District
5 dead, 4 injured in Narayanganj road accident
Five people were dead and four were injured in a head-on collision between a microbus and a battery-run three wheeler on the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway in Siddhirganj upazila of Narayanganj district on Sunday morning, police said.
The deceased have been identified as Md Mamun, 26, Abu Hanif, 25, Nur Uddin, 45, Jamal Mia, 42, and an unidentified person aged 36.
Of the deceased, Hanif was the three-wheeler driver and rest were passengers of the vehicle while identities of the injured could not be known immediately.
Nabir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Kanchpur Highway police station, said the accident happened around 9am when the Dhaka-bound microbus collided head-on with a battery-run auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite direction, in Shimrail area on the west side of Kanchpur bridge. One person died on the spot.
Of the injured, five people were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and rest to a local hospital, he said.
Read: 7 killed in road accidents in 3 districts
Md Bachhu Mia, in-charge (inspector) of DMCH police outpost, quoting physicians said four people out of the five brought to DMCH succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment and one has been undergoing treatment.
Four others have been undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Narayanganj district, he added.
Injured former UP chairman dies at Mymensingh hospital
A former Union Parishad chairman, who suffered serious injuries after being attacked by miscreants on September 29, died while undergoing treatment at Mymensingh Medical College and Hospital on Saturday.The deceased was identified as Subrata Sangma, a former chairman of Durgapur's Kullagara Union Parishad and son of Sudhir Mankhin of Baheratali village of Durgapur upazila.Earlier, a case was registered in connection with the attack. Now the case will be converted into a murder case, said Shibirul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Durgapur police station.Abdul Awal, General Secretary of Durgapur Upazila BNP and Chairman of Kullagarh Union Parishad were made the main accused in the case, he added.According to the statement, a group of miscreants beat up Subrata Sangma in Rashimani Bazar area on September 29. When he was being taken to the upazila health complex for treatment, the miscreants attacked again with sharp weapons, leaving him seriously injured.Locals rushed him to Durgapur Upazila Health Complex. Later, he was shifted to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital as his condition deteriorated. He died at the hospital on Saturday at noon.On September 30, the victim's sister Keya Toju lodged a complaint at Durgapur police station accusing 31 persons, including 15 named.Additional police forces have been deployed in the area to avert any untoward situation, added the OC.
Five arrested for embezzling 18 MT urea in Bogura
Members of Detective Branch (DB) arrested five people for misappropriating 18 Metric Tonnes (MT) of urea fertilizer by conducting drives in several areas of Bogura district overnight into Saturday morning.
The arrestees are Al Amin alias Alauddin, 35, son of late Abdul Promanik of Shahjahanpur upazila, Abdul Alim, 50, son of late Dabir Anar of Nandigram upazila, Dhunat upazila’s Rafiqul Islam, 42, son of late Mondal, Mamunur Rashid Mamun, 48, son of late Afroza Begum, and Sajal, 35, son of late Azizar Sakidar.
Ali Haider Swapon, superintendent of police (SP) of the district, said this at a press conference at his office on Saturday noon.
SP Swapon said Ekata Transport’s trucker Alauddin started for Rangpur’s Buffer warehouse with 360 sacks of urea fertilizer weighing around 18 MT from Fenchuganj of Sylhet on September 25.
Read: 238 MT of TSP fertilizers seized on suspicion of being counterfeit
But Alauddin didn’t reach the warehouse he was supposed to with the consignment after passing a period of time. Nor did he respond to calls from the transport agency’s organizing secretary Abdus Samad Swapon, the SP said.
Later, Samad lodged a complaint against Alauddin to the district police when he came to know that Alauddin had sold the consignment to one Rafiqul Islam of Dhunat upazila.
The arrestees had long been involved in swindling goods of several companies when they were hired for transportation, he said.
They were sent to a Bogura court upon filing a case by Abdus Samad against them, he said, adding that a drive is on to nab others in connection with the incident.
2 construction workers killed in Khagrachhari building collapse
Two workers were killed and at least five others were injured as an under-construction building of Khagrachhari Hill District Council (KHDC) in Sadar upazila collapsed on Saturday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Saiful Islam, 25, of Rangpur and Sazzad, 17, a local, said Fire Service and Civil Defence Station Officer Rajesh Barua.
The injured are Md Rokon, 38, Md Shahjahan, 24, Md Hanif, 25, Md Sohel, 23, and Md Hanif, 27.
They were among the 16 workers working on the front side of the building, added the FSCD officer.
He said the under-construction balcony of KHDC's annex building collapsed suddenly around 5 pm as the slab used for the balcony was supported by bamboo instead of steel.
According to the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies' annual report on workplace deaths in Bangladesh, the construction sector consistently ranks second to the transportation sector in most years. According to the 2021 report of BILS, of the 1,053 workers killed in workplace accidents across the country last year, 154 were in the construction sector - again second behind transportation.
Members of the Fire Service, Army, police and Red Crescent immediately rushed to the spot to conduct a rescue operation.
The matter will be investigated, said Rajesh Barua.
The construction work of the KHDC administrative building began in 2018 and continues in phases.
Trade through Hili land port resumes after Durga Puja holiday
Trade with India via Hili land port in Dinajpur resumed on Saturday after eight days of Durga Puja vacation, port authorities said.
