PCB chief backs Misbah

Pakistans cricket chief on Wednesday backed MisbahulHaq as oneday captain saying he would lead the side to next years World Cup.

Chief selector Moin Khan on Tuesday hinted at a possible change of oneday captain, saying discussions were in progress and if there was a consensus, a change could be made.But Pakistan Cricket Board PCB chairman Najam Sethi gave his support to Misbah, who has led the side in 71 onday internationals since taking over in May 2011, winning 39 of them.stand by my decision to retain Misbah as captain until the World Cup Sethi told AFP.stralia and New Zealand coh
An orthodox batsman with reasonable technique, Misbah caught the eye with his unflappable temperament in the tri-ny tornaent in Nairobi in 2002, scoring two fifties in three innings, including one in the final against Australia. But before Pakistan could hail him as a possible middleorder mainstay, Misbah's form slumped - he didn't manage a single 20-plus score in three Tests against Australia and was duly dumped. Pakistan's abysmal World Cup campaignnd the wholesale changes to the team in its aftermathgave Misbah another chance to redeem himself, but he did little of note in the limited opportunities he got.
Even though Misbah had not represented Pakistan for about threeears, a run-filled domestic season, followed by club cricket in England, and Inzamam's retirement from ODIs prompted the board to award Misbah a central contract in July 2007. A month later, he was surprisingly picked, ahead ofMohammad Yousuf, for the 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. He repaid the selectors' faith by finishing the tounament as Pakistan's best player and nearly taking them to victory in the final. He was duly named in the team for te Test and ODIseries that followed against South Africa.nth, has long faced criticism for his defensive approach as a leader, despite leading Pakistan to seven onay series wins last yeara record for the country in a 12month period.
He is also Pakistan's Test captain, having led them in 27 Tes with 12 wins, seven defeats and eight draws.Whatever the personal views of any of the selectors regarding who should be the captain, I am firm on my decision said Sethi.bah has performed very well in both one-dayers and Tests and is one of the fittest players in the team," said Sethi of Misbah, who scored 1373runs in 2013the most in the world

SHANE unlikely to reconsider

Bangladesh coach Shane Jurgensen is in no mood to reverse his decision, according to sources close to the Australian. Jurgensen, who sent the board his resignation letter on Monday, may at most stay till the India series in June.
The board is yet to accept his resignation and are likely to try to negotiate with the coach, who is contracted till the 2015 World Cup. Jurgensen, who arrives in Dhaka today, is expected to have a series of meetings with the board regarding his future.
His main reason behind his resignation, as put in to thboard, was that he was unhappy about the comments made by some of the directors. The folowing day BCB directors Jalal Yunus and Akram Khan termed the decision an 'motioal' one and said that the comments made by the directors were unofficial, before asserting that they had never planned to remove Jurgensen from his post.
As unexpected as Jurgense's decision may be, one cannot help but question the motives of the directors who made those comments in the first place. In a T20 league-dominated era, coaches are hard to find and with a 50-over World Cup just over nine months away, making such statements to the edia is a move fraught with danger Jurgensen may have had a bad run this year, with a string of defeats to i Lanka and a horrible World Twenty20 campaign. However, Bangladesh achieved certain crucial landmarks under him. Defeating the West Indies at home, putting up a stellar performance in Sri Lanka, winning their fourth ever Test in Zimbbwe and then whitewashing New Zealandfor the second time in a row; these performances speak for themselves. If a board directorreckons that three months of poor results can outweigh a year and a quarter's worth of growth in ODIs and Tests, then no coach will survive in Bangladesh
Making empty promises has been an old habit of the board's and the press briefing which followed Jurgensen's resignation reflected that. The immediate reaction of the BCB directors was that they would work to the best of their abilities to bring coaches from South Africa or any other country to make a replacement.
Even if BCB's statements were true and they magically manage to bring the likes of Gary Kirsten, the fact remains that a coach, no matter how high the profile, will need to make that extra effort to adjust with officials here and that is what Jurgensen successfully managed to do for most of his career; until of course, this last week.
Immediately after the World Twenty20, there was talk about bringing a new batting coach, a bowling consultant and a fielding coach; all in a bid to escape the critical fallout from the tournament.
With Jurgensen having resigned Bangladesh have not only lost a head but also their prime pace bowling coach. In the next few weeks the board will have to literally rebuild their entire team management from scratch, a task which, going by the way things have functioned recently, seems improbable.

