Feature
Suspected hijacker with toy gun made bit to hijack Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight
Dhaka: A Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG147 which was on the way to Dubai from country’s capital city was force to made emergency landing at Chittagong airport after security forces gave alert of plane is going to be hijack by suspected hijacker.
A suspected hijacker on the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG147, on way to Dubai from Bangladesh, was shot dead by Bangladeshi Special Forces, the media reported.
The suspect, who reportedly claimed to be carrying a pistol, was killed when security forces stormed the plane after it made an emergency landing in Chittagong, BBC reported on Sunday.
All 148 passengers and crew on board the flight disembarked safely. It is not clear why the suspect might have attempted to hijack the plane.
Army officials said the man, believed to be aged 25, was wounded when he was fired at, and died shortly after arrested. “We tried to arrest him or get him to surrender but he refused and then we shot him,” Maj. Gen. Motiur Rahman said at a press conference.
“He is a Bangladeshi national. We found a pistol on him and nothing else,” he said.
Earlier reports suggested the suspect may have been mentally unsound. He had demanded to speak to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was visiting the coastal city of Chittagong.
Man along with toy gun turns suspected hijacker to hijack Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight:
Crew onboard raised concerns after the man was found acting suspiciously and indicating intent to hijack the plane, Reuters reported quoting airline officials.
The aircraft was cordoned off on landing at the Shah Amanat International airport in Chittagong. The police started interacting with the suspect.
Images posted on social media showed a crowd on the airport tarmac with the Boeing 737-800 in the background.
Police in Bangladesh on Monday said that the man who was shot dead after attempting to hijack a plane carrying 156 people using a toy gun, has been identified as a “listed criminal” as his name featured on the law enforcement database.
The incident took place onboard the Biman Bangladesh Airlines Flight BG 147 that had been travelling to Dubai from Dhaka, with a scheduled stopover in the city of Chittagong, on Sunday evening.
Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), the elite anti-crime unit of the Bangladesh Police, has identified the suspect as Polash Ahmed, who hailed from Dudhghata in Narayanganj.
Entertainment
Meghalaya Reserves Legalized Gambling and Sports Betting for Tourists
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.