The International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced three senior officers of Dhaka Metropolitan Police to death and five of their subordinate officers to varying prison terms for their roles in the killings in the capital's Chankharpool area during the 2024 student-led mass uprising. The death sentence recipients are Dhaka Metropolitan Police's former commissioner Habibur Rahman, former joint commissioner Sudip Kumar Chakraborty, and former Ramna assistant deputy commissioner Shah Alam Md Akhterul Islam.

The tribunal found them guilty of crimes against humanity for their superior command responsibility in the Chankharpool operation, which left six protesters dead and several others injured. The tribunal also ordered the confiscation of their properties to the state exchequer. All three convicts remain absconding. Five other police officers were sentenced to three to six years' imprisonment for their complicity in the killings. The six victims killed at Chankharpool included Shahriar Khan Anas, a class-10 student who left behind a poignant letter to his mother.

Two teenagers were wounded by stray bullets fired from Myanmar amid exchanges of gunfire between rebels and Myanmar government forces near the border at Jimbongkhali, in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar on Tuesday morning (Jan. 27). The injured were identified as Sohel, 15, and Obaidullah, 14, son of Muhammad Yunus of Kanjorpara area of the upazila. The victims were collecting firewood in a forest area near Jimbongkhali BOP when the stray bullets from the Myanmar side hit them around 11:30am.

They were later taken to MSF Hospital in Kutupalong, Ukhiya in critical condition, he said. Sohel was shot in his left leg and hand while Obaidullah sustained a gunshot wound to the head. The border remains under heightened BGB vigilance and the situation is currently normal. Earlier, on January 11, a 12-year-old girl suffered injuries by a stray bullet allegedly fired from Myanmar along the Teknaf border in Cox's Bazar.

Six non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) out of 35 are set to be liquidated finally due to poor financial health, after the Bangladesh Bank (BB) board approved the move. The six NBFIs are FAS Finance, Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, Aviva Finance, People's Leasing, and International Leasing. Initially, the regulator had planned to liquidate nine NBFIs. However, after two days of hearings, three companies -- Prime Finance, GSP Finance, and Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company (BIFC) -- were given three to six months to improve their finances.

The decision was made at a BB board meeting chaired by Governor Ahsan H Mansur. Last week, BB held hearings with the nine NBFIs -- FAS Finance, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company, Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, GSP Finance, Prime Finance, Aviva Finance, People's Leasing, and International Leasing -- to determine if they had grounds to oppose liquidation. In November, the BB board approved the liquidation of troubled NBFIs under the Bank Resolution Ordinance 2025.

The interim government decided to merge all investment promotion agencies (IPAs) in Bangladesh in a move aimed at simplifying procedures and making the country more investor-friendly. The decision was taken at a meeting of the IPA Governing Board, chaired by Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus. Speaking at a press briefing at the Foreign Service Academy after the meeting, Executive Chairman of BIDA, BEZA and MIDA and CEO of the PPP Authority, Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, said the government has taken a policy decision to bring all IPAs under a single umbrella to facilitate both local and foreign investment.

Under the move, the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority, Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, Maheshkhali Integrated Development Authority and the Public-Private Partnership Authority will be merged into one entity. Ashik said the merger will be carried out through an independent third-party consultancy to ensure that the interests of none of the agencies are harmed.