Hasnat Abdullah, the central convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, has said to the interim government, you should run the country properly. Sometimes you make various excuses, the hands of the syndicate have changed, the hands of extortion have changed. You were not brought to make excuses; you were brought to take action. Now the hand of the one who extorts will be broken.

He said these things to journalists after a public relations meeting at the Cumilla Town Hall ground on Wednesday (January 8) afternoon. Earlier, the Anti-Discrimination Movement and the National Citizens Committee started public relations and leaflet distribution from the Cumilla Police Line.

He also said that the Proclamation of July Revolution should be announced by January 15. Even after so many days have passed since December 31, we have not seen any visible action from the government. We can still hear the cries of the martyrs and injured in the July uprising. They have been deprived of their right to benefits on the pretext of bureaucratic complications. In post-‘24 Bangladesh, bureaucratic complications will not be tolerated.

He also said that the current government should have taken proper responsibility for the families of the injured and deceased since August 5, but the government is still indifferent to this issue.

The people of Cumilla were the first to start the movement against fascism, and it was because of Hasina's sleeplessness that the people of Cumilla were there. Fascism has always echoed from Cumilla. Its continuity will continue from Cumilla.

Leaders of the district's anti-discrimination student movement and the National Citizens' Committee were present at the time.

Fourteen years have passed since the murder of Felani, a teenager who was the victim of the controversial border killing in Kolnitari village of Nageshwari upazila of Kurigram, but the family was disappointed and deprived as they did not get justice. After 14 years, the family went to Dhaka to meet the new government with the hope of justice. With that hope in mind, Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan, Adviser to the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives of the current government, has assured that he will give jobs to Felani's brothers and take responsibility for supporting the family.

Felani's father Nur Islam, mother Jahanara Begum and younger brother Jahan Uddin met him at his residence on Tuesday (January 7) night.

Jahan Uddin, the younger brother of the deceased Felani Khatun, confirmed the matter of taking responsibility. He said, 'Last night we met Asif Bhai. He assured that he would give jobs to a total of 3 of our brothers after they complete their studies. He also assured a fair trial for my sister's murder.'

Father Nur Islam said, 'For the past 14 years, the Awami League government has not provided justice despite assuring justice for my daughter's murder. I have appealed to the Bangladesh government many times for justice for the murder of my daughter. But I have not received justice. Yesterday I met Adviser Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan. He has assured that he will give a fair trial for the murder of my daughter. He has also taken responsibility for my family. We are grateful to this government.'

It is worth noting that Felani is the eldest child of Nur Islam and Jahanara couple from Kolnitari village of Ramkhana union in Nageshwari upazila. On January 7, 2011, 14-year-old Felani from Kolnitari village of Nageshwari upazila in Kurigram was killed in firing by the Indian Border Security Force (BSF). Today, Tuesday (January 7), 14 years have passed since the brutal murder of the girl Felani, but the trial of Felani's murder has not yet ended.

BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has arrived in London for advanced treatment.

The air ambulance carrying her landed at Heathrow Airport at 2:55 pm on Wednesday (January 8) Bangladesh time.

After monitoring her physical condition at the airport, Khaleda Zia may be admitted to a London clinic. An ambulance has been kept ready for this.

Earlier, the air ambulance carrying Khaleda Zia left Dhaka at 11:45 pm on Tuesday (January 7). The BNP Chairperson made a stopover in Doha on her nearly eight-hour journey before reaching London.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Qatar Nazrul Islam met and inquired about the Chairperson's physical condition. Earlier, leaders and activists started gathering in Gulshan in groups since the afternoon surrounding Khaleda's London trip. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir entered Khaleda Zia's residence after the evening.

People from all walks of life, including BNP leaders and activists, gathered on both sides of the road in Gulshan and on the way to the airport to bid farewell to Khaleda Zia.

Obaidul Karim, the owner of Orion Group, has built a mountain of wealth in Dubai by stealing the country's money. He trapped the Dubai contracting company Belhasa and amassed billions of taka through various misdeeds including fraud, deception, and embezzlement. He then laundered that money to Dubai himself. With the laundered money, he bought luxury hotels, flats, houses, and land in the posh areas of Dubai.

