Dhaka: Bangladesh police on Thursday arrested the editor of the Bengali daily 'Amar Desh', a pro-opposition newspaper, on charges of sedition and inciting religious tension. Plainclothesmen picked up Mahmudur Rahman in a raid on the newspaper office at Karwan Bazar area and police said he was taken away for initial interrogation.
Police said Rahman had been arrested on the basis of evidence obtained after investigations on various charges including cyber crimes. "We have arrested him in a case filed against him in December," a Dhaka police spokesman said, adding that he was also accused of publishing false and derogatory information that incited religious tension.
The December case against Rahman relates to hacking and publishing of leaked calls between a judge of the 1971 war crimes tribunal and an expatriate jurist, police said. A Dhaka court allowed him to be remanded to police custody for 13 days when he was brought before a magistrate after police interrogation.
59-year-old Rahman's arrest came amid growing demands by non-partisan youngsters, waging a campaign for strict punishment for 1971 war criminals under the banner of Ganajagaran Mancha, for carrying out "misleading propaganda" calling them "atheists". The ruling Awami League leaders accused the daily of inciting violence during recent political unrest prompting the government to launch a virtual crackdown on BNP and arrest nearly a dozen of its top leaders....
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06:31 PM, Apr 11, 2013
Several buses were set afire and crude bombs exploded as Bangladesh's main opposition BNP and its right-wing allies enforced a two-day nationwide strike from Monday for the release of their detained leaders and cadres. Capital Dhaka and several other cities witnessed sporadic violence during the anti-government protests but no casualty was reported. ...
08:51 PM, Mar 18, 2013
42 years after Bangladesh was liberated, it is resonating with nationalist chants that are demanding hanging of war criminals and are looking for closure to the country's darkest chapter. ...
04:42 PM, Mar 17, 2013
Bangladesh police on Thursday arrested a sub-district chairman and local leader of fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for inciting attacks on Hindus and temples in southeastern Chittagong as minorities appeared to be targets of past two weeks of violence over 1971 war crimes trial. ...
08:57 AM, Mar 15, 2013
As many as 154 opposition activists, who were detained during a raid on their headquarters Monday night, were sent to jail Tuesday in connection with two assault cases against them. The Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court in Dhaka passed the order sending the activists to jail after they were produced before it, Xinhua reported. ...
11:40 PM, Mar 12, 2013
Three to four crude bombs were hurled at the office of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Naya Paltan, where a meeting of the party was going on. However, no one was injured. ...
08:46 PM, Mar 11, 2013
Protests in Dhaka pressing for a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islaami continued after its vice president was sentenced to death for 1971 war crimes by a tribunal. The JI has scaled up its agitation and a policeman was killed in clashes with its activists on Sunday. ...
10:00 PM, Mar 10, 2013
Bangladesh's main opposition BNP and its ally Jamaat-E-Islami have once again called for nationwide bandh and protest on Sunday, demanding death penalty for those found guilty of war crimes in 1971. However, normalcy prevailed in Dhaka barring few pockets. ...
12:40 PM, Mar 10, 2013
Bangladesh's main opposition BNP called for a nationwide shutdown on Thursday after police fired tear gas shells and rubber bullets to break up anti-government protests, injuring scores. Police fired rubber bullets and teargas shells at a BNP demonstration after being attacked by activists of Jamaat-e-Islami at Nayapaltan. ...
11:40 PM, Mar 06, 2013
President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday night sent a strong message to Bangladesh, rocked by violence, counselling that political differences be resolved through dialogue and communal peace and harmony maintained. ...
10:31 PM, Mar 05, 2013
Bangladesh's key Opposition leader Khaleda Zia cancelled a plan meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday even as fresh violence marred his first foreign trip since taking over presidency. "We had fixed a time for Khaleda Zia to call on the President. The President was in fact looking forward to this meeting. An experience shows that during such hartals, the meeting with the President will not be suitable," said Indian ...
10:09 AM, Mar 04, 2013
Twenty one more people have been killed in clashes between Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) supporters and police taking the toll to about 80 after a tribunal awarded death penalty to Islamist leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee for 1971 war crimes. A two-day strike called by JI that started on Sunday coincided with President Pranab Mukherjee's maiden visit to the country. ...
09:20 AM, Mar 04, 2013
President Pranab Mukherjee is visiting Bangladesh on March 3-5, 2013 in a trip that is expected to take bilateral relations between the two neighbours to new heights. ...
07:22 AM, Mar 03, 2013
Expressing concern over eruption of violence in the country that has killed more than 46 people, the US has asked Bangladesh to help calm the ongoing situation and demanded citizens to engage in peaceful protest. ...
10:46 AM, Mar 02, 2013
Protesters clashed with police for the second day on Friday as the death toll rose to at least 44 from violence triggered by a death sentence given to an Islamic party leader for crimes linked to Bangladesh's 1971 independence war, police said. ...
08:00 AM, Mar 02, 2013
Bangladesh was on the boil on Thursday as at least 23 people, including three policemen, were killed and scores injured in violence after a death sentence was handed down to a top leader of the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami for "crimes against humanity" during the 1971 liberation war. The violence followed the verdict of the special Bangladeshi tribunal that handed down death penalty to Delwar Hossain Sayedee, vice-president of the party, amid...
08:17 PM, Feb 28, 2013
Thousands of people demonstrated in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka to demand a death sentence for an Islamic party leader accused of committing atrocities during the country's 1971 Liberation war. More than 5,000 people rallied on Wednesday after a special tribunal said it would deliver its verdict against Delwar Hossain Sayedee on Thursday. ...
10:59 PM, Feb 27, 2013
The Jamaat activists have been demanding punishment for bloggers who they accuse of maligning Islam. ...
08:32 AM, Feb 25, 2013
Two people were killed on Saturday in continuing violence in Bangladesh as supporters of the Jamaat-e-Islami party clashed with police while thousands of anti-Islamist protestors vowed to carry on their street campaign demanding death penalty for radical leaders being tried for alleged war crimes. ...
11:07 PM, Feb 23, 2013
Bangladesh remained tense as three people died in clashes during a bandh called by the country's right wing extremist party Jamaat-e-Islami to halt an ongoing trial of their top leaders for 1971 war crimes. The bandh was called in protest against the ongoing trial of the party's extremist leader, Abdul Quader Mollah, who was awarded life sentence. However, the government gave a nod to push for tougher sentences, which are...
09:28 AM, Feb 19, 2013
