Himu's Window

Friday, January 29, 2010 A court here yesterday handed down death sentence to two JMB leaders for killing Rajshahi University teacher Muhammad Yunus five years ago. Of the two, Shahidullah alias Mahbub is married to a niece of Siddiqul Islam alias Bangla Bhai, now-executed JMB military commander. The other one, Shafiullah alias Tarek, is commander of Rajshahi district Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, the banned Islamist outfit. Besides sentencing them to death, Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal fined them each Tk 5,000. It however acquitted six other JMB men of the murder. They are Abu Isa alias Enamul Haque, Golamur Rahman alias Golam Mostafa, Abul Kashem alias Tufan, Abdul Matin alias Bomaru Matin, Abdur Rahman alias Arif and Zakir alias Jayed. Except Zakir, who has been on the run, all accused were produced before the court. Yunus, an economics professor at RU, was knifed to death while on a morning walk near the campus on December 24, 2004. The courtroom was ch

Thursday, January 28, 2010 A Rajshahi court hands down the verdict in the sensational Professor Muhammad Yunus murder case today. On completion of arguments in the case on December 31, Rajshahi Speedy Trial Tribunal fixed the verdict date on January 15. As the tribunal judge was on leave, the court deferred the judgment to January 28 (today), said Public Prosecutor Entajul Haque Babu. Prof Yunus of economics department of Rajshahi University was murdered while on morning walk near his Binodpur residence on December 24, 2004. Inspector Mohammad Helaluddin of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) pressed charges against eight militants of the banned Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh on September 10, 2007. The accused are Shafiullah Tarek (follower of Asadullah Al Galib), Shahidullah Mahbub (husband of the executed JMB leader Siddikul Islam Bangla Bhai's niece), JMB's regional commanders Abu Isa Enamul and Golamur Rahman Mostafa, militants Abul Kashem Tuf

Thursday, January 28, 2010 A fishing cat that fled from Rajshahi Central Zoo a week ago due to negligence of the authority was beaten to death at Haragram Sheikhpara area in the city yesterday. Fazlul Haque Bhulu of the area, his son Hikmat along with their dog chased the cat after he saw it near his house after Fazr prayers. Minutes later, the dog grabbed the cat's neck while Bhulu, Hikmat and other villagers beat it to death, said witnesses. The villagers declined to return the cat's carcass to the zoo authority. The cat managed its way out through a hole in the wired cage at the zoo last Wednesday, said Abul Kalam Azad, caretaker of the zoo. "We did not notice the hole beforehand," he said. On taking any legal action, Forhad Uddin, veterinary surgeon of the zoo, told The Daily Star they could not say anything until they got the cat's body. "In fact, the forest department is responsible for this." Afzal Hossain, officer-in-charge of

Sunday, January 24, 2010   The baby gharial that was captured from Padma river in Rajshahi 46 days ago died yesterday at Rajshahi Central Zoo. The authority recovered the body of the gharial at around 4:30pm after the zoo workers saw it was floating in the water upside down while they went to feed it, said the zoo's caretaker Abul Kalam Azad. Though the authorities considered the death of the baby gharial, one of the most critically endangered crocodilians on the globe and a near-extinct species in Bangladesh, was due to cold, experts blamed the zoo authority for their negligence. Forhad Uddin, veterinary surgeon of the zoo, said the gharial was kept in a tiny cage of tortoise where there was little scope of sunbath for it. "Gharial needs a temperature in between 24 degrees and 30 degrees Celsius for living, but the water temperature went down much below the requirement as the region was experiencing a cold wave". "The fishermen who captured it in

Wednesday, January 20, 2010   Seven personalities of Rajshahi were accorded a reception at a function held at a local community centre on Monday night. Abdus Samad and Begum Monwara Rahman were given posthumous honours. Samad dedicated his life to social welfare while Monwara was a Language Movement veteran. Musician Amaresh Roy Chowdhury, educationist Dwijendranath Banerjee and dance guru Bazlar Rahman Badal were honoured for their noteworthy contributions. Apart from the senior personalities, youngsters Moumita Tasrin Nadiraj and Miti Annesha were also accorded reception at the function. Nadiraj, a student of class nine, was adjudged second runner-up at Chhannel i Shera Kantho 2009 while Miti represented children of Rajshahi division at the Climate Conference in Copenhagen. The honoured individuals were given crests at the reception while the audience gave them a standing ovation. Rajshahi chapter of Bangladesh Cable Television Viewers Forum (BCTVF) arranged the

Monday, January 18, 2010 Police arrested two militant suspects from Bagmara upazila yesterday for their involvement in organising teens and youths under a secret militant outfit. They were identified as Majnu and Shahin Alalm. Both teens are nephews of convicted Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh leader and Bangla Bhai's associate Abul Hossain member of Rayapur. They were arrested from their houses at Rayapur village under the upazila, said sources in the police. Though the Officer-in-Charge of Bagmara Police Station Rafikul Islam said they were being interrogated. However, he declined to give any more details. Sources in the police said the two militants were recruiting youths for a secret outfit in exchange for Tk 1,000 each during the enrolment and a monthly salary of Tk 6,000. The youths were supposed to be provided with firearms and training in a few week, said the police sources adding a police team of the district detective branch had been monitoring the

Monday, January 18, 20 Speakers at a discussion here yesterday apprehended that the task of implementing Right to Information (RTI) law might face a major impediment if proper record management system is not developed. They said the country's record keeping system is outdated and suggested formulating a fresh law to incorporate preservation of information into the RTI law to ensure proper record keeping in government offices and other institutions. Supported by USAID and PROGATI, Mass-line Media Centre (MMC) organised the discussion on 'RTI law and citizens' right to know' at Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industries auditorium. SM Shameem Reza, information policy specialist from Dhaka University, read out a keynote paper at the event where Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Shefaul Karim was present as the chief guest. Florlis Geraedts, historian and archivist of the Netherlands, Muhammad Lutful Haque, general secretary of Campaign for RTI, Prof Moshiur Ra