9 arrested in connection with lawyer’s murder during Bangladesh violence
Dhaka (PTI): At least nine persons have been arrested in connection with the killing of a lawyer during violence in Bangladesh's southeastern port city of Chattogram, police said on Saturday.
They were arrested after a case was filed against 46 persons, mostly cleanliness workers belonging to the minority Hindu community, for their involvement in the murder of assistant public prosecutor Saiful Islam, who was in his early 30s, during clashes on Tuesday between security personnel and followers of Hindu community leader Chinmoy Krishna Das after he was denied bail and sent to jail by a Chattogram court.
Das, the spokesperson for Bangladesh Sammilita Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport here on Monday in a sedition case.
"Saiful Islam's father filed the case last night naming 46 people,” said Abdul Karim, the officer in charge of the port city’s Kotwali police station.
Karim said most of the accused were residents of the city’s Sebok Colony, a hub of cleanliness workers belonging to the Hindu community.
He said nine of the accused were arrested and a manhunt to arrest the others was underway.
He said the accused were identified through CCTV footage of the court premises, the scene of the violence on November 26.
Police said one person identified as Chandan Das was the primary accused as he was seen chopping the lawyer with a sharp weapon.
The incident sparked nationwide outrage with lawyers and political groups taking to the streets demanding stern punitive actions against Islam's killers while some groups wanted ISKCON Bangladesh to be banned.
ISKCON Bangladesh, however, said Das was expelled from the organisation long before his arrest and added that ISKCON was not involved in the murder or violence.
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Three company directors held in Rs 100-crore investment fraud in Kochi
Kochi (Kerala) (PTI): Police on Sunday arrested three directors of a firm accused of cheating hundreds of investors of over Rs 100 crore through a fake investment scheme linked to agricultural tourism here, officials said.
The accused were identified as Muraleedharan, Ashik Murali and Akhil Murali, all natives of Thrissur.
The arrests were made by the Kalamassery police in connection with a fraud involving ATCOS (Agri Tourism Cooperative Society), a firm headquartered at Pathadipalam here.
Police said the company had promised high returns by collecting investments from the public in the agricultural tourism sector, but allegedly cheated hundreds of people and fled with the money.
ATCOS was registered under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act and operated 13 branches across various districts in Kerala, besides a branch in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, officials said.
When investors failed to receive their promised returns or the invested amount, complaints were filed with the police.
Officials said around 54 cases have been registered against the firm in 32 police stations across the state, including 29 cases at the Kalamassery police station alone.
Following instructions from Kochi City Police Commissioner K S Mahesh Kumar, a special investigation team was formed under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Shehensha and Thrikkakara ACP Manoj Kumar.
The team traced the accused to an apartment in Amala Nagar in Thrissur, where they had been hiding after secretly renting the flat, officials said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen, and steps have been initiated to trace their assets, officials said.
Police also conducted a raid at the company’s office at Pathadipalam and seized several documents related to the case.
The accused were produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Kalamassery, which remanded them to judicial custody and sent them to Kakkanad jail.
Police said they would seek the custody of the accused for further interrogation as the investigation continues.
