Bangladesh
'He was murdered': Fardin's father demands justice
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) student Fardin Noor Parash was murdered, claimed his father Nuruddin Rana on Tuesday, demanding justice for his son.
"I may not get my son back, but I want justice. It is now easy to find out the culprits and killers by tracking his mobile phone location," he said after Fardin’s namaz-e-janaza at Buet Central Mosque this noon.
"My son was very decent and soft hearted. He was very friendly. I do not know the reason why he has been killed in such a brutal way. He was closely involved in extra-curricular activities like debating and social works," he added.
Read more: Fardin’s death: Buet students demand justice from human chain
Fardin was a 3rd year student of Buet’s civil engineering department and a resident of Qutubpur area in Narayanganj's Fatullah.
The human chain, under the banner of general students, was formed in front of Buet Shaheed Minar after his namaz-e-janaza. His body was brought to Buet campus after an autopsy this morning.
The students also demanded immediate arrest of those behind Fardin’s death after identifying them.
On November 4, Fardin left for the campus from his home after the Juma prayer as he had a quiz the following day, but he did not attend the quiz.
"When Fardin's friends informed us that he didn’t attend the quiz, we informed the police station and lodged a complaint that day," Nuruddin said.
Read more: Injury marks on head, body of Buet student Fardin: Doctor who conducted autopsy
On Monday, police recovered Fardin's body from the Shitalakhkhya river behind a cotton mill at Siddhirganj, three days after he went missing.
"When he set out for the campus from home, he took his mobile, watch and money bag. But we found nothing of those with the body,” said the father.
Earlier today, Sheikh Farhad, a physician at Narayanganj General Hospital where the autopsy was done, said there were several injury marks on Fardin’s head and body.
Buddhist community celebrates 'Maha Pinddaan' in Bandarban
Maha Pinddaan, a traditional festival of the Buddhist community of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, was held this morning with much enthusiasm.
‘Maha Pinddaan' is a festival where various items are donated to the monks.
About three hundred Buddhist monks from different monasteries of Bandarban participated in this festival.
The Buddhist monks left Rajguru Buddhist Temple and returned there after circumambulating Madhyampara, Ujani Para and Jadipara.
Read more: ‘Kathin Chibar Dan’ festival begins in Rangamati
At this time, Buddhist men and women distributed cash, fruits, clothes, soft drinks and various kinds of food to the monks.
This Maha Pinddaan festival is organized after donating the ‘Kathin Chibor Dan' (new robes for monks) to the monks.
Seeking divine blessings of Lord Goutam Buddha for lasting peace and prosperity for the people of all communities in CHT, the Buddhists offered prayers in the temple.
Read more: Leaving fear behind Durga appears in tribal outfit in Ctg
Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, Zila Parishad chairman Kyaw Shwe Hla , District Commissioner Yasmin Parvin Tibriji and other dignitaries also donated various items to the monks.
'Fraud gang leader' held in Dhaka
In a joint operation by the National Security Intelligence (NSI) Agency and RAB, the mastermind of a fraud gang and his aid were arrested from the capital's Banani on Monday.
Shri Haridas Chandra Taranidas, 34, son of Shri Gopinath of Bogura's Shibganj and Md Imran Mehdi Hasan, 38, son of Md Saiful Islam of Mymensingh's Trishal.
Shri Haridas Chandra is a converted Muslim and he changed his name to Tawhid Islam after converting to Islam.
Also read: 26 members of new militant group ‘Jamatul Ansar Fil Hindal Sharqiya' held so far: Rab
The law enforcers also seized 4 mobile sets and various documents used in fraudulence from their possession.
Tipped off, a team of NSI and Rab-3 conducted a joint drive in the area and arrested the accused, said a media statement of RAB.
During primary interrogation, the arrestees confessed to their involvement in fraudulent activities for a long time. The nature of the alleged crimes has not been explained.
Legal action is underway against the arrestees, RAB said.
Rohingya man shot dead in Cox’s Bazar
A Rohingya man was shot dead by some unidentified miscreants at Teknaf upazila in Cox’s Bazar on Monday night.
