Three fishes are now in net I mean behind the bar. They are Tanvir Mahmud, managing director of controversial Hall-Mark Group, Harun-Ar-Rashid, president, The Destiny 2000 Limited and also a former army chief, and Mohammad Rafiqul Amin, the managing director, The Destiny 2000 Limited.
Tanvir Mahmud was arrested on 7 October and the remaining two were on 11. The two separate arrest incidents hit the street here in Dhaka. It were lead items almost every newspapers on following day after arresting.

Harun-Ar-Rashid and Mohammad Rafiqul Amin’s photographs
The New Age on 12 October reported, The Destiny 2000 Limited president, Harun-Ar-Rashid, also a former army chief, the managing director, Mohammad Rafiqul Amin, and the chairman, Mohammad Hossain, landed in jail after they had surrendered in a Dhaka court in two cases of the misappropriation of money.
Senior metropolitan sessions judge Md Jahurul Haq ordered them to jail rejecting their petitions seeking bail.
The Daily Star reported, Top Destiny Group officials are currently facing charges that include money laundering and transferring company funds to personal accounts.
The anomalies first came to light after a Bangladesh Bank probe in March found Destiny's cooperative arm engaged in illegal banking.
Other agencies, including the Anti-Corruption Commission, cooperatives department and commerce ministry, also stepped in to look into the matter.
The commerce secretary said the Destiny Group was not being banned as directly a few lakh people, indirectly even more, are involved with the company.
“I will not say the Destiny incident is a national crisis. But it is not a small matter either.”
The government has also decided to investigate Destiny activities further and conduct audits of all the companies under the group through an internationally renowned firm, he added.
After the central bank requested the ACC to look into the Destiny scams, the watchdog on July 31 filed cases against the group's 22 top officials over the Tk 3,285.26 crore laundering.
The Destiny Group, which commenced its journey in 2000 through MLM wing with only Tk 12 lakh, ends up facing an ACC allegation that its top officials laundered Tk 3,285.26 crore.
According to a Bangladesh Bank report, Tk 4,995.82 crore was deposited in 281 accounts of the three concerns -- Destiny 2000 Ltd, Destiny Tree Plantation Ltd and Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd (DMCSL).
Of the amount, Tk 4,975.32 crore was transferred to the personal accounts of its directors and several associated firms, said the BB report prepared for the ACC.
Destiny Multipurpose Cooperative Society, which became the cash cow for the Destiny Group soon after its inception in 2005, has seen an astronomical rise in its capital, shareholders, profit and investment since 2009.
The company's paid-up capital increased to nearly Tk 300 crore in 2009-10 from Tk 5.53 crore a year earlier. The figure jumped to nearly Tk 1,200 crore in 2010-11.
Loans and investments also grew to Tk 569 crore in 2010-11 from less than Tk 23 crore in 2008-09; they rose over 213 percent between 2009-10 and 2010-11.
Destiny posted a staggering 354 percent increase in its net profit in 2010-11 from that of a year ago. These figures, however, are not certified by any chartered accountant and can easily misguide people, said the Bangladesh Bank report.
On Monday, October 8, The Daily Star lead title was ‘Sonali Loan Scam : Hall-Mark MD arrested after daylong drive’

Tanvir Mahmud
Tanvir Mahmud, managing director of Hall-Mark Group, and another top official of the controversial firm, were nabbed by the Rapid Action Battalion Sunday night in the capital's Pallabi in connection with the Sonali Bank loan scam.
The other official is Tushar Ahmed, general manager (commercial), also husband of Tanvir's sister-in-law.
"We arrested them around 9:30pm from a house at Section-6 of Mirpur,” Lt Col Ziaul Ahsan, Rab's intelligence wing director, told The Daily Star.
Tanvir was hiding in a flat owned by one Shamsuddin Doha, a relative of Tanvir, he said.
Rab's media and legal wing Director Capt M Sohail said the force had also recovered a foreign pistol, four bullets and a magazine from Tanvir's possession.
It could not be immediately confirmed whether the gun was licensed.
Rab said it would hand over the duo to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) authorities.
Tanvir dodged the law enforcers in the early hours yesterday when more than 100 personnel from Rab, police and the ACC conducted a three-hour drive in the company's factories in Savar, on the outskirts of the capital. The drive started at 2:00am.
Tanvir was arrested on a request from the ACC, which filed 11 cases on October 4 with Ramna Police Station against 27 officials of Hall-Mark and state-owned Sonali Bank for misappropriating Tk 1,568 crore.
The cases were filed under the Money Laundering Prevention Act and the Corruption Prevention Act.
Of the accused, seven are Hall-Mark officials, including Tanvir, while the rest are Sonali Bank officials, including its former managing director Humayun Kabir.
Talking to The Daily Star about their failure in the first drive to arrest Tanvir, Lt Col Ziaul said the elite force had faced obstacles on the road near the factories in Savar as two vehicles were left abandoned there.
“It delayed our operation and by then, Tanvir had fled through an alternative way.
"We found three women in Tanvir's room and more than 30 others in another. We also saw a huge quantity of liquor there. But we neither arrested the women nor seized anything as our first priority was to nab Tanvir,” he added.
He also expressed surprise over the security arrangements in and around the factories. There were several hundred private security personnel under the company “Hall-Mark Patrol” in addition to 350 Ansar personnel.
According to an audit report, the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch of Sonali Bank had disbursed Tk 3,606 crore in loan to Hall-Mark Group and five other companies defying banking rules.
The Bangladesh Bank also revealed massive irregularities in the sanctioning and disbursing of loans, especially to the little-known Hall-Mark Group.

