United News of Bangladesh

The Bangladesh High Commission in Islamabad has officially relocated to its own premises in the Diplomatic Enclave. A rented house was previously used to accommodate the High Commission's office, which now has its own building. The new office opened on October 1, according to a press release. It is located in Block-15 on Road 33 in the Diplomatic Enclave, Islamabad. The office can be contacted by phone at +92-51-2279267 or by email at [email protected]. Faxes can be sent to +92-51-2279266. From now on, all services—including consular services—will be provided from the new location, according to the press release issued on Wednesday.  

The Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) has launched a new mobile application, GenieA, aimed at making police services more accessible, efficient, and citizen-friendly for residents of the city. SMP Commissioner DIG Abdul Khuddus Chowdhury officially inaugurated the app on Wednesday at the SMP office. Commissioner Khuddus said, “I have always dreamt of a police service using advanced technology to ensure public safety. The GenieA App is a step in that direction.” Through the app, citizens can quickly access police assistance and connect directly to emergency services. The app will be launched at Moglabazar Police Station in Sylhet on October 16, with plans to expand to all Sylhet city police stations within a month. Its features include an SOS button that instantly notifies the relevant police station, allowing officers to respond rapidly to emergencies. “Residents can register on the app and seek police help at any time,” the Commissioner said. He added that the GenieA App is available on both Play Store and App Store, and will serve as a powerful safety tool for all Sylhet citizens. The app also offers services such as filing general diaries (GDs), reporting cases, legal advice, and access to other emergency services including fire, ambulance and traffic updates. The GenieA App and enhanced monitoring systems are expected to mark a new era for Sylhet’s security, representing a major step toward crime prevention and public safety.

People's movement remained restricted until Wednesday in parts of Khagrachari, where tension ran high following recent unrest that saw three indigenous people get killed and houses and other establishments burned. The district administration launched an investigation into the unrest on Wednesday. After visiting the Swanirbhar Bazar around 5:30 pm on Wednesday, deputy commissioner ABM Iftekharul Islam Khandaker hoped to know more about what caused the unrest with the investigation progressing over the next couple of days. Superintendent of Police in Khagrachari, Md. Arefin Jewel, was with the DC during his visit. The DC said that the section 144 would be withdrawn as soon as normalcy returned to the areas. The prohibition on the movement of people came as violence flared up in the district over the rape of an indigenous child. At least three people, all indigenous men, were shot to death during the unrest that also saw houses and shops get reduced to ashes. "An assessment of the damage is underway,” said the DC.  

A sub-inspector (SI) of police was seriously injured after being attacked by suspected drug dealers in the Madinabag area of Dhaka’s Mugda on Wednesday evening, police said. The incident took place around 6:30 pm while SI Rusel was returning from an anti-narcotics operation. He was struck from behind on the head with a bamboo stick, leaving him critically injured, said Mugda Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Sajedur Rahman. Rusel was initially taken to a local hospital and later transferred to the emergency unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 8:15 pm. Doctors said he remains unconscious. When asked whether any of the attackers had been identified, OC Sajedur said, “Right now, our priority is to save the life of our colleague. Further action will follow once his condition stabilizes.”

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has intensified surveillance along the frontiers to ensure security and maintain communal harmony during the Durga Puja celebrations, said Brigadier General SM Zahidur Rahman, Additional Director General of BGB. “We are on the highest alert to prevent any untoward incident,” he said after visiting Mogholhat Haribashor Sarbajanin Durga Mandir and Durakuti Dakshinpara Sarbajanin Durga Mandir in Lalmonirhat on Wednesday. The BGB official reviewed overall security measures and held discussions with temple committees and local residents. He said surveillance and patrols have been strengthened, particularly around temples located within 8 kilometers of the border. “Our members will remain on maximum alert until the immersion of the idols,” he added. This year, 145 Puja mandaps under the jurisdiction of 15 BGB Battalion in Lalmonirhat have been brought under tight security, with patrol teams deployed at each temple. The initiative has been welcomed by the local administration, Puja committees, public representatives, and community leaders, who expressed their gratitude to BGB for ensuring a safe and peaceful environment for the festivities.