JP lawmaker Nasim Osman passes away

Star Online Report

Nasim Osman. Photo courtesy: Prothom Alo

Nasim Osman, lawmaker from Narayanganj-5 constituency and Jatiya Party presidium member, passed away at a hospital in India in the small hours of today at the age of 63.
He breathed his last at Deradun Hospital in New Delhi around 12midnight, general secretary of Jatiya Party district unit Akram Ali Shahin confirmed to The Daily Star.
The four-time elected lawmaker left behind his wife, one son and two daughters and a host of relatives to mourn his death.
Nasim was elected lawmaker from Jatiya Party in 1986, 1988, 2008 and 2014.
He was son of two-time lawmaker Samsuzzoha and elder brother of Shamim Osman, MP from Narayanganj-4. 

Body formed to probe Narayanganj abduction spree

Supporters of a ward councilor, who was abducted four days ago, block Dhaka-Chittagong highway in Narayanganj Wednesday morning. Photo: TV grab

A three-member committee led by the additional deputy inspector general of police will investigate the abduction of seven people including a senior lawyer and a ward councilor from Narayanganj.
Dhaka Range DIG Md Nuruzzaman formed the probe body last night, Additional DIG Khandaker Golam Faruk confirmed it to The Daily Star.
Senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarkar and his driver were kidnapped on Sunday hours after the abduction of ward councillor Nazrul Islam and his four aides from Adalatpara in the city.
Meanwhile, followers of the missing ward councillor blocked Dhaka-Chittagong highway for nearly four hours for the fourth consecutive day demanding that law enforcers rescue Nazrul and his aides.
Transport movement on the highway remained suspended after the agitated people put barricades at Mouchak and Sanarpar points in Siddhirganj of the district around 9:30am, said Abdul Matin, officer-in-charge of Siddhirganj Police Station.
The demonstrators withdrew the blockade around 1:00pm after police rushed the spot and managed to clam them, our correspondent reported quoting witnesses.
They also demanded the arrest of Awami League leaders Nur Hossain and Mohammad Yasin, who have been accused in a case filed in this connection on Monday.
Nur Hossain is councillor of ward-4 and also vice-president of Siddhirganj AL unit and Yasin is general secretary of the ruling party's same unit.
Meantime, the lawyers of the district judges court boycotted the court today for the third straight day demanding immediate rescue of their fellow Chandan Sarker.
In the wake of deterioration of law and order, the home ministry yesterday recommended withdrawal of four law enforcement officials from Narayanganj.
The four are Syed Nurul Islam, superintendent of police; Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Rab-11 commanding officer; Akhtar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Fatullah Police Station

Ctg rail official sent to jail in recruitment scam

Star Online Report

A Chittagong court today sent a suspended railway official to jail rejecting his bail petition in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for irregularities in recruitment.
Golam Kibria, who was senior welfare officer of railway east zone, surrendered before Chittagong Divisional Special Court around 11:30am and sought bail, reports our Chittagong correspondent.
Rejecting his bail petition, Judge SM Ataur Rahman ordered to send him to jail, Mahmudul Huq Mahmud, public prosecutor of the ACC, told the correspondent.
The ACC filed the corruption case with Kotwali Police Station in September 2012 bringing allegation that the accused had allegedly recruited ineligible candidates to assistant chemist posts for money, according to the case statement.
Kibria is one of the three prime accused in the case. The two other accused are: Yusuf Ali Mridha, suspended general manager; and Hafizur Rahman, suspended additional chief mechanical engineer of east zone.
ACC Assistant Director Rashedur Reza, the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet in August 2013.
On February 19, another Chittagong court framed charges against the three officials.
A total of 13 cases have so far been filed in connection with the irregularities.
Railway authorities in October 2010 published an advertisement in a national daily, seeking applications for the posts. As many as 68 of 177 applicants were asked to take the recruitment tests. Som

BAF training plane catches fire

A training aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force made an emergency landing at Chittagong airport after one of its tyres caught fire this afternoon.

The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Adib, suffered minor injuries during the emergency landing at Shah Amanat International Airport around 12:40pm.
Wing Commander Nur-e-Alam, manager of the airport, confirmed it to The Daily Star.

Prosecute law enforcers for abduction

This January 17 photo shows a house of a Hindu family at Muhuripara of Satkania in Chittagong after criminals burnt it to the ground.

