Torching of houses and killing of people in broad daylight are the everyday affairs there. Even 20 years into the launch of the UN Peacekeeping Mission, the area is still known as a battlefield. Bangladesh peacekeepers have to patrol this most dangerous area in Blukua of the Djugu territory to save people's lives.

Democratic Republic of Congo is a picturesque country rich in mineral resources. However, there is a panicky atmosphere everywhere.

The story of 20,000 members of Hema and Lendu communities who took shelter near the Roi camp of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers being refugees gives an account of the two-decade conflicts and the dangerous situation prevailing there.

While going to patrol at Blukua, 5 kms east of the Roi camp, Northern Sector Commander Brig Gen Hazari narrated the conflicts and the role of the Bangladeshi peacekeepers in details.

He said the area through which they are passing is a battle zone.

Although the situation has become normal to some extent, 15-30 people are being killed by terrorists. "Our members rush out when necessary to save the lives of the local people," he said.

Hazari said even the armoured vehicles come under attack by the terrorist groups sometimes.

In such cases, additional forces join them from the air base in the capital of Ituri province in helicopters.

Bangladesh is a shining name in the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Congo for the responsibilities its peacekeepers are carrying out with skills and courage.

Authorities at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital and Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram on Tuesday started screening passengers coming from China following the outbreak of a new coronavirus that has so far claimed four lives and affected many others in China.

The Dhaka airport authorities on Monday conducted a workshop for representatives from different airlines and others concerned over the virus attack and started screening passengers after 2pm, said Beni Madhab Biswas, deputy director of the airport.

He also said passengers, especially of three direct flights from China -- two of Chinese Airlines -- China Eastern and China Southern-- and one of US-Bangla Airlines – are being screened by physicians of Health Centre at the airport.

Contacted, Assistant Airport Health Officer of Dhaka airport Dr Md Zahirul Islam told UNB that the health centre of the airport started monitoring body temperature of passengers, especially those coming from China, from Tuesday afternoon.

“We usually scan the body temperature of arriving passengers through our two thermal scanners. Passengers with body temperature of least 100 degree Fahrenheit will automatically be detected by the scanners,” he said.

Following instruction from higher authorities, he said, they strengthened their vigilance after a flight of Malaysian Airlines landed at the airport from China via Kuala Lumpur around 2:15pm on Tuesday.

Airport Manager of Shah Amanat International Airport Wing Commander Sarwar-e-Zaman said no direct flight from China lands at the airport but passengers from China come to Chattogram through connecting flights from Middle East countries and India.

The passengers coming from China are going through screening at the airport, he said.

Meanwhile, the authorities of Osmani International Airport in Sylhet remained alert in this regard.

Manager of the airport Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said there is no direct flight from China. “If anyone comes from China, they’ve to make transit in Dhaka. However, we remain alert.”

Over 200 people since last month were infected with new coronavirus in China, while the epidemiologists are still uncertain of its nature and mode of transmission, according to an AP report.

Chinese health authorities confirmed late Monday that some cases had been transmitted person to person, a development that means the illness could spread faster and more widely, particularly at the start of the Lunar New Year travel rush.

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday instructed government departments to promptly release information on the virus and deepen international cooperation.

Concerned about a global outbreak similar to SARS, which spread from China to more than a dozen countries in 2002-2003, numerous nations have adopted screening measures for travelers arriving from China, especially those from the central city of Wuhan, where the outbreak is thought to have originated and which has accounted for the vast majority of the cases.

A court here on Tuesday took the charges into cognisance against 25  in  the case over the murder of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) student Abrar Fahad.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge KM Imrul Kayes accepted the charges, said Additional Public Prosecutor Tapos Kumar Pal.

Among the accused, 22 are behind bars while three other on the run.

The court fixed January 30 for hearing on charge framing.

On January 15, the court fixed the date for accepting the charges in the case which was shifted to the Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judges Court on January 13.

Morshed Amartya Islam, a fugitive accused in the case, surrendered before the court on January 12 while the court sent him to jail.

On December 3 last, a court here ordered confiscation of the property of four fugitive accused in the killing case.

The three fugitives are Morsheduzzaman Jishan, Mustafa Rafid and Ehtashamul Rabbi Tanim.

On November 18 last, the court accepted the charge-sheet against the 25 accused and issued a warrant for the arrest of the four fugitives in the case.

Abrar Fahad, 21, a second-year student of electrical and electronic engineering of Buet, was beaten to death reportedly by Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders at Sher-e-Bangla Hall of the university.

He was found dead on the staircase of the hall in the early hours of October 7 after he was taken to room No-2011 around 8pm on October 6 and beaten mercilessly.

Awami League lawmaker and former State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadique died at a hospital in the city on Tuesday. She was 78.

She breathed her last around 11am at the United Hospital while undergoing treatment there.

Ismat, wife of former education minister ASHK Sadique, was born in Bogura on December 12, 1942 and completed her honors from Eden Mohila College in Dhaka in 1960.

Meanwhile, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of the MP elected from Jashore-6.

President and Prime Minister in separate condolence messages prayed for the eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family.

Three Bangladeshi women on Monday night returned home from India through Benapole land port after serving two years jail term.

The identities of the women could not be known yet.

Khorshed Alam, officer-in-charge of Benapole Check Post Immigration Police, said Petrapol Police of India handed them over to Benapole Immigration Police at 8pm.

The women entered India illegally in search of jobs but Mumbai police arrested them and they were jailed for two years by a court there, he added.

Abdul Muhit, co-coordinator of Justice and Care NGO, said they will hand over the women to their families.