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, who arrived in Dubai International Airport on Wednesday evening, is scheduled to reach home on Thursday morning. An Emirates Airlines commercial flight carrying the Chief Adviser and his small entourage is scheduled to take off from the Dubai International Airport at 2am on Thursday (Dubai time). The Chief Adviser is scheduled to return home before 9am on Thursday (Dhaka time). Prof Yunus left New York on Tuesday night (US time) for Dhaka, concluding a nine-day visit marked by extensive engagements during the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). An Emirates Airlines commercial flight carrying the Chief Adviser and his small entourage took off from John F. Kennedy International Airport at 11:10 pm (US time). Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Tareq Md Ariful Islam and Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury saw him off at the airport, said Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder. Prof Yunus began his UNGA tour on September 22 and concluded it by attending the high-level conference on the “Situation of Rohingya Muslims and Other Minorities” held at the UN General Assembly Hall on Tuesday. Prof Yunus leaves New York for Dhaka He delivered his address at the 80th UNGA on September 26 and held a series of meetings with world leaders on the sidelines of the session. BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP leader Humayun Kabir, Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Syeed Abdullah Muhammad Taher, Jamaat’s US spokesperson Mohammad Nakibur Rahman, National Citizen Party member secretary Akhter Hossen, and first senior joint member secretary Dr Tasnim Jara joined the delegation at Prof Yunus’ invitation. Speaking broadly at the UNGA, Prof Yunus warned, the “truth before us is frightening” and stressed that “extreme nationalism, geopolitics that thrive on the suffering of others, and indifference to human pain are destroying the progress humanity has built through decades of struggle”. This tragedy is most visible in Gaza, he said, adding that the two-State solution must be implemented now. Prof Yunus described three goals on which young people must be able to build the future: zero carbon, zero wealth concentration and zero unemployment. “Let the dream of a three-zero world be the dream of all nations.”

No untoward incident was reported with the Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the minority Hindu community, being celebrated in a festive mood, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner SM Sazzat Ali said on Wednesday. Police are ready to deal with any attempts to disrupt the peaceful environment in which the Durga Puja is being observed, he warned. The DMP Commissioner made the remarks while visiting puja mandaps at Banani and Bashundhara residential areas in the capital in the afternoon. Sazzaat said that 254 puja mandaps across Dhaka city are celebrating the religious event. He assured all of ensuring every measure necessary to enable a joyful ending of the festival with the immersion ritual tomorrow. The commissioner further said that people of different religions—Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians—have lived together in harmony for centuries in this country and stressed the need to protect this communal harmony for future generations. Additional Police commissioner S.N. Mohammad Nazrul Islam, along with other senior DMP officials, accompanied the commissioner in his visit.  

The body of a grocer who had been missing for three days was recovered from a paddy field in Zakiganj upazila of Sylhet on Wednesday afternoon. The deceased was identified as Noman Uddin (50), son of the late Abdul Jabbar, a resident of Purbo Manikpur village under Manikpur Union. Locals spotted the body in a field behind Shayla City Hospital, near Kaliganj Bazar, around 4 pm and immediately informed police. Law enforcement later recovered the body from the scene. According to family members, Noman had left home on September 29 to open his shop in Kaliganj Bazar and later visited Shayla Memorial Hospital. He went missing afterward. A general diary was filed with Zakiganj Police Station, and during this time, an unidentified caller demanded Tk 2 lakh in ransom. Noman’s family alleged that he had a dispute with his cousins over ancestral property and termed the killing a planned murder. 'Mentally unstable' husband hacks wife to death in Sylhet Zahirul Islam Munna, Officer-in-Charge of Zakiganj Police Station, said an investigation is underway to identify those involved. “No arrests have been made yet, and no written complaint has been lodged so far,” he added.

Professor Dr. Md. Khalequzzaman has been elected as the new President of the Bangladesh Society of Cardiovascular Intervention (BSCI), while Senior Consultant Dr. Khondaker Asaduzzaman has been elected as the Secretary General. Associate Professor Dr. Md. Abul Khair was nominated as Treasurer, and a 27-member executive committee has been newly formed to lead the organization. The decisions were made during an emergency general meeting held at a convention center in the capital's Dhanmondi on Wednesday, aimed at revitalizing the organization. The meeting was chaired by Professor Dr. Md. Touhidul Haque and moderated by Associate Professor Dr. Mohammad Ullah Firoz. Poor management, corruption hinder Narsingdi BSCIC expansion’s success In the meeting, members unanimously agreed to dissolve the inactive three-year-old committee and elect a new leadership to make BSCI more active, dynamic, and forward-looking. Several prominent figures in the field of cardiology and cardiovascular intervention, including Professor Dr. Afzalur Rahman, Professor Dr. Khaled Mohsin, Professor Dr. Syed Azizul Haque, Professor Dr. A.F. Khabir Uddin Ahmed, Professor Dr. Amiruzzaman Khan, Professor Dr. Md. Saiful Islam, Professor Dr. Mohiuddin Bhuiyan, Professor Dr. Nur Hossain, Professor Dr. Habibur Rahman, and Associate Professor Dr. A.T.M. Nurunnabi Shah, were also present.

A businessman was killed in a road accident on the Meherpur-Kushtia regional highway in the Purapara area on Wednesday night, police said. The deceased was identified as Mahajan Ali, son of Tuku Ali from Dighirpara village in Meherpur Sadar upazila. He was involved in supplying paper and other goods to traders in Gangni upazila. Missing schoolboy's body retrieved from Meherpur’s Bhairab River According to eyewitnesses, Mahajan was returning to Meherpur after completing business at the Gangni market. While he had stopped by the roadside during rain to cover his goods with plastic, a large vehicle ran over him, leaving him dead on the spot. Gangni police later recovered the body and took it to Gangni Upazila Health Complex for legal procedures.