Cox’s Bazar
6 robbers held in Cox’s Bazar
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) detained six robbers along with arms from Maheshkhali channel in Maheshkhali upazila of Cox’a Bazar district Friday midnight.
The detainees are Nezam Uddin, Shakil, Sazzad, Sujon, Manik and Omar Faruk of the upazila.
READ: Fugitive ‘serial killer’ held in Kishoreganj
Tipped off, a team of Rab-15 conducted a drive in the area and detained the robbers along with three guns and 11 bullets, said Senior Assistant Director of Rab-15 Abu Salam Chowdhury.
The elite force members detained them when they were taking preparation to loot valuables from a fishing trawler in Sonadia Channel of the Bay of Bengal, he said.
READ: One held over assault on Barishal University student, her husband
Bangamata Football: Cox’s Bazar moves to group final eliminating Feni
Cox’s Bazar District moved to the Group A final of the Bangamata National Women’s Football Championship eliminating hosts Feni District by 4-1 goal in tie-breaker at the Bir Shreshto Shaheed Shipahi Mohammad Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur on Tuesday.
Read:Fed Cup Football: Dhaka Abahani moves into semifinal eliminating Sheikh Jamal DC 6-0
The group semifinal between two teams ended in a goalless position in the stipulated period.
Cox’s Bazar will play group final on Wednesday (Jan 5) at 2 pm against Rangamati District, which eliminated Khagrachhari District by 2-1 goal in the group semis on Monday.
Cox’s Bazar gang rape: Prime accused Ashiq put on 3-day remand
A Cox’s Bazar court on Tuesday placed two people, including prime accused Ashiqul Islam Ashiq, on a three-day remand each in a case filed over violating a tourist in the town.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Abul Mansur Siddique passed the order when police produced them before the court, said additional superintendent of Tourist Police Md Mohiuddin.
Read: Writ seeks judicial inquiry into Cox's Bazar gang-rape
Earlier on Monday, police filed a petition seeking remand for Ashiqu in the case.
The other remanded accused is Mehedi Hasan Babu.
Media orientation prog on humanitarian journalism held in Cox’s Bazar
A media orientation programme on ‘humanitarian journalism’ was held at Cox’s Bazar on Monday for local journalists working for national and regional media outlets.
Around 30 journalists representing TV channels, radio stations, newspapers and online news portals participated in the orientation organized by Xposar Communication for World Vision with the financial assistance from USAID, at Hotel Beach Way.
Read: USAID hosts workshop for DCAB members
Anis Alamgir, a senior journalist and columnist, was the key speaker at the programme which was inaugurated by Abdul Moktader, Office in-Charge of Bangladesh Rohingya Crisis Response (BRCR) of World Vision.
Dr Makhan L. Dutta, Md Rajab Ali and Md Abdul Barek of World Vision joined as speakers while Sumon Francis Gomes and Henry Roy of World Vision, among others, were present. Journalist Shiabur Rahman moderated the programme.
Anis Alamgir in his speech advised the journalists to maintain ethics while reporting on any issue, particularly humanitarian crises.
He said all the reporting on any humanitarian crises should aim to contribute to the mitigation of the crises.
Read: 16 Days of Activism: USAID workshop highlights empowering women journalists
Anis Alamgir also highlighted the safety of journalists while reporting on wars or humanitarian crises. “Nothing is more important than life. So don’t endanger your life for any piece of news,” he said.
Md Abdul Barek in his speech focused on different Rohingya crisis response programmes of World Vision.
Security concern hits Cox’s Bazar tourism hard
Though the authorities concerned are looking for every way to beef up security to prevent unpleasant activities in the beach town, tourists have largely ignored it to visit during the New Year as some recent incidents badly tarnished its image as a safe tourism destination.
“Cox’s Bazar usually sees a surge of tourists on the eve of New Year every year but this year it was almost empty. Restrictions on outdoor events and recent rape incidents and skyrocketing food prices might be the reasons,” said Mahbubr Rahman, a physical teacher of a local school.
Hotel, motel and restaurant owners and those involved in tourism support services are now worried over the fall in the number of tourists during the peak season.
Also read: Cox's Bazar horror: Woman kidnapped & raped by 3 in front of husband & child
They said 50% of rooms in many hotels and motels were vacant during the New Year celebrations.
In the wake of some unwanted activities, law enforcement agencies have taken various steps to ensure the security of tourists while the local administration has set up a monitoring cell following the outcry of people over two rape incidents in the tourist hub recently.
Salahuddin Setu, councillor of Cox’s Bazar municipality, said, “Some 350 big tourist buses had been kept ready in designated parking spaces during the 3-day government holiday starting from December 16, while 250 tourists vehicles were there at local Ilias Mia High School ground to deal with the pressure of tourists. Once 700 buses, carrying tourists, used to arrive in Cox’s Bazar at this time of the year, but this time the number was 50 only, a sharp fall in tourist arrival.”
Cox’s Bazar rape: another accused arrested
A team of tourist police arrested another accused of the tourist rape case from Ghonapara area of Cox's Bazar on Monday night.
Mehedi Hasan Babu, son of Abul Kashem of Cox's Bazar, was arrested at around 9 pm.
Cox's Bazar zone tourist police additional superintendent Mohiuddin Ahmed said he is the second accused in the case. So far six people have been arrested in connection to this case.
READ: Section 144 imposed in Cox’s Bazar ahead of BNP rally
On the night of December 22, a woman who claimed to be a tourist alleged that a miscreant named Ashik picked her up from the city and gang raped her with his companions. That night RAB conducted a raid and rescued the victim from Hotel Zia Guest Inn in Cox's Bazar.
