Dhaka, Feb 10: Bangladesh captain Akbar Ali battled the pain of losing his elder sister while steering his team to the U-19 World Cup triumph, the tragedy far outweighing the challenges thrown at him by his adversaries on the ground.
Sunday's title triumph in Potchefstroom, South Africa was Bangladesh's first in an ICC tournament.
At the forefront of the country's win in the title clash against favourites and defending champions India was its 18-year-old skipper Akbar, whose elder sister Khadija Khatun died while giving birth to twins on January 22, according to a report in leading Bangladesh daily 'Prothom Alo'.
Akbar was not informed about the tragedy back home but he found out through one of his brothers.
"Akbar was closest to his sister. She loved Akbar a lot," Akbar's father was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
"We did not want to inform him at first. He then called after the Pakistan match and questioned his brother why he was not kept in the loop. I did not have the courage to talk to him. I don't know what to say," his father added.
In a low-scoring final, Bangladesh first bowled out India for 177 in 47.2 overs and then did well enough to chase down a revised target of 170 in 42.1 overs under the Duckworth-Lewis method. They had three wickets in hand when the winning runs were scored.
Having witnessed Bangladesh's victory against Zimbabwe in a Group C game on January 18, Khadija could not see her brother lead the country to its biggest cricketing triumph with a gritty, unbeaten 43.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Ranchi, Apr 4 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Friday conducted multi-state searches, including at the premises of the private secretary of former Jharkhand health minister Banna Gupta, as part of a money laundering probe into alleged irregularities in the Centre's Ayushman Bharat scheme, official sources said.
The officials of the federal probe agency raided 21 locations in Jharkhand, Delhi and West Bengal under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the sources said.
Premises linked to Om Prakash Singh, Gupta, apart from that of "key suspects", including consultants and former executives of associated firms, were raided early morning. A security team of central paramilitary personnel accompanied the officials of the federal probe agency.
Locations of officials linked to the Jharkhand State Arogya Society (JSAS), employees and offices of Third-Party Administrators (TPAs) like MD India, Safeway, Medi Assist and their associates were also raided, they said.
There was no immediate response to the ED action by Gupta or his PS.
ED teams raided a house in Mango locality and a nursing home along NH-33 in Jamshedpur city apart from locations in Ashok Nagar and Bariyatu in state capital Ranchi.
In Kolkata, the offices of some "entry operators" or hawala dealers are being raided, the sources said.
The ED, agency sources said, suspects that "proceeds of crime" were generated through systematic "fraud" within the Ayushman Bharat scheme through "manipulation" of hospital empanelment and processing of "fake" claims facilitated by a "nexus" demanding commissions and kickbacks.
Ayushman Bharat is a flagship scheme of the Union government which aims to achieve universal health coverage for citizens.