The Human Rights Watch today came up with the observation that law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh carried out extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and the unlawful destruction of private property.
The global watch dog suggested prosecution of members of law enforcement agencies who found responsible for unlawful killings, torture, and other human rights abuses, the report said.
The global human rights body also observed that Bangladesh government and members of rival political parties all bear responsibility for the violence which scarred the January 5 national elections.
Quoting Bangladeshi human rights organisations, the New-York based rights organisation said hundreds were killed and injured in violent attacks surrounding the controversial elections.
“These were the bloodiest elections since independence, and unless concrete steps are taken to address what happened, the situation in Bangladesh is likely to worsen,” Brad Adams, Asia director of HRW, said in a new report published today.
“It is important that the leaders of the main political parties not only make public statements denouncing this senseless violence, but also take measures to censure party members found responsible for the violence.”
The 64-page report, “Democracy in the Crossfire: Opposition Violence and Government Abuses in the 2014 Pre-and Post-Election Period in Bangladesh,” details violent protests by opposition activists who called for an election boycott.
On numerous occasions, opposition party members and activists threw petrol bombs at trucks, buses, and motorized rickshaws.
In some cases, opposition group members forced children to carry out the attacks and in response, the government unleashed a brutal crackdown, the report said.
Human Rights Watch researchers documented how members of law enforcement agencies carried out extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and the unlawful destruction of private property.
The Bangladesh authorities should prosecute members of law enforcement agencies found responsible for unlawful killings, torture, and other human rights abuses, the report said.
Leaders of the main political parties should make clear and unambiguous public statements opposing violence by their supporters, it added.
For the report, Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 120 people, including victims, their family members, and eyewitnesses. Abuses documented were committed by members of opposition groups and law enforcement agencies before, during, and after the elections.
“CROSSFIRE” KILLINGS
Human Rights Watch also repeated its call to the government to end the reign of impunity enjoyed by Bangladesh’s security forces.
After the elections, the security forces unlawfully arrested opposition leaders, naming them as suspects in violent attacks, according to the report.

Another Tejturibazar fire victim dies

This April 11 photo shows firemen inspecting the devastated shop after the chemical explosion at Tejturi Bazar in the capital.Another victim of Tejturibazar shop fire died after fighting for life for 20 days this morning.

With this, the number of death toll from the fire rose to 6.
Mahmudul Hasan, owner of Mahfuz Sewing and Electric, succumbed to his injuries at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital around 8:30am.
He had been suffering with inhalation injuries, DMCH source said.
The fire and explosion at Mahfuz Sewing and Electric, a shop that sells accessories for garment factories, left at least 11 people with serious burn injuries on April 10.
Gas spewing from an open 200-litre paint thinner barrel had ignited and flames whooshed along the narrow alley in front of the shop housed on the ground floor of a residential building.
Among the injured, five succumbed to their injuries at different times later.

Mujahideen Bangladesh

Mujahideen Bangladesh leader Rakib Hasan Russell after he was snatched along with two other key leaders of the banned militant outfit in Mymensingh in February, an arrestee said today.
Ataur Rahman Kamal, joint secretary of Bhaluka upazila unit of Jubo League, formed a six-member team to pick up Rakib from Trishal and drop him at Fulbaria in Mymensingh, said one of the eight people nabbed in different parts of the country yesterday in connection with the sensational snatching.
The arrestee, Kamal Hossain alias Sabuj, 38, also claimed to be involved with "Awami League politics" while talking to reporters.
Elite force Rapid Action Battalion Rabwhich made the latest arrests, produced the arrestees before media during a press briefing at its headquarters in Uttara today.
In a well-orchestrated plan, an armed gang of 10-15, all masked, ambushed a prison van, killed a police constable and snatched away three convicted JMB militants -- two of them on death row -- in Trishal upazila of Mymensingh on February 23. About five hours after the incident, police captured one of the three from Shakhipur of Tangail.

While fleeing away, convicted militant Rakib shaved off beard to change his appearance.

Produced before the journalists during the Rab briefing today, Sabuj said the Jubo League leader briefed him that a team will ambush the prison van carrying three convicted JMB leaderRakib alias Hafez Mahmud, Salauddin Ahmed alias Salehin and Zahidul Islam aliasMizan.
Rakib and Salauddin were sentenced to death andMizan to 37 years in prison in different cases. per Ataur's instruction, I, along with five others went to the spot by three motorcycles in Signboard area of Trishal," Sabuj said.
As per the plan, Rakib got on one of the motorcycles as the team headed for Fulbaria upazila.fter we dropped him at Fulbaria, our job was done," he said.
Rakib, who was commander of the militant outfit in Khulna division, was nabbed around 3:00pm at Shakhipur in Tangail while he was fleeing on a three-wheeler.

While fleeing away, convicted militant Rakib shaved off beard to change his appearance.