After completing investigation into recent sectarian violence in Ramu, Ukhia, Teknaf and Patia, the probe committee of Bangladesh Nationalist Party arranged a press briefing on Friday 12 October. The committee squarely blamed the government for inciting the arson attacks on Buddhist monasteries and houses in Ramu and other places in a bid to create an ‘unstable situation’ and ‘obstruct’ a fair general election.
On 13 October The New Age published the report in front page giving lot of importance while The Daily Star published the report on third page. On the contrary The Daily Star on that day in front page published a report titled ‘ Attack on Buddhists. BNP responsible for violence: PM’
The New Age report titled ‘BNP probe finds ‘govt involved’ in Ramu riots’ says, The probe committee of Bangladesh Nationalist Party on Friday 12 October, squarely blamed the government for inciting the arson attacks on Buddhist monasteries and houses in Ramu and other places in a bid to create an ‘unstable situation’ and ‘obstruct’ a fair general election.
After completing its investigation into recent sectarian violence in Ramu, Ukhia, Teknaf and Patia, the party probe committee chief Moudud Ahmed asked the government to constitute a judicial inquiry commission to be headed by a former senior chief justice.

He said the administrative probe would not work adding that BNP would extend cooperation if the government formed a judicial inquiry commission.

Maudud, also BNP standing committee member, released the 67-page probe report at a press conference at the party’s central office.
The report recommended that the ‘conspirators’ in the intelligence agencies who had incited the violence and the ‘part of the government’ involved in the plot should be identified and ‘appropriate action’ taken against them.
Maudud said the ‘main purpose’ of the government in ‘sponsoring’ the violent incidents was to create ‘instability’ in the country to ‘obstruct’ a free
and fair election.
Secondly, he said, it was aimed to ‘seek’ international support for staying in power for a ‘longer term’ on the ‘pretext’ that otherwise Bangladesh would become a ‘militant state’.
Moudud said that Uttam Kumar Barua, centring
whom the incidents had happened, had not yet been arrested and interestingly his house was not attacked during the arson.
He said the government remained ‘silent’ deliberately to allow the incidents to take place thought no responsible government could do so.
The probe report was prepared incorporating depositions of 33 ‘witnesses’ out of a total of 66 people interviewed.
The probe team visited the affected areas of Ramu, Ukhia, Teknaf and Patia in October 5-6.
The report recommended rebuilding of the 15 damaged Buddhist temples at Ramu, Ukhia, Teknaf and Patia by the government, adequate security in the violence-hit areas, and stopping ‘harassment’ of opposition activists capitalising on the incident.
Reading out the concluding part of the report, Maudud said the administration was absent and members of law enforcement agencies, including police, BGB and RAB, were not seen at the trouble spots by any witness within 24 hours of the incidents.
He said the incidents were pre-planned as cement-made blocks and gunpowder were used in the attacks on the monasteries and houses.
Maudud said the government did not take any action eight hours after the vandalism in Ramu whereas the police station was within half a kilometre from the spot.
‘It seemed there was no government,’ he said.
He said that just two trucks of army from the nearest camp could have easily controlled the situation without using weapons.
Maudud said the army did not rush to tackle the Peelkhana carnage, similarly it was not sent to contain the Ramu violence.
He said a ‘faction’ of local Awami League leaders in Ramu had instigated the attacks.
‘Local BNP lawmaker Lutfar Rahman Kajol stood by the Buddhist people and extended cooperation,’ Maudud claimed.
Asked about the prime minister’s allegation that the local BNP lawmaker had instigated the incidents, he said it was ‘totally false’ and ‘fabricated’. ‘The prime minister is saying this to cover up her own failure,’ he said.
The eight-member probe team was formed by BNP on October 2 to investigate the September 29-30 violence in Ramu and other
places.
Later, another member was incorporated in the probe committee. The team submitted its report to BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday.
Other members on the probe committee were Abdul Moyeen Khan, Abdullah Al Noman, Amir Khashru Mahmud Chowdhury, Ruhul Alam Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Golam Akber Khandaker and Goutam Chakravarty. Dhaka University teacher Sukomal Barua was also present at the press conference.
Torture on the innocent people in the violent hit areas and filing false cases against those were not involved including against the opposition would have to stop.

