hearing of the petitions.

Earlier in the day, Fakhrul's wife Rahat Ara Begum and Abbas's wife Afroza Abbas submitted the writ petitions to the HC, saying their husbands deserve division facilities in jail under the jail code as they are former lawmakers and ministers.

BNP Secretary General Fakhrul and the party's standing committee member Abbas are now in jail in a case filed over the December-7 clash between police and BNP men in the capital's Nayapaltan area.

Hero Alom, the controversial Bangladesh social media personality, singer and actor, continues raising his stock internationally as Brut India publishes a video featuring his life and works so far.

In a 6-minute video aired on September 24, Hero Alom is called a singer who can't sing, an actor who can't act, and allowed to tell his side of what happened when he was picked up by the police in August of this year. 

"Hi, (ami) Hero Alom, eita Brut er jonne (Hi, I'm Hero Alom, this is for Brut)," is how Hero Alom starts the inetrview with his customary, accented Bangla. He goes on to speak of public perception of him, and how he feels about being insulted over and over again for simply doing things he wants to do. 

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The Bangladeshi Hero Political Compass

In usual Brut syle, the video does a great job letting Hero Alom tell his own story while painting an accurate picture of what he does, and how that is viewed across the world. As the title of the video says, it explores the "Hero" in Hero Alom, and looks at his case as a 21st century social media marvel, without passing opinion on what he should or should not be.   

The High Court today directed the authorities concerned to conduct inquiry into allegations against S Alam Group owner Mohammad Saiful Alam of amassing huge amounts of properties abroad, including a business empire worth about $1 billion in Singapore, without permission from Bangladesh Bank.

The Anti-Corruption Commission, Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police have been directed to conduct the inquiry and submit reports to the HC in two months, Deputy Attorney General Saifuddin Khaled told The Daily Star.

The court also issued a rule asking the authorities concerned of the government to explain why their failure to prevent the alleged activities of the S Alam Group owner should not be declared illegal.

The HC bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat Lizu issued the order and rule on a suo motu (voluntary) move following a report published on The Daily Star on August 4 under the headline "S Alam's Aladdin's Lamp".

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S Alam's Aladdin's lamp

Supreme Court lawyer Syed Sayedul Haque Suman placed the newspaper report before the HC bench seeking necessary directives.

The HC asked The Daily Star to submit the documents based on which the report was prepared to this court in two months.

According to the DS's investigative report, S Alam Group owner Saiful Alam has built a business empire in Singapore worth at least about $1 billion, although there is no record of him taking any permission from Bangladesh Bank to invest or transfer any funds abroad.

The Bangladesh central bank has so far allowed 17 companies to invest outside the country, and this Chattogram-based business giant is not on that list.

Yet in Singapore, Alam bought at least two hotels, two homes, one retail space, and other properties over the last one decade, all the while seeking to remove his name from the paper trails, documents cited by the report show.

Ashraful Hossain Alam, known as Hero Alam, will contest the by-election to the Dhaka-17 constituency, which fell vacant following the death of actor Akbar Hossain Pathan Farooque.

Hero Alam will buy a nomination form from the Election Commission at 3:00pm today, he told The Daily Star in the morning.

Asked why he wanted to participate in the Dhaka-17 by-polls, Hero Alam said, " Farooque bhai was a great hero. His death is a great loss to all of us. Various development works remain unfinished as he fell ill and passed away. I want to finish those unfinished works.

"People of the entire country love me now. I reached here facing many difficulties. I want to prove how much people love me by participating in Dhaka by-polls. I am sure the voters of Dhaka will vote for me," Hero Alam said.

Asked whether he would contest the national election from Dhaka, Hero Alam said, "I will participate in the national election either from Dhaka or from Bogura."

Hero Alam took part in the by-elections to Bogura-4 and Bogura-6 seats held in February. Although he lost in Bogura-6 with a big margin, he was defeated by Awami League-backed Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) candidate only by 834 votes in Bogura-4 constituency.

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Hero Alom: A revolutionary or a symptom?

The by-election to Dhaka-17 constituency will be held on July 17.

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Why are we so opposed to seeing Hero Alom in politics?

A three-member BNP delegation, led by its Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, yesterday met US Ambassador to Bangladesh Earl R Miller and discussed various issues relating to Sunday's national election.

The one and a half hours meeting that began at 10:00am was held at the US envoy's residence.

The two other BNP team members are BNP Standing Committee member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and Executive Committee member Tabith Awal.

There was no briefing from either side about the meeting.

A BNP leader close to Fakhrul said the BNP delegation informed the US envoy about their party's observations over the election and various “irregularities”.

He said the BNP team also provided Miller with documents, including paper cuttings and video clips, on “election irregularities and vote fraud”.

The BNP and its alliance partners faced a serious debacle in Sunday's general election as they got only seven seats out of 298.