The deceased was identified as Mohammad Salam, 26, from Musni refugee camp in Teknaf, said Abdul Halim, Officer-in-Charge of Teknaf police station.
Read more: Rohingya leaders shot dead in Cox’s Bazar
Three unidentified men took wounded Salam to Kutopalong Hospital at Ukhiya where doctors announced him dead on arrival, said the OC.
The men who took Salam to the hospital fled the hospital, he said.
Salam was sued in two cases for drug peddling and murder, said the OC.
Bangladesh broadens its sources for energy supply; no shortage of dollars: FM
Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said the government broadened its network of sources for energy supply through successful discussion with a number of friendly countries.
“We had limited sources before. Now, we have widened the sources of the network. We have made it very successfully,” he told reporters after attending a prize giving ceremony at Buet playground.
Read more: Dhaka, Moscow discuss energy cooperation
Momen said the energy crisis is now a global crisis as there is a disruption in the supply chain and financial transaction due to the war in Ukraine.
He mentioned his successful discussion with the ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where there is plenty of oil stock.
Momen said the countries like Brunei, Malaysia and Indonesia are also willing to supply energy to Bangladesh.
“Even, China is willing to supply energy if Bangladesh faces a crisis. You see more nations are coming,” he said.
Read more: Come with money, technology in green energy sector, Nasrul tells development partners
Momen said Bangladesh will soon manage the situation and there will be availability of energy. “We will do whatever is needed for the welfare of the country.”
Responding to a question, the foreign minister said there is no dollar crisis in the country. After paying $1.35 billion to Asian Clearing Union (ACU) as an import bill for September-October and $131 million spent to meet LC liabilities, the forex reserves stood at $34.3 billion at the end of November 7.
Momen said the forex reserves fluctuated from US$ 3 billion to US$ 3.5 billion during the period of 2001-2006.
“There is no shortage of foreign currency. It's plenty of money for a few months of import,” said the foreign minister.
Momen said there is no reason to stop issuance of LC (letter of credit), rather the government is taking action to check over invoicing. “This is good. They should examine or reexamine all the documents. This is not bad at all.”
Record number of Bangladesh workers left for S Korea Tuesday
A total of 248 Bangladesh expatriate workers left for South Korea from Bangladesh through a chartered flight from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday.
It is the biggest number of the workers left for South Korea in a day so far, said the Embassy in a media release.
South Korean Ambassador to Bangladesh Lee Jang-keun said as many as 5,200 Bangladesh workers are expected to have gone to Korea by the end of this year.
Until November 1 this year, 3,986 Bangladesh expatriate workers were admitted to Korea which is the largest number since the start of Korea’s Employment Permit System (EPS) in 2008 through which the Korean Government recruits low and medium-skilled foreign workers.
Also read: Over five lakh Bangladeshi expats lost jobs during Covid-19 pandemic: Minister
Among the departed workers today, a female worker Champa, who would work at a manufacturing factory in Gyeonggi Province for the next four years and ten months, said she does not expect difficulties in Korea as the company would provide food and shelter. Her mother will raise her 10-month-old daughter while she works in Korea.
Ban on tourism in 3 Bandarban upazilas extended till Nov 12, lifted from Alikadam
Bandarban district administration has further extended the temporary ban on tourism in Ruma, Rowangchhari, and Thanchi upazilas till November 12 as part of high security measure while lifted it from Alikadam upazila.
A public notice regarding the extension and withdrawal of the ban was issued from Bandarban Deputy Commissioner’s office on Tuesday evening following a letter from Bandarban Cantonment.
Due to the improvement in security situation the restriction has been lifted from Alikadam upazila, said the notice signed by Yasmin Parvin Tibriji, Bandarban Deputy Commissioner.
Read more: Ban on tourism in Bandarban extended till Nov 8
Meanwhile, the travel ban on domestic and foreign tourists has been extended in the three upazilas as the law enforcement agencies will continue intelligence activities against suspected militants, said the notice.