The Daily Star report titled ‘Attack on Buddhists, BNP responsible for violence: PM’ says ‘Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday blamed the BNP for the Ramu violence and said the BNP always causes an incident to happen and then accuses others, like the grenade attack on an Awami League rally in 2004.
“The Awami League government has ensured rights of all religions by amending the constitution. Religious festivals of all religions have been observed amidst festivity for the last three and a half years. It seems they [the BNP] do not like this. Thus, they attacked the Buddhists in Ramu,” she said.
Addressing the 43th founding anniversary of Jatiya Sramik League at Gono Bhaban with its President Shukur Mahmud in the chair, the premier said the attack on Buddhist temples and houses were like the atrocities of the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.
She asked why BNP's local lawmaker was sleeping when the attack was being made and why he did not respond when the army and the local administration urged to come forward and help.

On BNP probe report The daily Star reported on third page ‘The ruling Awami League and opposition BNP yesterday accused each other of instigating the Ramu violence.
The opposition resorted to the communal violence in Ramu to stall the trial of war criminals, said Post and Telecommunications Minister Shahara Khatun.
"The Facebook photo, which caused all these incidents, was blocked following my instruction on the BTRC chairman. But a vested quarter took advantage of the photo and created the anarchy. This barbaric act was pre-planned," she said.
Previously the home minister, Shahara, made the allegations at a memorial meeting on freedom fighter Sudhangshu Shekhar Howladar. Bangabandhu Academy and Jatiya Char Neta Smriti Rakkha Parishad jointly hosted it at the capital's Liberation War Museum.
On the other hand, an eight-member team of opposition BNP which investigated the attack on Buddhists in Cox's Bazar and Chittagong has found government's indirect provocation in the mayhem, said BNP standing committee member and probe body chief Moudud Ahmed.
‘US wants stronger military-to-military cooperation with Bangladesh : Adm Samuel’ titled report, published on 11 October in the New Age says ‘Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, Commander of the US Pacific Command, said here on Wednesday that US wants deepening military to military relationship with Bangladesh as Washington is ‘rebalancing’ its activities in South Asia and the Pacific from the Middle East.
Samuel who came on a brief visit to Dhaka said the US navy has been working with the Bangladesh navy for a long time extending cooperation in joint exercise, training and providing defence articles to the Bangladesh military.
‘If security is protected, the interests of our both nations are well protected,’ the US pacific command chief told a briefing of selected journalists at Hotel Radisson on Wednesday afternoon.
In reply to a question, the admiral said they can assist Bangladesh to do internal security analysis and increase the capability to know what is going on.
Welcoming the settlement of maritime boundary dispute between Bangladesh and Myanmar peacefully, Samuel told a correspondent that the US can help only when Bangladesh will ask for any assistance for the development of the Bangladesh navy.
He said the two navies meet annually at lower official level where they can discuss the desire of the Bangladeshi military and how to increase its capability.
Asked about the reasons for increasing ‘military diplomacy’ in the region, the admiral said since 9/11 USA and its allies focused on counter-terrorism in the Middle East, but now the activities over there have come down and USA now focuses on how to reshape its activities in the Pacific and South Asia that have large economy and large population.
‘We are rebalancing’ activities not only in military but in the areas like economy, information and disaster management,’ admiral Samuel said.
He said his meetings with the prime minister and the chiefs of army and the navy were very productive.
Asked if USA feels to sign a military deal like SOFA with Bangladesh, US ambassador Dan Mozena who was at the briefing said it is not on the table but if Bangladesh wants they can discuss it and that would be helpful.
In reply to a question, the ambassador said US is now in a process of decommissioning a US coast guard ship ‘Cutter’ which will be donated to Bangladesh middle of the next year.
Asked about Bangladesh’s long military cooperation with China, Samuel said Bangladesh can have relations with a big power like China which will be healthy for regional security.
Samuel’s visit is the first by a PACOM Commander since Admiral Keating’s November 2007 visit following Cyclone Sidr.
The Daily Star also published the report quoting UNB.
The report titled `Anti-Rohingya rally held in west Myanmar’ in The New Age on 11 October says ‘Hundreds of Buddhist women protested Wednesday in western Myanmar against the presence of stateless Rohingya Muslims in the violence-hit region, an organiser said.

