District
11 athletes, coach arrested in Rajshahi for ‘beating’ cop; 7 land in jail
Eleven athletes, including three under-17 players, and a coach, who participated in the just-concluded Sheikh Kamal 2nd Bangladesh Youth Games in Dhaka, were arrested in Rajshahi on charges of ‘beating’ a police officer and ‘stealing’ his wife’s ornaments.
The arrestees are Brishti Moni, 16, Jemi Akter, 14, Rimi Khanan, 17, Farhana Khandokar, 17, Sabrina Akter, 19, Dipali, 19, Papia Sarwar Purnima, 19, Khadiza Khatun, 18, Abdul Al Jahid, 16, Ali Azam, 19, Ramjan, 19, Akash Ali Mohan, 20, and coach Ahsan Kabir, 45.
Belal Hossain, a relative of a minor female athlete said, the athletes and the coach returned to Rajshahi by Dhumketu Express train from Dhaka Sunday noon.
Also Read: Youth Games: Rangpur, Rajshahi divisions reach women's football final
Police constable Golam Kibria assaulted a female athlete while the athletes were searching for their missing luggage after the train reached Rajshahi rail station, he alleged.
“He attacked another athlete as well. After they got off the train a fight erupted again,” he said.
He also said railway police took them to the police station to settle the matter but later filed a case against them.
Also Read: PM Hasina opens final phase of Sheikh Kamal Youth Games
Gopal Kumar, officer-in-charge of Rajshahi Railway Police Station, said, police constable Golam Kibria’s wife Sultana Razia Sultana filed the case against athletes alleging that they beat up her husband and stole her gold chain.
Kibria was sent to the Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, he said.
He also said that the police officer’s brother Golam Sarwar, also a witness in the case, denied any incident inside the train.
“He claimed they had a dispute over getting off the train, and then a fight erupted,” said the OC.
Liton Hossain, acting chief judicial magistrate of the chief judicial magistrate court of Rajshahi, sent seven of the accused athletes to jail when they were produced before the court.
Women and Child repression Prevention Tribunal-2 granted the minors and women athletes interim bail till 10 am on Monday.
The lawyer of the accused, Mainul Islam said, there’s no specific allegation against the minors.
“Judge Md. Hasanuzzaman will give the final decision after the full hearing on Monday,” he said.
Clash over Ahmadiyya event: Over 8,200 sued, 81 arrested in Panchagarh
Six cases have been filed and 81 people arrested in connection with the clashes between police and Muslim devotees over ‘Salana Jalsa’ event of the Ahmadiyya community on Friday (March 03, 2023).
Among those, police filed four cases with Panchagarh Sadar Police Station, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) filed two cases and Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat another case.
A total of 31 named people and 8,200 unnamed ones were made accused in the cases on various charges including spreading rumours, attacks, vandalism, looting and obstructing government work, according to police.
Fazle Rabbi, 28, of the Rajnagar area and Rabbi Emon, (26) of the Satmera area of Tentulia upazila were arrested for spreading rumours on Facebook.
Also Read: ‘Rumours against Ahmadiyya’: BNP leader among 19 held
Ismail Hossain Jhanu, 25, of the Rajangarh area of Panchagarh municipality and Rasel Hossain, 28, of the Tular Danga area of the municipality were arrested in connection with the murder of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat engineer Zahid Hasan.
Besides, 77 people were shown arrested in the cases filed by the police and Rab on several charges and they were sent to jail through a court.
According to police and case statements, sub-inspectors Masud Rana, Saidur Rahman, Shamsuzzoha Sarker, Altaf Hossain, and DAD Abdus Samad on behalf of Rab-13 filed the cases at Panchagarh Sadar Police Station on March 4 night.
Osman Ali, father of engineer Zahid Hasan, filed a case on behalf of Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in connection with the murder. No one was named in the case, but 400 unnamed people were made accused.
Also Read: ‘Hate campaign’ being run against Ahmadiyyas on Twitter, says member of community
Police said two people who were allegedly directly involved in Zahid’s murder have been arrested. They gave confessional statements in connection with the murder.
Panchagarh Superintendent of Police SM Sirajul Huda said the situation is under control now.