It is learned that none of the assets in Obaidul Karim's name in Dubai were purchased using his Bangladeshi passport. In the registration documents for buying a four-star hotel in Dubai, he identified himself as an Albanian citizen. In the documents of the Albanian corporate registry, the name of a company owned by him, Agri Products Europe, is mentioned which was established in the Albanian capital Tirana on November 11, 2013. Albania granted him citizenship through the Golden Passport Scheme against investment until 2023. The Cypriot government granted him citizenship under an investment program. In this case, he had to invest 200,000 euros or about 250,000 dollars in the Cyprus government's research and land development fund and about 2 million euros or about 2.5 million dollars in real estate in Cyprus.

Meanwhile, Orion Pharma Limited had a 30 percent stake in a pharmaceutical company in Bahrain. Obaidul Karim and his son Salman were on the board of directors of this company. However, although his son is mentioned as Bangladeshi, Obaidul Karim is mentioned as an Indian citizen. The company was established on January 6, 2015.

Obaidul Karim's daughter, Zarine Karim, owns the United Arab Emirates-based company Jesha General Trading LLC, where she is mentioned as a citizen of the Dominican Republic.

Obaidul Karim and his wife Arjuda Karim have Dominican passports. The passport was issued by that country on November 14, 2022. Their daughter, Zareen Karim, was appointed as the Honorary Consul of Dominica to Bangladesh in 2024 and still holds this position. Zareen Karim also invested 200,000 dollars in the real estate sector of the Dominican Republic to obtain citizenship.

Meanwhile, Obaidul Karim owns a 49 percent stake in the four-star hotel in Dubai called ‘Palette Royal Reflection Hotel and Spa’. Built in 2014, this 100-room hotel is located in Dubai’s elite area of Bar Dubai. Obaidul Karim, his wife Arjuda Karim and daughter Zareen own two houses and a three-bedroom flat in Dubai’s Al Merkadh and World Trade Center Residences. In total, Obaidul Karim and his family members have immovable assets worth Tk. 700 crore in Dubai. In addition, they have movable assets worth about Tk. 300 crore including luxury cars.

Obaidul Karim obtained the entire amount of thousand crores of taka smuggled from Bangladesh to build a huge property in Dubai through fraud, forgery and embezzlement.

During the construction of the 41-storey City Center in Motijheel, Dhaka, he forged the signature of Majed Ahmed, the managing director of the lead company Belhasa Group, and embezzled it by taking a loan of at least Tk. 176 crores from a bank in three phases. Although Obaidul Karim took the loan through fraud, Belhasa's name appeared on the list of defaulters. However, no one in Belhasa knew that Obaidul Karim had taken this huge loan in the name of their company. Even without taking the loan, Belhasa fell into Obaidul Karim's clutches and was listed as a defaulter. Although Belhasa Engineering and Contracting Company had 60 percent shares in that City Center, Obaidul Karim alone secretly sold 22 floors and embezzled about Tk. 450 crore and smuggled it abroad without the knowledge of the shareholders.

In addition, during the construction of the Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover, the company memorandum of Belhasa Ekom & Associates Limited, a joint venture of Orion and Belhasa, was forged as the builder. Here, Belhasa's representative was secretly excluded from the company memorandum through complete fraud. In this incident, Zubair Ahmed Bhuiyan, the authorized representative of Belhasa Engineering and Contracting Company's Managing Director Majed Ahmed, filed a case in the Fourth Joint District Judge's Court of Dhaka. The case alleged that Obaidul Karim forged signatures and formed a new company by excluding Belhasa's representative through forgery. In addition to Obaidul, his son Salman Karim and son-in-law Mehedi Hasan were made accused in the case. The then mayor of Dhaka City Corporation, registrar of joint stock companies, chairman of the Securities Exchange Commission and secretary of the Dhaka Stock Exchange were made counter-defendants. It is also alleged that Obaidul Karim embezzled Tk. 500 crore invested by Belhasa.

It is alleged that Obaidul Karim smuggled all the embezzled money abroad through corruption and incompetence.

Courtesy: Khabar Kagoj