The administration imposed the temporary restriction on visitors in Ruma and Rowangchhari upazilas on October 18.
Later on October 23, the local administration discouraged tourists from traveling to Thanchi and Alikadam upazilas due to the same reason.
The restriction was extended on October 19 and November 4.
Read more: 230 ethnic minority families to get ‘Machang Ghar’ in Bandarban under Ashrayan scheme
From October 10, law enforcement agencies started a joint drive against the underground extremists and criminals in the district.
So far, seven militants and three local criminals have been arrested with local arms from forested hills of Bandarban and Rangamati during the operations.
6 get death sentence for raping teenage girl in Khulna
A tribunal in Khulna on Tuesday sentenced six men to death for raping a teenage girl in Sonadanga upazila in 2019.
The death-row convicts are Morshedul Islam Shanto alias Shanto Biswas, Sheikh Shahadat Hossain, Md Rabbi Hasan Parash, Md Mahmud Hasan Akash, Kazi Ariful Islam Pritam and Md Mim Hossain. Among them, Shanto, Shahadat and Pritam were tried in absentia.
Khulna Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal-3 Judge Abdus Salam Khan delivered the judgment.
Read more: Unspeakable: Parents tied up before daughter gang-raped by vandals in Subarnachar
The court fined the convicts Tk 20,000 each.
The court also sentenced four adolescents to eight years imprisonment each. One of them was sentenced to three more years more jail under the Anti-Pornography Act.
According to the case, Shanto raped the sixth grader girl after taking her to a rented house of another convict on June 29 in 2019. The others convicts videoed the crime and raped the girl in terms.
Read more: Sunamganj: 5 get life in prison in attempted rape, rape cases
On the following day, a case was filed against nine people at Sonadanga police station.
On November 13 of the same year, the investigation officer of the case and Sonadanga police station officer-in-charge (OC) Momtazul Hoque submitted a chargesheet against 10 convicts.
ACC moves to sign deals with 8 nations to bring laundered money back
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on Tuesday initiated a process for signing agreement with eight countries for mutual legal assistance to bring back money laundered abroad, said ACC Secretary Md. Mahbub Hossain.
As part of the initiative, a committee has already been formed under the leadership of Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit (BFIU) consisting of officials from various related organisations. The committee will submit the draft agreement to the Financial Institutions Department within the next three weeks, he said.
Read: HC cancels 2014 acquittal of accused trio in Tk 12cr Sonali Bank graft case
He said that the countries with which ACC wants to sign agreements are Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates and Thailand.
Dengue death toll in Bangladesh reaches 182, surpassing previous record
With five more deaths reported in 24 hours till Tuesday morning this year’s fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease Dengue reached 182, exceeding all previous records in Bangladesh.
Earlier the country recorded the highest 179 deaths from Dengue in a year in 2019.
In the first week of November, already 41 people died from Dengue while 6,778 were hospitalised.
During last 24 hours, 820 patients were hospitalised with the viral fever, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read more: Govt fixes cost of dengue test
The gradual increase in dengue infections has created panic among the residents of Dhaka city.
Hospitals are failing to cope with the pressure of dengue patients despite setting up new wards.
Doctors and health experts say that measures taken by the city corporations and other authorities are not proving to be effective. The publicity and drives carried out by the authorities to destroy larvae of Aedes mosquito, the carrier of the dengue virus, are appearing to be inadequate.
All the latest deaths were reported from Dhaka raising the death toll in the division to 109
Of the new patients, 450 were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka and 370 outside it, according to the DGHS.
A total of 3,223 dengue patients, including 1,947 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
The directorate has recorded 44,802 dengue cases and 41, 397 recoveries so far this year.
Read more: No respite from Dengue: Death toll rises to 177
On Thursday, the country reported nine dengue deaths, the highest death toll from dengue in a day this year.
Dengue outbreaks in Bangladesh exceeded all previous records in 2019, mostly in the capital city of Dhaka. A total of 101,354 dengue cases with 179 dengue-related deaths were officially recorded