Members of the police, Border Guard Bangladesh and RAB have been deployed at different points, he said.
“We are investigating the incident and arresting those involved. No matter who the attackers are, they will not be spared. Raids are on to arrest the other accused,” said the SP.
Read More: Clash over Ahmadiyya event: Law enforcers on high alert to avoid further trouble in Panchagarh
Earlier, on Friday, two people were killed and at least 50 others including policemen were injured in the clash between a section of Muslim devotees and police during a protest march of the devotees demanding the closure of an Ahmadiyya community’s event in Panchagarh district town.
Later on Saturday, a vested interest group spread rumours in different parts of the district town and on social media saying that some Ahmidyya community members slaughtered two Muslims.
Following the rumours, some young people equipped with sticks and sharp weapons blocked roads, carried out arson attacks, and looted shops and houses of the Ahmadiyya community.
Read More: 20 hurt in clash between two BCL factions while paying homage at CU
2 killed as pickup van hits truck in Bagerhat
Two people were killed as a pick-up van crashed into a stationary truck on Khulna-Dhaka highway at Kakdanga in Bagerhat’s Fakirhat upazila on Monday morning.
One of the deceased, Nur Hossain, 21, was the helper of the pick-up van and a resident of Khalishpur area of Khulna.
Another person who died was the helper of the truck but his identity couldn’t be confirmed.
Also Read: Two family members dead, 4 injured in Munshiganj road accident
Mehedi Hasan, officer-in-charge of Mollahat highway police station, said the accident occurred at around 4 am when the fish-laden pickup van hit the truck, leaving the two helpers dead on the spot.
The truck driver fled the scene after the accident.
The bodies have been kept at the upazila health complex.
Farmer strikes success in cultivating fallow land in Thakurgaon
Nandi Kumar Barman has been successful in cultivating various vegetables on the fallow land of Thakurgaon.
He cultivated various vegetables on the 85 chhatak (over 1.5 bighas) vacant land in front of his house in the Zamindarpara of the municipal town. The vegetables produced on his land were able to meet his family’s needs and some of his neighbours' too.
Nandi also said he benefited financially by selling the extra vegetables he cultivated. He was seen watering the vegetable fields and cleaning the weeds using modern equipment. There he cultivated various leafy vegetables including spinach, various types of grass, cucumbers etc.
Nandi Kumar Barman said about three bighas (150 chhatak) of land in the Zamindarpara belonged to the late Taher Jamal Chowdhury. Some land here has been rented out to a private company (SERP) with a house on it.
Also Read: Working at brick kiln, Thakurgaon’s Raju still managed to score GPA 5 in HSC
As about 85 chhatak of land was lying vacant for a long time, Nandi planted red amarnath, spinach, napa cabbage, cucumber, and various varieties of grass there and made a profit.
"Nandi’s cultivation of various vegetables on the fallow land is timely. If he wants, all kinds of support and advice would be given from the Department of Agriculture Extension,” said Md Sirajul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension, Thakurgaon.
The target for the production of vegetables was set at 7,895 hectares of land in Thakurgaon this winter season. At present, almost all types of vegetables are in the market. Some more vegetables are under cultivation. There has been a good yield of vegetables this year and farmers are also getting fair prices, said the DAE official.
Sitakunda oxygen plant fire: Death toll rises to 7
The death toll from the Sitakunda oxygen plant fire rose to seven as another person succumbed to his injuries at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) Sunday night, police said.
"Probesh Lal Sharma, 55, of Sitakunda died at the intensive care unit of CMCH at 10:30pm. He was an operator of the oxygen plant," said Nurul Alam Ashek, in-charge of the hospital police outpost.
The other deceased were identified as Salauddin (33) of Lakshmipur, Ratan Nakrek (50) of Netrakona, Md Kader Mia (58) of Noakhali; Selim Richil (39), Shamsul Alam (65), and Md Farid (32) of Sitakunda.
The firefighting teams resumed rescue operations for the second day at Seema Oxygen in Sitakunda at 7am today.
They searched through the debris at the blast site until late evening. However, they did not find any more bodies, according to the Agrabad Control Room of the fire service.