Following his escape from the prison van, he had shaved his long beard to avoid arrest, but police identified him from the marks of fetters on his hands and legs. Less than 19 hours after his escape from the prison van, Rakib was killed at Mirzapur of Tangail in what law enforcers termedcrossfireSabuj claimed to have no knowledge how Rakib ended up in at Sakhipur.
Briefing reporters on the latest arrest, Habibur Rahman, commander of Rab media wing, said the eight arrestees include two human traffickers. They are Anwar Hossain, 40, and Nasir

Law minister recommends life for food adulterators

Toxic chemical is being used for coloring food items in an illegal bakery at Durakutihat area in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila. Photo: Star file

Law Minister Anisul Huq has recommended lifetime imprisonment as the highest punishment for food adulterators instead of 10 years’ in prison.
The minister informed about his recommendation while addressing a discussion on 'Formalin Control Act 2013'.Commerce ministry has formulated the draft on the act awarding 10 years’ imprisonment as the highest punishment in the adulteration related cases.
The draft is now at the law ministry for its further recommendation.
Huq also recommended a provision to hold the adulteration related cases under Special Powers Act.
He further hoped that the parliament would pass the draft by next June.

Ctg highway blocked, filling station torched

Agitated supporters of Narayanganj City Councillor Nazrul Islam burn tyres on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway today. Photo: TV grab

Thousands of agitated locals and supporters of Narayanganj city councillor Nazrul Islam, whose body was recovered from Shitalakhhya River today, blasted into protest.
The protesters were demonstrating by blocking the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and the Dhaka-Narayanganj link road, set fire to a filling station in Mouchak area, reports our Narayanganj correspondent.

As the news of Nazrul's body recovery spread, his supporters blocked the highway at Shimrail point of the city by burning tyres, said Abdul Matin, officer-in-charge of Shiddhirganj Police Station.
Police diverted traffic to avoid any untoward incident, the police official added.
Five bodies including that of Narayanganj city councillor Nazrul Islam, who was abducted along with his four aides in the city three days ago, were found in the Shitalakhhya River in Bandar upazila this afternoon.

six bodies found at Shitalakhhya

All the bodies were dumped into the river in a similar way. The murderers cut the victims’ bellies and then tied the bodies to sacks full of bricks before throwing into water, according to police.
The victims were blindfolded, and their hands and legs were tied with ropes, said law enforcers.
Among the dead are Chandan Sarkar, senior lawyer atNarayanganj District Judge’s Court, and his driver Ibrahim.
The other three victims are Nazrul’s aides Moniruzzaman Shawpan, local Jubo League activist, and Tajul Islam, president of Siddhirganj unit of Sheikh Russell Jatiya Shishu Kishor Parishad, and Liton.
Locals at Shantinagar of Kalagachhiya union first noticed two bloated bodies floating amid water hyacinth near the river banks around 3:00pm, and informed the police.
The law enforcers then launched a search operation, and found four more bodies floating in the river by the evening.
The bodies were so decomposed that the victimselatives found it difficult to identify them.
Nazrul’s younger brother Abdus Salam identified the councillor’s body by his clothes. The others victims were identified by the special marks on their bodies, and clothes.
The relatives of five of the victims pointed finger at ward-4 councillor Nur Hossain, and Shiddirganj Thana Awami League general secretary Hazi Yasin, who are aides to AL lawmaker Shamim Osman.
Locals and victims’ family members alleged that the duo run drugs racket in the area.
Nazrul's wife Selina Islam filed an abduction case against Nur, Yasin and four others on Monday. 
“Oh Allah … what Shamim Osman has done … the day before his [Nazrul] abduction, he met Shamim Osman and pleaded bhai [Shamim] to protect him, saying he would go to the court the next day,” Selina told reporters after her husband’s body was recovered.
The news of the murder of the six caused widespread anger among locals in Narayanganj.
Angry locals blockaded the Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Sanarpar in Siddirganj and also Dhaka-Narayanganj link road, bringing the vehicular movement to a halt on the highway around 4:00pm.
They also damaged and set ablaze vehicles on the highway.
Around 7:00pm, locals set fire to Shams Filling Station owned by Hazi Yasin at Mouchak on Dhaka-Chittagong highway.
Nazrul along with his three aides and driver were abducted near Adalot Para on Sunday while they were returning by a car from Narayanganj District Judge’s Court. Earlier, he had appeared in the court in connection with a case.
Police found Nazrul’s car abandoned in Rajendrapur area of Gazipur that night.
At about the same time, lawyer Chandan and his driver Ibrahim were kidnapped from the court area in Narayanganj. Chandan’s car was found abandoned in the capital’s Gulshan area