DHAKA: Bangladesh authorities Monday ordered a probe into allegations of murder against former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and arrested a media magnate as two more people were shot dead in spiralling political unrest.
Although experts said it was unlikely that the accusations filed in a private lawsuit would result in charges against Zia, they will add to the pressure on the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader who has been struggling to topple the government through a transport blockade.
The order by a magistrate for police to probe the allegations came hours after the owner of a private television channel was arrested after a meeting with Zia in her Dhaka headquarters.
“Metropolitan Magistrate Atiqur Rahman ordered the Gulshan police in Dhaka to investigate the complaint and submit a report by March 1,” Ashiqur Rahman, a court official, told AFP.
A lawyer for the plaintiff, pro-government activist A. B. Siddiqi, said Zia was responsible for the death of 42 people killed after opposition activists firebombed buses and trucks in a wave of protests.
“She is to blame for the death of 42 innocent people as she ordered her supporters to attack vehicles with petrol bombs,” said lawyer Roushonara Sikder Daizy.
The 69-year-old leader, who has been holed up in her office since Jan. 3, has already been charged by police with lesser crimes including “abetting” and “instigating” the firebombings.
Zia called the protests early last month. She urged supporters to enforce a nationwide blockade of roads, railways and waterways to try to force Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to call a fresh general election.
The opposition boycotted the last poll in January 2014 on the grounds the result would be rigged.
The protests have triggered widespread violence that left at least 46 people dead — mostly victims of firebombing attacks on buses and lorries.
In the latest deaths, two activists from the BNP-allied Jamaat-e-Islami party were shot dead allegedly by police, including a 23-year-old student.
More than 10,000 opposition activists have been arrested, including dozens of front-rank officials. Others have gone into hiding.
Khaleda Zia sued for 42 murders
Khaleda Zia sued for 42 murders
India plans AI ‘data city’ on staggering scale
- ‘The data city is going to come in one ecosystem ... with a 100 kilometer radius’
NEW DELHI: As India races to narrow the artificial intelligence gap with the United States and China, it is planning a vast new “data city” to power digital growth on a staggering scale, the man spearheading the project says.
“The AI revolution is here, no second thoughts about it,” said Nara Lokesh, information technology minister for Andhra Pradesh state, which is positioning the city of Visakhapatnam as a cornerstone of India’s AI push.
“And as a nation ... we have taken a stand that we’ve got to embrace it,” he said ahead of an international AI summit next week in New Delhi.
Lokesh boasts the state has secured investment agreements of $175 billion involving 760 projects, including a $15 billion investment by Google for its largest AI infrastructure hub outside the United States.
And a joint venture between India’s Reliance Industries, Canada’s Brookfield and US firm Digital Realty is investing $11 billion to develop an AI data center in the same city.
Visakhapatnam — home to around two million people and popularly known as “Vizag” — is better known for its cricket ground that hosts international matches than cutting-edge technology.
But the southeastern port city is now being pitched as a landing point for submarine internet cables linking India to Singapore.
“The data city is going to come in one ecosystem ... with a 100 kilometer radius,” Lokesh said. For comparison, Taiwan is roughly 100 kilometers wide.
Lokesh said the plan goes far beyond data connectivity, adding that his state had “received close to 25 percent of all foreign direct investments” to India in 2025.
“It’s not just about the data centers,” he explained while outlining a sweeping vision of change, with Andhra Pradesh offering land at one US cent per acre for major investors.