The explosion at Seema Oxygen Plant in the Keshabpur area rocked nearby neighbourhoods Saturday, killing seven people and injuring more than 50.
Chattogram Civil Surgeon Ilias Chowdhury said the process of handing over the bodies of the deceased to their relatives was underway. "Tk 50,000 was given to the family of each deceased."
Thirty people are now receiving treatment at CMCH. They were initially given Tk7,000 each.
Also, the authorities announced Tk 200,000 in monetary aid to the family of each deceased.
Meanwhile, the Chattogram district administration formed a seven-member probe committee to investigate the fire.
The committee was asked to submit a report within five working days, Deputy Commissioner Abul Bashar Mohammed Fakhruzzaman said.
Also read: Govt announces financial aid for Sitakunda oxygen plant fire victims
'Abandoned' wife of councillor commits suicide in N’ganj
The wife of a councillor of No 3 ward of Narayanganj City Corporation committed suicide by jumping off the roof of a building at Chashara Balur Math in Narayanganj on Sunday.
The deceased was identified as Sadia Nijhu, 1st wife of Councillor Shahajalal Badal.
Anisur Rahman Molla, officer-in-charge of Sadar Model Police Station, said Sadia used to live with her mother as Councillor Badal abandoned her after his second marriage.
Sadia jumped off the seven-storey building in the morning.
Also read: SUST student dies ‘by suicide’
Later, she was taken to Narayanganj General Hospital where the doctors declared her dead.
However, the phone number of Councillor Badal was found switched off.
On February 8, 2022, Sadia in a press briefing at her residence alleged that Councillor Badal 'abandoned' her and married another woman without taking permission from Sadia.
According to the allegation of Sadia, she married to Badal in 2007 and the couple has been blessed with a child through IVF (In vitro fertilization).
Besides, Badal is the nephew of Nur Hossain, a death row convict in the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder case.
Sitakunda oxygen plant fire: Rescue operation underway for second day
Firefighting teams have started a rescue operation for the second day at Seema Oxygen Limited in Sitakunda, where a massive fire broke out yesterday following an explosion that killed six people and injured dozens.
The rescue team has been searching through debris at the blast site since morning. However, no bodies were found at the time of filing this report, according to information provided by the Agrabad control room.
Two more rescue teams from Agrabad and Kumira fire stations have joined the rescue effort.
The explosion at Seema Oxygen Plant in the Keshabpur area rocked nearby neighbourhoods yesterday. Due to the shockwave caused by the explosion, dozens of buildings, including homes, offices, businesses, and mosques in the adjacent areas, have developed cracks, according to witnesses.
Kabir Hossain, a resident of Keshabpur area, said tin and iron pieces were scattered after the explosion. Many nearby buildings have developed cracks. Windows of some of the houses were shattered due to the shockwaves.
“The situation after the explosion was devastating,” Kabir told UNB.
Read more: Probe committee formed over Sitakunda oxygen plant fire
Yasin, a worker from the oxygen plant who was outside the factory at the time of the incident, said, “I came out of the factory to have tea, just 10 minutes before the explosion.”
“I narrowly survived. After the explosion, at least one square km area around the factory was shaken. Pieces of metal flew up to about half a km away,” he said.
Abdul Motaleb, 55, was among the injured in the blast. He suffered a head injury and is currently undergoing treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
“We used to produce oxygen in this factory. After that, we used to fill cylinders weighing 80 kg with the oxygen. I think the explosion was caused by excessive pressure on the cylinder,” Motaleb said while talking to UNB.
“This has never happened before at the plant,” he added.
Meanwhile, Chattogram Civil Surgeon Ilias Chowdhury said the process of handing over the bodies of the deceased to their relatives is underway. Tk 50,000 has been given to each family of the deceased.
Read more: Sitakunda oxygen plant fire: Death toll rises to 6
Thirty people are now receiving treatment at CMCH. They were initially given Tk 7,000 each.
The authorities have announced Tk 200,000 in monetary aid to each family of the deceased.
Following the blast at Seema Oxygen Plant around 4 pm yesterday, 9 firefighting units rushed to the spot and managed to douse the flames at 6:30 pm.
