Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today expressed his satisfaction over the judgement in Holey Artisan cafe attack case and said people’s confidence in the judiciary has established through the verdict.

“Militants cannot ger escaped during the reign of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and that has been proved through the verdict,” Quader came up with the remarks while addressing a function in Jashore this noon.

Claiming that the verdict as an ominous sign for those provide shelter to the militants, Quader also the road transport and bridges minister said the judgement has established a peaceful future of the people in the country.

Earlier in the day, a tribunal in Dhaka handed death penalty to seven militants for their involvement in 2016 Holey Artisan cafe attack that left 22 people, including 17 foreigners and two policemen dead.

The court acquitted Mizanur Rahman alias Boro Mizan from the case.

On July 1, 2016, armed militants stormed the Holey Artisan Bakery at the diplomatic zone in Dhaka’s Gulshan area.

The five gunmen, who held the diners’ hostage and were killed inside the upscale bakery in a commando operation launched to end the siege, are Nibrash Islam, Mir Sabeh Mubashir and Rohan Ibne Imtiaz, Khairul Islam Payel and Shafiqul Islam Uzzal.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the government will take harsh steps if health guidelines are not followed and social distancing is not maintained in public transport during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

"If people do not follow health guidelines and maintain social distancing, the country's coronavirus situation will deteriorate...the government may take harsh decisions again considering public interest," he said.

Quader, also the Awami League general secretary, came up with the warning while talking to officials of the bridges division through a videoconference from his official residence.

He urged transport owners and workers to abide by the government's rules and "set a humanitarian example".

The transport minister said the government has adjusted the fares of public transport so that the vehicles can run following the health guidelines and keep 50 percent seats vacant to help prevent coronavirus transmission.

The movement of public transport began today, he said, urging the law enforcement agencies, vigilance teams, mobile courts and bus terminal authorities to strictly monitor the sector.

Stressing the need for paying the salaries and arrears of the workers of the bridge division's projects, he instructed the project chiefs to ensure guidelines for project workers.

Bridges Division secretary Mohammed Belayet Hossain and senior officials of the division were present during the conference.

The United Kingdom has urged the Bangladesh authorities for a full, credible and transparent resolution of all complaints related to the conduct of the December 30 general elections.

“While I welcome the participation of all opposition parties in these elections, I am aware of credible accounts of obstacles, including arrests, that constrained or prevented campaigning by opposition parties, and of irregularities in the conduct of elections on polling day that prevented some people from voting,” said British Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field.

He came up with the comments in a press statement yesterday following the announcement of the unofficial results for the 11th Parliamentary Elections in Bangladesh.

“I deplore the acts of intimidation and unlawful violence that have taken place during the campaign period, and am deeply concerned by the incidents that led to so many deaths on polling day. My thoughts are with the families and friends of those who have lost loved ones,” the British minister said in the statement.

Terming free, fair, peaceful, and participatory elections essential to any functioning democracy, Minister Field said, “It is vital for the government and all political parties to now work together to address differences and find a way forward in line with the interests of the people of Bangladesh”.

Mentioning that the UK has a broad and important partnership with Bangladesh, and a significant Bangladeshi diaspora in the UK, Mark Field added, “We will continue to support the people of Bangladesh in their aspirations for a more stable, prosperous, and democratic future”.

President Abdul Hamid has invited Awami League President Sheikh Hasina to form government as she has gained the confidence of the majority of the members of the Parliament.

The invitation came after the current Premier Sheikh Hasina went to meet him at the Bangabhaban this afternoon, said Press Secretary to the president Joynal Abedin.

Earlier, Sheikh Hasina was unanimously elected chief of the Awami League Parliamentary Party (ALPP) for the 11th Jatiya Sangsad during the first session of ALPP this afternoon.

THE ELECTION RESULT

The Awami League-led Grand Alliance secured a landslide victory in the national election held on Sunday, December 30, winning in 288 out of 300 seats in the Jatiya Sangsad.

Four university students remain missing since they were allegedly picked up by plainclothes men in the capital's Farmgate area on Saturday, the day before national election.

Their families yesterday held a press conference at Crime Reporters' Association Bangladesh, demanding safe return of the youths.

The missing are: Abu Khaled Mohammad Jabed, 25, a third year student of Bangla at Asian University; Borhan Uddin, 26, English student at Stamford University; Rezaul Khalek, 24, final year student of Pharmacy at Manarat University; and Syed Maminul Hasan, 27, former student of a Unani Ayurvedic Medical College.

“We are very anxious about their fate, as we have been out of contact with them for two days,” said Jabed's brother-in-law Yeasin Karim at the press conference.

He urged law enforcers to rescue the youths or to produce them before the court if they were detained for any crime.

Some plainclothes men identifying themselves as law enforcers dragged them out of a bus in Farmgate on their way home in Mirpur-1 after shopping at Aziz Super Market, Yeasin said quoting a friend of theirs who was also in the bus but escaped detention.

“We contacted local police stations and other wings of law enforcement agencies but all denied picking Jabed up,” he said.

The families drew attention of national and international human rights organisations to be vocal for their release.

Contacted, Abdul Baten, additional commissioner (detectives) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police said they did not detain the youths.

Mufti Mahmud Khan, Rab's Legal and Media wing director also said they did not carry out any drive in Farmgate on that day.