Harunur Rashid, president of an import-export companies' association of Hili land port, confirmed the matter.
The immigration desk at the port was working as usual during the vacation, said Badiuzzaman, in-charge of Hili immigration check post.
“The number of travellers from Bangladesh to India had increased during the Durga Puja holidays,” he said
In coordination with the Indian side the decision to suspend activities at the port for the eight days was taken marking the Durga Puja, the largest religious festival of the Hindu community.
Man stabs mother-in-law to death in Faridpur
A 55-year-old woman was stabbed to death allegedly by her son-in-law in Sabar village of Faridpur district early on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Rahima Begum of the village.
Habil Hossain, officer-in-charge of Nagarkanda Police Station, said that Rahima stepped out of her house to answer the call of nature around 1am. "It was then that Yunus Molla, her son-in-law, stabbed her with a knife, leaving her critically injured."
Later, she was taken to a local hospital where doctors declared Rahima dead on arrival.
Read: Man stabbed dead ‘by wife’ in Kushtia
The motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained, the OC said. "Efforts are on to nab the accused, who is on the run."
“The body has been kept at the morgue of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College and Hospital," he added.
Fire at Sylhet colony makes five families homeless
A fire that broke out at a colony in Sylhet city’s Pathantula area on Friday has made five families destitute in the blink of an eye.
According to Shahidul Islam, a unit leader of Sylhet Fire Service and Civil Defense, three firefighting units brought the blaze under control around 8:00pm after an hour’s efforts.
Although no casualties have been reported as of filing this story, the scale of losses is yet to be ascertained.“The fire engulfed Faruk Mia’s Colony adjacent to the south gate of Ragib-Rabeya Medical College Hospital on Friday evening. The blaze quickly spread to the nearby installations, including a residential building for the students of the medical college,” Shahidul said.
Read: Fire at Star Kabab under control
Shahidul added they are suspecting that an electrical short circuit had caused the fire.
“No one was hurt in the accident. However, the entire colony has been reduced to ashes. Besides, the nearby residential hall for the medical students has also been damaged. Moreover, five families who were living in the colony have lost everything in the fire,” added Shahidul.
Truck crushes three twelfth-graders of same institution to death on Benapole-Jashore highway
Three twelfth-graders of the same educational institution were killed after a truck mowed them down on their motorcycle on the Benapole-Jashore highway Friday night, police said.
The accident claimed the lives of Asif, Arman, and Salman – all twelfth-grade students at Jashore Sadar upazila's Natunhat Public College.
Read: 2 killed in city accident
The crash occurred at 9:15pm in the Natunhat Gazir Dorga as the truck ran over the twelfth-graders after hitting their motorcycle.
"Asif and Armaan died on the spot. Salman succumbed to his injuries at Jashore General Hospital," Navaran Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman said.
"Legal action will be taken in connection with the accident," he added.
Chittagong Hill Tracts: 'The orchard of Bangladesh'
Agriculture Secretary Md Sayedul Islam on Friday stressed the need to highlight the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) as the orchard of Bangladesh.
“Cold storages need to be built to preserve the fruits grown in the CHT. Besides, the number of collection centres needs to be increased to collect and store fruits coming from the remote parts of the region,” Sayedul said.
He made the remarks during a views-exchange meeting with agricultural scientists from Chattogram and the three hill districts that comprise the CHT region, at the conference room of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) in Bandarban.
Speaking as the chief guest, Sayedul pointed out various measures that need to be taken in order to boost fruit production in the CHT.
“The agricultural loan at 4 percent interest rate announced by the government needs to be ensured. State-of-the-art technologies must be used to enhance the irrigation system. Most importantly, participation of educated people is necessary for a technology and knowledge-based agricultural system,” Sayedul said.
Read: Govt will do everything to stop bloodshed in CHT: Home Minister
The secretary claimed that no other country in the world provides as much subsidy as Bangladesh in the agricultural sector.
“The government provides subsidies worth Tk 30,000 crore every year to the agricultural sector, an amount equal to the total cost of the Padma Bridge. The government is doing it for the sake of making the nation food-sufficient,” Sayedul added.
Sayedul also said that focus should be given on fruit production rather than rice production in the CHT.
“Rice is produced in most parts of the country, so we need to use CHT to grow various fruits that we have to import from other countries. The fruits grown in the CHT have the potential for export. That’s why our concern has to be ramping up fruit production in this area,” Sayedul said.
One dead, five injured in Bagerhat road crash
A person was killed and five others were injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a jeep in Bagerhat’s Mollahat area on Friday.
The deceased has been identified as Shuvo Elahi, 24, the driver of the jeep.
According to police, a Dhaka-bound bus of Imad Paribahan crashed into a Khulna-bound jeep in Kahalpur area under Bagerhat’s Mollahat upazila at about 2:00pm.
“The collision left six people, including Shuvo, in critically injured conditions. They were rushed to Mollahat Upazila Health Complex from where they were sent to Dhaka for better treatment. Shuvo died on his way to Dhaka,” said Sheikh Abul Hasan, In-charge of Mollahat Highway Police Outpost.
Read: 3 killed, 9 injured in Sirajganj microbus accident
Hasan added that although the driver and the helper of the bus have managed to flee, efforts are on to apprehend them.
All the injured were passengers of the jeep, police said.