Crime - Bangladesh Business News

Two foreigners detained from Bangladesh Bank

BBN Desk — Thu, 15 Dec 2016 03:12:55 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - Law enforcers detained two foreign nationals allegedly due to their attempt to take away money from the restricted cash counters of Bangladesh Bank (BB) on Wednesday, police said.
Witnesses and officials said the foreigners came before the cash counter at around 3:30 pm (local time) and expressed their interest to exchange US dollars, but the officials concerned suggested them to go to the exchange houses.
But the duo suddenly moved inside the highly sensitive and restricted areas of cash counters in the name of receiving the service, they added.
Talking to BBN, a senior official of the central bank of Bangladesh said one of them tactfully put a bundle of BDT 1000 notes equivalent to BDT 0.10 million into pocket while another engaged in conservation with the official concerned on the table.
He said some of the service receivers standing in the queue observed the stealing attempt and raised their voice, drawing attention of the officials.
Their personal details could not be confirmed immediately. But an executive director of the BB said they would be the nationals of Iran – one of them was holding a passport of Iran.
“We’ve already handed over the suspects to the police for further investigation,” Abu Hena Mohd. Razee Hassan, senior deputy governor of the BB, told BBN in Dhaka on Wednesday night.
He also said the central bank has lodged a general diary (GD) with Motijheel Police Station in this connection.
When contacted, an officer of Motijheel Police Station said they were investigating into the incident.
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BB seeks 461 suspected human trafficker’s bank info

BBN Desk — Sat, 05 Nov 2016 07:05:25 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) - The central bank of Bangladesh has sought bank transaction information of 461 suspected human traffickers from commercial banks located at Chittagong region, a senior official said.
“We’ll submit such information to the concerned law enforcing agencies of the government for taking actions against the suspected human traffickers,” a senior official of the Bangladesh Bank (BB) told BBN in Dhaka.
The central banker said Bangladesh Financial Intelligent Unit (BFIU) had sent a list of suspected human traffickers to all banks, located at Chittagong and Cox’s Bazaar areas in this connection.
“We’ve already received information on bank transactions of some suspected human traffickers,” the BB official said without elaborating.
The traffickers find out a new route to continue their illegal trade using the Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport as a new gateway as the law enforcement agencies have taken stern position to check the human trafficking through deep sea route, law enforcers said.
Human traffickers of Bangladesh with the help of international syndicates have trafficked people to different countries especially war-ravaged Libya and Iraq by using Dubai-Turkey-Libya routes with forged visas and documents. And traffickers are using Chittagong airport as safe gateway for trafficking, the Dhaka Tribune, a local newspaper, reported quoting sources of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
The new route and the safe gateway of smugglers was unearthed after the elite force nabbed 39 people from airport on October 13 last, while they were going to Libya without valid papers and documents.
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Russian hackers responsible for $80m Bangladesh Bank heist

BBN Desk — Sat, 18 Jun 2016 11:56:03 +0000

New York, NY (BBN)- A well-known Russian gang has been linked to the February theft of more than $80 million in funds managed by the Federal Reserve in Bangladesh, reports the Washington Examiner.
Malware used in the attack has been linked to the Dridex gang, according to unnamed sources speaking with Bloomberg on Friday. The group, which operates out of Russia and other former Soviet satellite states, is known for the eponymous Dridex malware, which specializes in stealing banking information through Microsoft products and email campaigns.
Experts have said the malware is also similar to a product used by North Korea in the 2014 attack on Sony Studios, indicating the two-year-old software could now be available on the black market.
It was discovered in February that thieves made off with $101 million by hacking about a dozen banks in Southeast Asia and making their way into the "Swift" network, a global payment system used to transfer funds between financial institutions. More than $80 million came from accounts that the Fed manages on behalf of the central bank in Bangladesh.
The House Science Committee initiated an investigation into the issue earlier this month, with members questioning how U.S. financial regulators are defending against breaches of the Swift network that occur in countries with weaker cybersecurity practices.
As of February, security firm Symantec reported, Dridex was capable of harvesting banking credentials from customers of about 300 financial institutions in more than 40 countries and was sending out millions of malicious spam emails daily in an effort to increase its range.

