A senior ruling party MP yesterday in parliament lambasted the government for rampant corruption and money laundering in the country.

The WHO said Tuesday that one strain of a Covid-19 variant first detected in India was now considered “of concern” and had been dubbed “Delta”, while two other strains had been downgraded.

At least six Awami League activists got shot yesterday evening in a reported clash between factions of the party in Companyganj, Noakhali.

The BNP has termed “unacceptable” the government’s reasoning -- on legal grounds -- for not accepting the application from BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s family to allow her to go abroad for treatment.

The BNP has sought an explanation from the party’s standing committee member Mirza Abbas over his statement on the disappearance of the party leader M Ilias Ali.

Expressing concern over the recent arrest of religious leaders and alem-ulema in “false” cases, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday demanded their immediate release.

A senior leader of the ruling Awami League in Noakhali’s Companiganj upazila was critically wounded at a shooting incident by criminals yesterday.

BNP Standing Committee Member Mirza Abbas yesterday said that the media distorted his statement regarding the disappearance of former BNP lawmaker M Ilias Ali.

Some ruling Awami League men yesterday alleged that Abdul Quader Mirza is the mastermind behind Friday’s bomb attack on the residence of his elder brother Obaidul Quader, also the general secretary the party.

BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas yesterday hinted that some people from his party had hands behind the disappearance of former lawmaker M Ilias Ali.

Although the top leaders of Hefajat-e-Islam repeatedly denied the organisation’s involvement in recent countrywide vandalism and violence, photographs and footages testify the opposite.

Former vice president of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union Nurul Haque Nur has called the Awami League supporters as “fake Muslims”.

Maulana Abdullah Mohammad Hasan, a nayeb-e-ameer of Hefajat-e-Islam, has resigned from the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation, alleging that the Islamist group has turned into a platform that materialises personal agendas of some controversial Hefajat leaders.

A Gazipur court yesterday sent Rafiqul Islam, 27, popularly known as “Shishu Bokta”, to jail after he was sued under the Digital Security Act for delivering “anti-state and provocative” speeches.

In the face of recent violence by Hefajat-e-Islam, the police have beefed up security in different districts, including Dhaka.

Officer-in-Charge of Shalla Police Station Nazmul Haque has been suspended while OC of Derai Police Station Ashraful Islam transferred for negligence in duty during Hefajat-e Islam’s mayhem unleashed on Hindu houses in Noagaon village of Shalla upazila on March 17.

A Sunamganj court yesterday granted bail to a local Jubo League leader from Tahirpur, hours after he was detained for allegedly writing about Hefajat leader Mamunul Haque on Facebook.

Senior Awami League MP Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim yesterday told parliament that Hefajat-e-Islam is anti-Islamic, anti-independence, and “they are the enemy of the country”.

A group of leaders and activists of Hefajat-e-Islam blocked Dhaka-Chattogram highway, staged demonstrations, vandalised some vehicles, and ransacked a resort yesterday evening after getting a top leader of the organisation “rescued from confinement”.

India has said it has always been against fundamentalism and extremism and expressed confidence that the Bangladesh government would address the challenge posed by violent street protests by Hefajat-e-Islam during and after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to that country.