RAB arrested hotel manager Chhotan on the basis of the complaint.
Next day, husband of the victim woman filed a case against 7 people.
READ: School teacher killed in Cox’s Bazar road crash
The case is being investigated by the tourist police.
Section 144 imposed in Cox’s Bazar ahead of BNP rally
The Cox’s Bazar administration will enforce Section 144 to prevent any untoward incident after BNP and Juba League planned rallies on Monday at the same venue in Cox's Bazar.
The restriction will be effective in the area adjacent to and around the Shaheed Minar in Cox's Bazar city from Monday morning till Tuesday morning.
Also read: Police charge baton on BNP rally in Khulna; 15 injured
Cox's Bazar Additional District Magistrate Md Abu Sufian on Sunday said that the administration resorted to the restriction to keep the law and order situation under control.
Earlier, the Cox's Bazar district BNP called the rally at 1pm on Monday in front of the BNP office on Cox's Bazar's Shaheed Swarani Road demanding the release of BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and her treatment abroad. At the same time, the Cox's Bazar District Juba League also called for a rally in front of the Shaheed Minar.
Also read: Section 144 to be imposed in Feni on Wednesday
Cox's Bazar Rohingya camp fire burns health compound, houses
A fire broke out at the extended Rohingya camp at Kutupalong in Ukhiya upazila, Cox's Bazar on Sunday, burning at least 20 houses and a health compound, officials said.
However, no injuries were reported from the fire.
The fire that burned the houses and a health compound, operated by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), started at around 7pm at Camp-20 Extension, said Md Shamsu-Ddouza Nayan, additional refugee relief and repatriation commissioner (deputy secretary).
The cause of the fire at Block D of the camp was not immediately known, said Naimul Haque, commander of Armed Police Battalion (APBn-14). "However, no casualties have been reported in the fire so far."
At first, Ukhiya fire service rushed to the camp, and later two units of firefighters from Cox's Bazar fire service joined them, Md Abdullah, deputy assistant director of Cox's Bazar fire service, said.
A fire started inside the IOM's Severe Acute Respiratory Infections Treatment Centre (SARI ITC) compound today in Cox's Bazar, Tarek Mahmud, national communication officer at IOM Cox's Bazar, said.
Also read: Cox’s Bazar Rohingya camp fire guts over 400 houses
The IOM hospital staff and patients were evacuated to a safer area, while the organisation's staff and Rohingya volunteers, assigned to the disaster management unit, immediately started to contain the fire.
"By around 7:35pm, the fire brigade arrived on the spot and could tame the flames by 8:10pm. One of the three main areas of the compound sustained fire damage. The reason for the fire is unknown," Tarek said.
Soon thereafter, IOM's Deputy Chief of Mission arrived from Cox's at the SARI ITC compound with technical staff to assess the situation and liaise with the authorities.
The fire damaged one of the three areas in the compound. However, no areas around the compound were damaged.
Early tomorrow, another IOM team will conduct a more thorough damage assessment, said Tarek.
Also read: Rohingya camp fire: Death toll climbs to 11
Cox’s Bazar beach: Dedicated zone for women walked back
The district administration has gone back on its decision to keep a dedicated zone for women and children visiting the world's longest unbroken sea beach in the space of just 10 hours.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mamunur Rashid inaugurated a separate 'reserved area' for women and children at Labani Point on the beach around 12 noon on Wednesday.
But after drawing an adverse reaction from the tourists, the district administration changed their decision on Wednesday night.
The news of the inauguration of a 'reserved area' for women and children at the beach sparked nationwide criticism.
DC Mamunur Rashid said a special zone was set up for the benefit of women and children tourists. But tourists do not like such a zone. Cox's Bazar is a tourist area so their opinion needs to be given importance. As they do not want such a zone, the special zone for women and children will not be made.
READ: Kuakata Sea Beach, Bangladesh: Magnificent sunrise, sunset views to remember
According to the district administration, the reserved area would have separate dressing rooms and locker rooms for female tourists. The district administration determined an area of 150 meters for the special zone to make women tourists feel safe at the beach.
Now that the special zone for women and children will not exist, the facilities for the zone won’t be available too.
READ: ATJFB joins beach cleanup on World Tourism Day
1056 families get Tk 47 lakh, coronavirus safety gears in Cox’s Bazar
Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Milton Roy on Tuesday launched the distribution of over Tk 47.52 lakh and Covid-19 safety gears among 1056 families of the host community at Sadar Upazila Parishad auditorium on Tuesday.
The Emergency Response Program (ERP) of Caritas Bangladesh arranged the event in coordination with Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila Administration.
Read: Early repatriation of Rohingyas lead priority, FM tells UN expert
Presiding over the event, ERP Director Marcel Ratan Guda said financial assistance will reach 1056 people through electronic money transfer in phases.
He said Caritas Bangladesh's effort is to help the backward families of the host community in Cox's Bazar as they can overcome the loss of the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking as the chief guest, Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Milton Roy said, "NGOs working in Cox’s Bazar should come forward to help the host community alongside implementing projects in the Rohingya camps."
ERP’s Head of Operation Inmanuel Chayan Biswas, said Caritas Bangladesh is trying to stand by the host community along with Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN) in Cox’s Bazar with its partners. The current activities are going on under a project funded by CAFOD, he added.
The event was attended by Md Abdullah Fuad, Head of Program, ERP; Project Coordinator Md. Sajib Ali and Md. Samiul Haque Chowdhury; and Communication & Documentation Officer Roton Malo.
Read: MoFA trashes reports on learning centre closure in Rohingya camps
Caritas Bangladesh is carrying out various activities in Cox's Bazar to help the host community besides FDMNs.