The demonstrators urged the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to stop its assistance to Rohingya in
Rakhine state, where tensions have been running high since deadly Buddhist-Muslim clashes broke out in June.

‘We protested against the OIC and also Bengalis as we don’t want them on our soil,’ organiser Nyo Aye said by telephone from the state capital Sittwe.
Myanmar’s estimated 800,000 Rohingya are viewed as illegal immigrants by the government and by many Burmese, who refer to them as Bengalis.
The rally came a day after hundreds of monks took to the streets of Sittwe to protest against local Muslims and the OIC’s activities.

The tensions in Rakhine have spread to neighbouring Bangladesh, where police said last week they had arrested nearly 300 people in connection with a wave of violence targeting Buddhist homes and temples.

A good news

Thursday, October 11 The Daily Star published a report on 3rd page heading ‘Google starts recruitment drive on Buet campus’ The report says, ‘
Google, for the first time in Bangladesh, held recruitment tests on the campus of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) to employ the university's aspiring computer engineers.
Some 150 students of the outgoing batch and graduates of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering appeared in the test, conducted by a delegation led by Ashwani Sharma of University Program, Google India, on Tuesday.
“Now the Google engineers will evaluate the answer sheets and the following selection procedure would begin,” said Prof Latiful Hoque, head of the department.
“Alumni students of the department who are currently engaged in jobs in foreign countries recommended Google officials to recruit Buet students.
“Buet students performed outstandingly in recent international programming contests. This is also a reason behind Google's interest in campus recruitment,” he said.

‘14 envoys enquire about EC’s preparations for next polls’ titled report published in New Age on 10 October says, Ambassadors and senior diplomats of 14 countries and development partners on Tuesday enquired with the Election Commission about its preparations for holding the next parliamentary election due by January 2014 at the latest.
The envoys sat with the EC to enquire about its preparations for holding the next general election, chief election commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad told reporters later.
They also offered the EC ‘all-out cooperation’ in holding the election in a free and fair manner, he said.
The delegation of envoys included, Canadian High Commissioner Heather Cruden, Danish ambassador Svend Olling, head of the EU delegation William Hanna, German ambassador Albrecht Conze, Japanese ambassador Shiro Sadoshima, Korean ambassador Taiyong Cho, Dutch ambassador Gerban De Jong, Norwegian ambassador Ragne Birte Lund, Swedish ambassador Anneli Lindahl Kenny, Swiss ambassador Urs Herren, British deputy high commissioner Robert Gibson, US embassy deputy chief of mission Jon Danilowicz, UN resident coordinator Neal Walker and UNDP country director Stefan Priesner.

The envoys also wanted to know what cooperation they could provide to the EC in holding the next election in a free and fair manner, said the CEC.
‘We apprised them about some of our requirements and they assured us that they would provide all the support needed,’ he added.
Replying to a question, the CEC told reporters that the EC apprised the foreign envoys that there was no plan now to deploy military troops in the next election.
British deputy high commissioner Robert Gibson told reporters that the EC apprised the envoys about its preparations for the next election.
‘And given the way the commission is making preparations for the next polls, it seems that it is capable of holding the polls in fair manner,’ said Gibson.
He said the development partners are ready to give all sorts of supports to the EC in holding the polls.

EC secretary Muhammed Sadique, who also present in the meeting, said the envoys termed the year 2013 challenging for the Election Commission.
He said the envoys offered to provide all sorts of technological support in holding the election in about 13 months.

The meeting took place at the EC office at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the city.
Meanwhile, the EC is due to sit with senior journalists today to seek their views on the preparations it should make for the election due in January 2014 at the latest, particularly regarding redrawing the constituencies.
The EC anticipates that the journalists would raise other issues related to the election, an election commissioner said earlier.