Nineteen deer skins were seized from two members of a wildlife poaching-smuggling gang in Bagerhat’s Sarankhola on Saturday.

Detective Branch (DB) police identified the arrested smugglers as Md Elias Hawladar and Md Monirul Islam Sheikh hailing from Sarankhola.

Also read: Sundarbans poacher held with tiger’s hide in Bagerhat

District police chief Pankaj Chandra Roy later told reporters that a Bagerhat DB team conducted a drive in Shoronkhola bus terminal early Saturday and arrested the poachers from their home.

The deer skins were recovered based on information provided by them.

Pankaj said it was part of their routine drive to protect the resources of Sundarbans, a world heritage site. A case was filed against the two arrestees.

Also read: 3 ‘deer poachers’ held in Sundarbans

Bagerhat’s Additional Police Superintendent Safin Mahmud said Monirul and Elias are active members of a syndicate involved in poaching in Sundarbans and smuggling animal skins.

Elias was in the past for deer poaching in Sundarbans.

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Last week, a joint drive of the Forest Department and RAB arrested another member of a different poaching syndicate with a tiger skin in Bagerhat.

The Cox's Bazar CSO-NGO Forum (CCNF), a platform of local NGOs and civil societies, on Saturday called upon all concerned to take up special rehabilitation programmes for local educational institutions and students in Cox's Bazar affected by the Rohingya influx.

In a press release, the network of 50 local NGOs and civil society organisations active in the promotion of development and human rights in Cox's Bazar, made the call ahead of the International education day, which will be observed on Sunday.

It also recommended the introduction of education for Rohingyas with Myanmar curriculum to make Rohingya repatriation sustainable.

According to the press release, some local education institutions were initially used as temporary barracks for military personnel at the beginning of the Rohingya influx in 2017, and many Rohingyas also took refuge in various institutions. As a result, these institutions shut down their activities for a few months.

Many students stopped going to school because of the increasing number of people and the huge congestion of vehicles used in relief programmes. Many college students and teachers got the opportunity to join the various organisations involved in the relief programme. From one school, seven out of ten teachers quit and joined another job.

The statement stated that only 2.6 percent of global relief programme has been allocated to the education sector.

The CCNF said although Rohingya children aged 6-14 years have been included in the non-formal education programme initiated by the Bangladesh government and various organisations, 83 percent of adolescents and youth aged 15-24 years do not participate in any education programme.

Education programmes up to level 1-4 are currently being conducted for more than 300,000 children and adolescents in approximately 6,000 learning centres. There is a sense of frustration among students and their parents about the lack of educational opportunities for those over 15 years of age and the lack of education in the Myanmar curriculum.

Pressurising Myanmar for resolving Rohingya crisis

Rohingyas want to return to their homeland, but there is also enough interest in higher education among students. But students have been deprived of their regular studies for the last three years. They fear that their educational life will become uncertain if they return.

The CCNF’s recommendations include infrastructural development of local educational institutions, recruitment of skilled and trained teachers should be ensured and stakeholders including donors should come forward to ensure special incentives for local students. Technical curriculum in local education and establishment of technical college can be effective in this regard.

Diplomatic initiatives are needed to ensure that the Rohingya curriculum and that educational activity adopted here are recognised by the Government of Myanmar. The international communities, including the UN, need to put pressure on Myanmar.

The CCNF urged the UN and international donors to take effective action to ensure the recruitment of adequate teachers and training for them. Many Rohingyas are educated in Cox's Bazar camps and they can be trained as teachers.

Involvement of local and foreign educators in the creation of a new and effective curriculum and teacher training is needed. Our universities can play an important role in this respect, the CCNF says.

The body of an Indian student of Barind Medical College in Rajshahi was recovered from his dormitory room on Friday.

Iqbal Zafar Sharif, 24, son of Mojammel Hossain Pintu, hailed from Murshidabad of West Bengal.

Also read: Indian teen 'ends life' at juvenile centre

Golam Mawla, the superintendent of the dormitory, claimed that the 5th year student had taken his own life around 9am.

His friends saw his body hanging from the ceiling. They broke the door open and took him to hospital where doctors declared him dead, Mawla said.

It was not immediately clear why he had apparently killed himself.

The body has been sent to a morgue for autopsy, Sirajul Monir, Officer-in-Charge of Chandrima Police Station said.

Dhaka, Jan 23 (UNB) - The sixth death anniversary of Arafat Rahman Koko, the younger son of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and current chairperson Khaleda Zia, will be observed on Sunday.

BNP and its associate bodies have taken various programmes to mark the day.

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As part of the programmes, BNP will arrange a doa mahfil at its Nayapaltan central office at 10:30am, said a party press release on Saturday.

BNP leaders and activists, led by its secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, will offer fateha at Koko’s grave at Banani Graveyard in the capital at about 10am.

Besides, cooked food will be distributed at different madrasas and orphanages at 12:30pm on the occasion.

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Another doa mahfil will be held at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office after Asr prayers.

A discussion on the life and work of Koko will be arranged at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU) on Tuesday.

Different associate and professional bodies of BNP and its city and district units will also observe the day through various programmes, including discussions and prayer sessions, across the country.

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On January 24, 2015, Koko died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 45 at a rented house in Malaysia.

His body was brought back home on January 27 and buried at Banani Graveyard.

Four bodies were recovered after a fishing trawler capsized with 25 people onboard in the Bay of Bengal on Saturday.

Thirteen others were rescued by another fishing boat while eight fishermen remained missing, Coast Guard headquarters Media Officer Lt Commander Amirul Hoque told UNB.

Fishing trawler ‘FB Janjabin’ capsized some 34.5 nautical miles (about 64km) off St Martin’s island around 5am. Sources at the Coast Guard headquarters said their rescue ship “Shyamal Bangla” reached the place of occurrence at around 10:30am.

Four bodies were recovered before the rescue ship had reached the spot, Amirul said.

Inter Service Public Relation (ISPR) said a AW-139 Search and Rescue Helicopter of Bangladesh Air Force took off from BAF base Zahurul Hoque, Chattogram, to conduct a search and rescue operation.
 
Mohammad Ali, owner of ‘FB Janjabin’, said the trawler went out in the sea about a week ago from Karnafuli.