Former National Board of Revenue (NBR) member Motiur Rahman and his wife, former upazila chairman Laila Kaniz, who were involved in the ‘goat’ scandal, have been arrested.

A team of DB police arrested them from the capital's Bashundhara area on Tuesday night.

DMP's Media and Public Relations Department Deputy Commissioner (DC) Muhammad Talebur Rahman confirmed the matter. 

A terrible fire broke out in St. Martin, a coral island. No casualties have been reported so far in the incident. The island's residents say that the fire caused this great damage because there is no fire service on the island.

The incident took place in the Galachipa area of the island's west beach at 2:30 am on Tuesday (January 14).

The matter was confirmed by the chairman of the St. Martin Union Parishad, Mujibur Rahman.

He said that Shayari, Beach Valley and Kingshuk Resorts were burnt to ashes in a terrible fire in St. Martin at midnight. No tourists or locals were injured in the incident.

St. Martin resident Abdul Malek said that usually the island's waste is burned in the sand dunes, which could have caused this incident. This great damage was caused by the fire because there is no fire service on the island.

Law enforcement officers on duty at the Secretariat have removed the 40th batch of dismissed trainee sub-inspectors (SIs) who were on a hunger strike for the second day in front of the Secretariat in the capital demanding their reinstatement.

An attempt was made to remove the protesters after 11pm on Tuesday (January 14). Sajidul Islam, a dismissed trainee sub-inspector (SI), confirmed this information.

He said, since 11pm, police members of Shahbagh Police Station have been trying to forcefully remove us from here. Till now, we have not changed our place and are continuing the agitation here.

Dismissed SI Rabiul Robi said, we are observing a peaceful hunger strike. But since 11pm, the police have come here. They are creating obstacles in our hunger strike. They have asked us to disperse from this place of hunger strike.

He said, the officer-in-charge (OC, Operation) of Shahbagh Police Station stopped us by introducing himself. At one point, we had an argument with them.

On Tuesday (January 14), images of the dismissed trainee sub-inspectors (SIs) were seen in front of the Secretariat on a hunger strike to death.

They were on a hunger strike to death demanding reinstatement for the second day today.

The dismissed protesters had said that they would continue their hunger strike in front of the Secretariat until their demands were met.

Earlier, on Monday (January 13), the 40th (cadet) sub-inspectors of the 2023 batch held a sit-in in front of the Secretariat demanding reinstatement. Later, they held a press conference and announced the hunger strike as their demands were not met by 3:30 pm.

Later, at the call of the authorities, a four-member delegation of the discharged SIs entered the secretariat at 6:40 pm.

The protesters announced that they would continue their hunger strike as the meeting with the Public Administration Secretary there was not fruitful.

On Monday (January 13), discharged cadet Alamgir Hossain said at a press conference, "We, 321 sub-inspectors, held a peaceful sit-in in front of the Home Ministry on January 5 and 6 to protest the unfair discharge from the ongoing training of the 40th Cadet Sub-Inspector batch of Bangladesh Police and demand our reinstatement." The Home Secretary met a delegation of us and assured us of taking appropriate action regarding our demands. Since we have not seen any visible action regarding our demands so far, all of us (321 people) have been holding a peaceful sit-in in front of the Home Ministry since this morning (January 13).

He said, "After waiting since morning but not getting any specific assurance from the proper authorities, we have announced a hunger strike to death program from today (January 13) as our next program until we are reinstated in service. We will remain in front of the secretariat until our demands are met."

Earlier, the protesters said that we participated in training on November 4, 2023. After the training was completed, a total of 321 people were dismissed in four stages without being assigned to the job, citing various reasons. Therefore, we, the dismissed trainee sub-inspectors (SIs) of the 40th batch, have taken a stand demanding our reinstatement in service.

Sajidul Islam said, a total of 321 people were dismissed instead of completing our training and posting for various small reasons. 203 people were dismissed for not eating breakfast. 49 people were dismissed for standing in the field without listening to commands, and 58 people were dismissed for being inattentive in class. 3 people were dropped for not marching in class and 8 people were dropped for making noise in the field. Therefore, we would like to draw the attention of the government and request that we be reinstated in our jobs immediately.

Protester Anamika Saha said, "We have trained for a year with almost no pay, making many sacrifices. When we were supposed to be regular in the job, we were dropped. Now we are roaming the streets in the hope of getting our jobs back."

Protester Alamgir Hossain said, "We have submitted applications and memorandums to our chief adviser, IGP and home affairs adviser. We have submitted memorandums to all the ministries concerned by maintaining legal procedures. We have been peacefully protesting in front of the secretariat for several days, including today. We hope that a decision will be made in our favor today. And if no decision is made, we will announce our next program by issuing a press release at 4 pm.

Adviser Mahfuz Alam said that the interim government has called an all-party meeting on Thursday (January 16) to discuss the declaration of the July mass uprising. After this meeting, details will be given on what will be in the July declaration.

He said these things at a press conference on contemporary issues at the Foreign Service Academy on Tuesday (January 14).

Adviser Mahfuz said that BNP, Jamaat and all other uprising forces agree on the July declaration. But they could not agree on what will be in the declaration. The government will hold a dialogue with all political parties and factions on this issue next Thursday. He expressed hope that they will definitely reach an agreement there.

At that time, in response to a question about the dialogue with the Jatiya Party and the left parties, he further said, the position of the Jatiya Party in the political field is clear to us. So far, we have not called them for any meeting. Therefore, we do not think it is reasonable to talk to them about the declaration. And there are many organizations among the left parties, but talks have been held with the parties that directly supported the mass uprising, and more will be done.

On the question of whether the July Declaration will be written into the constitution, Mahfuz Alam said, "The government is reviewing and discussing the preparation of a legal document based on this declaration. It was supposed to happen earlier, but we cannot do it before the people come. Let the people come first, and then we will do it together. The issue of inclusion in the constitution will definitely depend on everything starting from the Constituent Assembly and the next constitutional amendment. Whoever gets this responsibility or if we get this responsibility, if the people give it to us - we will do it. Whoever wins the next election will be the force of the mass uprising. They will go to the people holding this declaration.

Earlier, on December 31, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and the National Citizens Committee wanted to publish the declaration of the July Mass Uprising at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka. Various discussions were generated in the country's political arena regarding this. The question arose, why was the issue of the declaration suddenly brought to the fore and what its impact could be. The press wing of the interim government then said that the government was not involved in this initiative. However, in an emergency press briefing on the night of December 30, the press secretary of the chief adviser, Shafiqul Alam, said that an initiative has been taken to prepare a declaration of the July mass uprising based on national consensus.