Two journalists have been appointed as Assistant Press Secretaries to the Chief Adviser. They are Shuchismita Tithi of Daily Star and Naeem Ali of The Business Standard.

This was informed in a notification of the contract and foreign recruitment branch of the Ministry of Public Administration on Thursday (September 19).

According to the notification, these two journalists will be fixed at the highest step of the scale of Tk. 22000-53060 in the scale of Tk. 22000-53060 in National Pay Scale, Grade-9, 2015 for the tenure of the Chief Adviser or subject to his satisfaction (whichever is earlier) from the date of joining on the condition of relinquishing employment with other institutions and organizations. They have been appointed on contractual basis with the highest step of fixed salary of the NPS.

Suchismita Thithi, a graduate from the Department of Sociology, University of Dhaka, has been working as a journalist at The Daily Star since January 2020. Business Standard journalist Naeem Ali is a graduate from East West University. 

Shamim Ahmed Gani Molla, the leader of the university's Chhatra League, died in the hospital after being beaten up in Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus. The University administration has expelled 8 students of the University in this incident.

This information was informed in an office order signed by Acting Registrar ABM Azizur Rahman on Thursday (September 19) night.

According to section 3(2)(c) of Jahangirnagar University Students Disciplinary Ordinance-2018, Zubair Ahmed of batch 44 of History department, Raju Ahmed of batch 45 of Government and Politics department, Mohammad Rajan Mia of batch 46 of Government and Politics department, Sohag Mia of 47th batch of Computer science and Engineering department, Hamidullah Salman of 49th batch of English department, Md. Atikuzzaman Atik of 49th batch of Management Studies department. Atikuzzaman Atiq, Ahsan Labib of 49th batch of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Department and Mahmudul Hasan Raihan of 50th batch of English Department was temporarily expelled from the University on Thursday (September 19) afternoon.

According to the office order, it is informed for the information and necessary action of all concerned as per the instructions of the authorities that on 18-9-2024, as per the initial report received by the Proctoral Body regarding the unexpected death of Shamim Mollah, former student of History department of the 39th batch of the academic year 2009-2010 of this University. Based on the evidence (video footage and photographs) the punishment was given to the accused students considering their guilt as they were directly involved in the incident.

From some of the video footages circulating on social media, some of the leaders in breaking the lock of the security office and beating Shamim have been identified. They are - former student of the 33rd batch of the University and former general secretary of the branch Chhatra Dal Syed Hossain Bhuiyan. Apart from this, 45th batch student Raju Ahmed and 46th batch student Rajan Hasan, 49th batch English student Hamidullah Salman and 47th batch student Sohag Mia of the Computer Science & Engineering department of the University were also present. All of them are involved in the politics of the university branch Chhatra Dal.

Meanwhile, accused Raju Ahmed, Rajan Hasan, Hamidullah Salman and MN Sohag have denied beating Shamim Molla. However, admitting the beating, Saeed Hossain Bhuiyan said, "No one beat him (Shamim) with the intention of killing him." As a former student of the University I visited there. But it is important to unravel the mystery of a man who got into a police van on his own feet and died within moments.

Incidentally, the deceased Shamim Ahmed Gani Molla was a 39th batch student of the University and former organizing secretary of the University branch Chhatra League. The deceased Shamim Molla is a resident of Mollabari in Kathgara area of Ashulia police station. His father Yazuddin Mollah is a retired employee of the physical education office of the University.

According to University sources, Shamim Molla was staying in a shop near the University's Joy Bangla gate around 5:30 pm on Wednesday. On hearing the news, a group of university students went there and arrested him. Then Shamim was questioned about his involvement in the July 15 attack and firing at the students by Ahsan Labib, the coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement. However, when he denied involvement in the attack, Shamim was mobbed by angry students. Atiq, a student of management studies department, was seen leading there under the instructions of Abu Saeed Bhuiyan, the former general secretary of the university branch Chhatra Dal.

Meanwhile, after receiving the news after the first round of beating, the proctorial team of the university reached the spot. At one stage Shamim was brought to the security wing with the help of security personnel. When news of him being brought to the security wing spread across the campus, angry students gathered there. Later there was also a tense situation. Shamim was then taken inside the security wing and locked at the gate. However, the excited students broke the lock of the gate and mobbed him again.

Besides, some coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement were also seen there, but it was not confirmed whether they participated in the beating.

Any kind of mob justice, taking law into one's own hands, mass beatings will not be accepted. If these things happen, immediate action will be taken, said the Adviser on law, justice and parliamentary affairs Dr. Asif Nazrul

He said these things at a briefing at the Foreign Service Academy on Thursday (September 19) evening.

He said, no extrajudicial killings will be accepted. We are sure of one thing; our government will take immediate legal action. Appropriate punishment will be provided subject to investigation and trial.

Expressing great shock over the death of two people from Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University, he said, "It has shocked us, it has caused us great pain." I have already taken action. Three people have been arrested. We will take whatever steps are necessary to avoid such incidents.

S Alam Group, the country's largest industrial conglomerate, issued a statement protesting the 'false and motivated report' published against Ashraful Alam and Asadul Alam in a national English daily.

In the report published in that daily on September 18, it was claimed that Ashraful Alam and Asadul Alam Mahir resorted to irregularities through fake 'pay orders'.

Monotosh Chandra Roy, nominated representative of S Alam Group, said the report was published with false and ulterior motives.

S Alam Group feels that the reporter has published the report by misunderstanding the entire process.

In that report, the reporter mentioned that the tax file was submitted following the provisions of Income Tax Ordinance to launder black money. The reporter even contacted the Commissioner of Taxes to verify the context of the money laundering issue. According to the report, in both the files, the returns were submitted by issuing pay orders before 30.06.2021 as provided under Section 19AAAA of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 for money laundering.

The reporter also mentioned, 'According to the documents, Ashraful and Asadul failed to whiten this black money for the first time through two pay orders of Tk. 25 crores in the financial year 2020-21. However, after a few months, they made a second attempt and succeeded. This means that the first two pay orders were fake.

S Alam Group claimed that the reporter had published fabricated information.

As the pay order was submitted along with the return, S Alam said in the statement. And the tax office presented it to the bank for collection. The numbers were inadvertently stamped with tax office pay orders when given to the bank for collection. As the pay order is not cashed, the tax office sends a letter requesting a new pay order. Pursuant to their letter, the defective pay orders were canceled and fresh pay orders were issued which was given right later.

Since the said pay orders were collected late, the matter came to the notice of the new Joint Commissioner of Taxes. The Joint Commissioner issued a notice under Section 120 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984 and sent the tax inspector to the bank to verify the authenticity of the pay order. The tax inspector personally visits the bank and verified the authenticity of the deposited pay order and obtains proof that the issued pay order is correct. As a result, the Joint Commissioner of Taxes suspended the proceedings under section 144.

According to the above statement, it is proved that tax has been duly paid for the financial year 2020-21 in compliance with all the provisions and benefits provided under Section 19AAAA added to the Income Tax Ordinance, 1984. As the provisions of Section 19AAAA have been fully complied with, the question of tax evasion does not arise.

The group also said in its statement that the reporter misunderstood the entire process. The report was published with his wrong information. So S Alam Group strongly protested the published news.