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Bangladesh nabs 4 over Italian aid worker's murder

BBN Desk — Mon, 26 Oct 2015 06:14:54 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Four people have been arrested in Bangladesh in connection with the killing of an Italian aid worker, say police.
Cesare Tavella, 50, was gunned down in Gulshan the diplomatic quarter of Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, on September 28.
The attack was claimed the militant group Islamic State, which also said it was behind the murder a Japanese national a few days later.
The Bangladeshi authorities have not verified the claims, reports BBC.
It was the first time IS had claimed an attack in Bangladesh, where it has not yet announced a branch.
Dhaka police spokesman Muntashirul Islam told AFP news agency that three of the men arrested on Sunday were directly accused of killing Mr Tavella.
Attacks on foreigners in Bangladesh are rare, correspondents say, but Islamist violence has surged recently, including high-profile attacks on atheist bloggers.
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Italian national shot dead in Bangladesh capital

BBN Desk — Mon, 28 Sep 2015 18:16:39 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- An Italian national was shot dead in Dhaka’s Gulshan diplomatic zone on Monday, police said.
The deceased was identified as Tavella Cesare, 60, technical director of the Netherlands-based non-governmental organisation ‘ICCO Cooperation’, a police official confirmed.
Motorcycle riding youths gunned down the man at Road 90 in Gulshan-2 around 6:15pm, the official added.
A group of 3-4 youths rescued him and took him to nearby United Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
Hospital officials said Tavella Cesare was brought in dead and there were multiple gunshot wounds on his body.

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Missing cash in BB: SBI suspends employee

BBN Desk — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 18:45:38 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The State Bank of India (SBI) on Tuesday suspended one of its local employees on charge of stealing BDT 0.5 million from the central bank vault area.

The SBI Bangladesh Office took the action against its employee after the Bangladesh Bank (BB) detected using its CCTV footage that Dipok Chandra Das, an employee of the SBI, was taking away the money, the central bank officials said.

The amount was been delivered to Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited on Sunday afternoon, they added.

“We’ve been informed that the SBI Bangladesh Office suspended the employee for alleged involvement in the incident of missing cash in the BB’s vault area,” a senior central banker told BBN in Dhaka.

The central banker also said the BB has asked the SBI Bangladesh Office to inform the central bank after taking exemplary punishment against the employee.

The central bank of Bangladesh also assigned its executive director Ahmed Jamal to see as to whether there remained any loopholes in the security system at the highly sensitive area of the BB, according to the central banker.

The central bank clarified its position regarding missing of BDT 0.5 million, saying that the money was not stolen from it vault. It was taken by an employee of the SBI and was later recovered, according to the BB officials.

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Bangladesh’s free speech under machete attack: HRW

BBN Desk — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 05:32:01 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-The international rights body Human Rights Watch has said that free speech in Bangladesh is under attack as never before, held hostage between angry, machete-wielding radicals on one hand and a government, quick to take offence, on the other.
“Bangladesh needs to change course, adopt international standards, and uphold constitutional freedoms, and do it fast. Because as long as authorities continue to crush free speech, those who speak out risk losing their lives,” writes Meenakshi Ganguly, the South Asia director of the rights body.
Four bloggers have been murdered this year by religious extremists for promoting secularism, a principle which these groups consider to be anti-Islam.
Following the killing of blogger Nilroy Neel earlier this month, Ansar Al Islam, an insurgent group linked to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility, saying they had the “permission of Allah” and warning of further attacks.
While police were aware of threats to Nilroy Neel and the other slain bloggers, they failed to properly protect them, said a dispatch of the rights body written by Ganguly which was released on August 18.
A reasonable government would have swiftly condemned these murders, and tried to hunt down the attackers.
Instead the police’s first instinct was to urge self-censorship, with Bangladesh’s inspector general of police, AKM Shahidul Hoque, warning that “hurting religious sentiments is a crime.”
It took more than a week for police to arrest three suspects in Nilroy Neel’s murder, despite the alleged perpetrators’ identities being known to the police, Ganguly added.
The police chief’s comments were shocking, but not surprising, because Bangladeshi authorities are increasingly cracking down on freedom of expression.
Just this week, the journalist Probir Sikdar was arrested by the dreaded Detective Branch, a specialist police intelligence unit, for his Facebook posts accusing a cabinet minister and other politicians of committing war crimes during the country’s war for independence.
The prosecutor said Sikdar had “cast aspersion on the minister using information technology”.
Last week, a Bangladesh court sentenced IT lecturer Muhammad Ruhul Amin Khandaker in absentia to three years in prison for a 2011 Facebook post on the death of an acclaimed Bangladeshi filmmaker in a road accident, blaming politicians for not ensuring road safety and wondering how the prime minister was spared such mishaps.
For this remark, judges found him guilty of sedition.
And just two weeks ago the police issued a statement criticising two prominent human rights groups for reporting on extrajudicial executions and other abuses by security forces, saying any activity that harms the police reputation amounts to defamation, and can be considered subversive.
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Bangladesh arrests 3 militants over bloggers killing