Later, joint rescue efforts by the fire service, the navy, and police were launched. The rescue team recovered six bodies from the rubble.
A 7-member probe committee has been formed by the Chattogram district administration to investigate the fire.
END/UNB/Corr/
Two family members dead, 4 injured in Munshiganj road accident
Two people were dead and four were injured in a collision involving three vehicles at Munshiganj’s Gazaria upazila on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway.
According to police, the accident occurred around 3:45 am today when a microbus carrying Momen Mia (35), who lived in Saudi Arabia, and his family were heading towards Titas upazila of Cumilla from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Read more: Saudi expatriate killed as train hits him in Dhaka's Malibagh
When the microbus reached Gazaria’s Boktar Kandi area, a covered van hit the vehicle from the back, pushing the microbus to the other side of the divider and into the Dhaka-bound lane.
A Dhaka-bound bus carrying 40 passengers from Sajek Valley hit the vehicle a second time. The bus collided with a nearby tree after failing to control its speed. All the passengers of the bus were unharmed. They were sent to their destination in another bus, our Munshiganj correspondent reports.
The deceased were identified as Dulal Mia, 60, brother-in-law of Momen Mia, and Md. Hossain, 10, the nephew of the latter. Their bodies have been kept at Bhaberchar Health Complex in Gazaria.
Read more: Bangladeshi killed in Greek train crash
Meanwhile, Momen and his brother, Akhtar Hossain, are undergoing treatment and are in critical condition.
Bhaberchar Highway Police Outpost Sub-inspector Riyad said the covered van and the bus were seized, but the drivers fled. Police have also seized the damaged microbus.
3 killed, 77 hurt in Panchagarh road crashes
Three people were killed and at least 77 hurt in separate road crashes in the Debiganj and Boda upazilas of Panchagarh, police said.
The deceased were identified as Tamij Uddin, 60, Hasibul Islam, 32, and Swapan Ali, 25, of Tentulia.
Fifteen of the 77 injured are still not out of the woods and were sent to the Rangpur Medical College and Hospital.
Also Read: Clash over Ahmadiyya event: Law enforcers on high alert to avoid further trouble in Panchagarh
"The accident in Debiganj occurred at Lakshmirhat as a truck crashed into a bus in the afternoon. The bus, full of passengers, was returning from a three-day ijtema (congregation) in the upazila town after Akheri Munajat (final prayers). It overturned in the impact of the crash," Jamal Hossain, officer-in-charge of Debiganj Police Station, said.
"One devout Muslim died at the scene and 26 others were injured. The injured were rushed to the upazila health complex. Five of them were referred to Rangpur Medical College and Hospital. However, the truck driver immediately fled the scene."
"The accident in Boda occurred at Chandanbari after the tyre of a bus burst. Two people were killed, and 51 were injured; all of them were returning from the congregation in Debiganj," Sujay Kumar Roy, officer-in-charge of Boda Police Station, said.
"The injured were taken to Boda Upazila Health Complex. Later, 10 of them were transferred to the Rangpur Medical College and Hospital."
Sitakunda oxygen plant fire: Death toll rises to 6
The death toll from the Sitakunda oxygen plant fire rose to six, with another victim succumbing to his injuries at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Saturday night.
The identity of the deceased could not be known immediately, said Nurul Alam Ashiq, in-charge of Chittagong Medical College Hospital police outpost.
Earlier this afternoon, a massive fire broke out at an oxygen plant following an explosion in Kadam Rasul (Keshabpur) area of Chattogram's Sitakunda upazila, leaving 5 people dead and dozens injured.
Of the injured, nine are identified as Md Nur Hossain, 30, Md Arafat, 22, Motaleb, 52, Fancy, 30, Md Jasim Uddin, 45, Narayan, 60, Md Forkan Dada, 35, Shahriar, 26, and Md Zahid Hasan, 26.
Thirty injured are now receiving treatment at Chittagong Medical College (CHMCH) hospital.
The fire started at Seema Oxygen Plant around 4:30 pm after a big bang, Sitakunda Fire Service officer Md Fazle Rabbi said.