BBN Desk — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 07:31:20 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-The law enforcers in Bangladesh claimed to have arrested three suspected Islamist militants of Ansarullah Bangla Team in different parts of Dhaka over the killing of two secularist bloggers.
Both Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das were hacked to death earlier this year.
The arrestees are: Touhidur Rahman, 58, a Bangladesh origin British citizen; and two "active members" of banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT) – Sadek Ali and Aminul Mollik.
Rahman is the main planner of the attacks on Avijit Roy and Ananta Bijoy Das, an official of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) told the BBN in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Rahman, an IT expert, is said to have links with the militant outfit, Ansarullah Bangla Team.
Police say his arrest will provide evidence about a total of four killings of secular bloggers this year.
Bangladesh government has banned the Ansarullah Bangla Team in May this year following a spate of killings of bloggers.
Rab officials made the arrest Monday night from Nilkhet and Dhanmondi areas of the capital city, the official added.
The Bangladesh government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been criticised for failing to adequately protect secular bloggers and activists, but Today’s arrests may provide hope that those responsible will be prosecuted.

Blogger Avijit Roy

In February, Avijit Roy, a US citizen of Bangladeshi origin and critic of religious militancy, was hacked to death by a gang with machetes, while his wife, fellow blogger Rafida Bonya Ahmed, was seriously injured.

Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das

Secular blogger Ananta Das was killed in similar circumstances in north-eastern Bangladesh in May.
Earlier this month, blogger Niloy Chatterjee, who criticised religious extremism, was killed in his flat in the capital city, Dhaka. A fourth blogger, Washiqur Rahman, was stabbed to death in March.
Islam is Bangladesh's state religion, but the Muslim-majority country is governed by secular laws based on British common law.
Over the last decade or so, extreme interpretations of Islam have steadily gained ground.
BBC adds: Bangladesh is officially secular but critics say the government has not done enough to stop the attacks.
Last week police arrested two other suspected members of ABT over the killing of atheist blogger Niloy Neel.
AVIJIT ROY
Founded Mukto-Mona ("Free Mind") blog site in 2000 to champion secular and humanist writing in Muslim-majority Bangladesh
Bangladeshi-born US citizen on visit to Bangladesh
Engineer by profession
Received death threats from Islamist radicals for his writings, family says
"He was a thinker, he was a man of great knowledge, he was a scientist, he was an engineer" - close friend and Dhaka University professor Anwar Hossain
ANANTA BIJOY DAS
Wrote blogs for Mukto-Mona, a website once moderated by Avijit Roy
Was killed in broad daylight near his home on a street in Sylhet as he headed to work at a local bank
Was critical of religious fundamentalism and of previous attacks on secular thinkers
Sweden turned down a visa request from him in April
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UNICEF condemns violence on children in Bangladesh

BBN Desk — Thu, 06 Aug 2015 12:10:00 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)- The United Nations agency—UNICEF— has condemned the incidents of violence against children in Bangladesh.
“This is a serious violation of child rights and UNICEF expresses its grave concern over such issues which have shaken the entire country,” Edouard Beigbender, Unicef representative, said in a statement on Thursday.
The comments came after at least three teenagers died in separate parts of the country in recent times after being subjected to torture.
Beigbender also said UNICEF strongly believes that the Government of Bangladesh will do everything within its power to bring perpetrators to justice and help to end such violence against children. “It is important to note that due to the pervasive and proactive media coverage on child rights issues, incidences of child abuse, beating and even killing are now coming under sharp focus.”
“UNICEF works in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world with the government, non-governmental organisations and civil society to promote child rights and protect children from violence and other harmful practices, including child labour, children marriage and corporal punishment,” the UNICEF representative noted.

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‘al-Qaeda Bangladesh chief coordinator’ arrested

BBN Desk — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 06:57:39 +0000

Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Law enforcers have claimed to arrest 12 militants including the Bangladesh chief coordinator of al-Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) raiding different parts in Dhaka.
The law enforcers also seized huge stash of explosives, bomb-making materials, knives, books on Jihad from their possession.
Further details on the arrest and recovery will be disclosed at a briefing later in the day.
The law enforcers made the arrests during several raids in different parts of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, from Wednesday night till Thursday morning.
The arrestees include AQIS Bangladesh Chief Coordinator Mufti Mainul Islam and Adviser Maolana Zafar Amin.
Mufti Mainul earlier was acting as a leader of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami (Huji).
On 3 September 2014, Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of al-Qaeda, announced the establishment of a new branch in the Indian subcontinent in a 55-minute video posted online.
The activity of AQIS came to light when they claimed the responsibility after the brutal murder of writer Avijit Roy in February this year.
al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS is an Islamist militant organisation which aims to fight the governments of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Myanmar in order to establish an Islamic state.
The militant group has also stated its intentions to attack American targets in the Indian Subcontinent.
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