United News of Bangladesh

Several hundred workers of a garment factory on Monday put up barricade on Dhaka-Munshiganj highway, demanding payment of their dues. The workers of Abanti Colour Tex of Crony Group took to the street at noon at Fatullah point and put up barricades demanding arrears. They also hurled some brickchips targeting the garment factories adjacent to the area. Workers said some 5000 workers are working at the factory and recently, several hundred workers have been fired without clearing their dues. Commuters suffer as RMG workers continue Dhaka-M’singh highway blockade On information, police and army rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Major Ashraf, said the owner of the factory went into hiding and the wages of the workers will be paid after selling the organisation at auction. Shariful Islam, officer-in-charge of Fatullah Model Police Station, said a long tailback has been created on the highway following the blockade, causing immense sufferings to the commuters.  

Ferry services on the Aricha-Kazirhat route resumed on Monday after being suspended for 56 hours. The ferry services on the Aricha-Kazirhat route remained suspended from 6 am on Saturday due to poor navigability, leaving a number of goods-laden vehicles stranded on both sides of the river. Abu Abdullah, Manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC), Aricha office, said a dredging unit of BIWTA conducted dredging and resumed the operation of the ferry services around 1pm on Monday. Three ferries named—Ferry Chitra, Dhanshiri and Shah Ali resumed operation with 11 trucks on board, each. Later, two more ferries—Khan Jahan Ali and Birsreshtha Ruhul Amin—left from Aricha ghat. Currently, five ferries are operational on the route and eight feet of navigability is needed in the river to cross ferries, he said.

A Sylhet court on Monday placed four people on a five-day remand in connection with the murder of six-year-old Muntaha Akter Jerin. Sylhet Judicial Magistrate Kazi Md Abu Zaher Badal passed the order when police produced them before the court with a seven-day remand prayer, said court inspector Jamshed Alam. Those remanded were: Alifjan, 55, wife of Moyna Mia; her daughter, Muntaha's tutor Shamima Begum Marzia, 25; Islam Uddin, 40; and Nazma Begum, 35. 3 more arrested over Sylhet’s Muntaha murder On Sunday, the body of Muntaha, daughter of Shamim Ahmed of Bharafoud village under Birdal union of Kanaighat upazila, was recovered in Sylhet’s Kanaighat upazila, eight days after she had gone missing. There were marks of injuries in the body and her throat was tied with ropes, said police. Four people were arrested in this connection.  

A Cumilla court on Monday placed three persons including the former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Shahidul Haque on a two-day remand in connection with the arson attack on a bus that claimed the lives of eight people. Cumilla Senior Chief Judicial Magistrate Farhana Sultana passed the order when the investigating officer of the case produced them before the court with 10-day remand prayer. The other accused are former joint secretary Kibria Majumdar and Zahirul Islam Selim. According to the case statement, eight people were killed when miscreants set a bus of ‘Icon Paribahan’ on fire at Jagmohanpur in Chauddagram upazila of Cumilla on February 3, 2015. Zunaid Ahmed Palak hospitalized while on remand A case was filed against 64 people including BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia. After the fall of the AL-led government, Abul Khayer, a supervisor of the bus, filed a case against 130 identified people and 190 unidentified people.  

Vehicular movement on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway resumed on Monday afternoon, as garment factory workers withdrew their blockade following an assurance from the Industries Ministry. Workers of TNZ group staged demonstrations for three days till 2 pm Monday, demanding payment of their dues for three months. The workers took to the street around 9 am on Monday for the third consecutive day to press home their demand. They also vandalized some vehicles on the highway. RMG workers block Dhaka-M’sing highway for day 2 demanding arrears Mosharraf Hossain, assistant superintendent of Gazipur Industrial Police, said secretary to the Industries Ministry assured the workers of clearing their dues through an audio message. Initially, the government will arrange Tk 6 crore and a meeting will be held with the owners over the payment of the rest of the dues, he said.    A five-member team led by Gazipur Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ershad Mia will meet the others concerned.   The workers who took to the highway on Saturday continued their demonstration on Monday morning, leading to severe traffic congestion and creating immense hardship for commuters.  Due to the protest, at least 20 garment factories in the surrounding area declared holiday to avert trouble.      

Three trucks carrying 131 metric tonnes of rice entered Bangladesh from India through the Hili land port on Monday, following the government lifting import duties on rice recently. This marks the first rice consignment in the last 20 months after the government’s decision to remove the import duty. Md Mostafizur Rahman, a Hili land port-based importer, said that the government lifted the duty on October 31 to stabilize rice prices and boost domestic stock. Government scraps onion import duties to ease prices Following this decision, importers quickly submitted the necessary documents to relevant ministries for rice import approval from India. To date, five importers have received permission to bring in 33,000 metric tonnes of rice under Letters of Credit (LC) valued between USD 420 and USD 430 per tonne. According to Rahman, the import cost per kg is approximately Tk 53-54. Lalit Keshra, owner of M/S Sairam International, noted that rice imports have commenced in alignment with government policy to help stabilize local prices. Md Yusuf Ali, Deputy Assistant Officer at the Plant Quarantine Centre of Hili Land Port, said that rice imports had been suspended since March 30 of last year, when the government imposed a 62% import duty to discourage imports.  

Three friends were killed and another was injured as bus crashed into a private car on their way to Tangail from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after seeing off another friend early Sunday, The deceased were Nasir Uddin, 23, Muslim Uddin, 30, and Jewel, 32, of  Sakhipur, Madhupur and Sakhipur upazilas respectivy and the injured is Azizur. Quoting locals, Naojhor highway police station’s Sub-Inspector Shahidul Islam said the speeding bus hit the microbus carrying the four in Sutrapur area on Dhaka-Tangail highway around 2:45am, leaving one of the friends dead on the spot. The injured three were rushed to Kaliakair upazila health complex where physicians declared two dead upon arrival, he said. The bodies were sent to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy, he said, adding that legal action will be taken in this regard.  

Vehicular movement on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway has been suspended since Sunday morning, as the workers of TNZ Apparels Ltd factory staged demonstrations demanding payment of their arrears of three months.The workers took to the street around 9 am at Bhogra point of the highway, halting vehicular movement.Commuters using the highway have been facing untold suffering due to the blockade.Meanwhile, authorities declared 20 factories closed due to the workers’ unrest.Workers said the factory authorities have not been paying their arrears for the past three months and so they are unable to pay their house rents. RMG workers block Dhaka-M’sing highway demand duesThe workers also threatened to continue their demonstration until their payment is not cleared.Law enforcement agencies tried to disperse them but the workers were seen on the highway till filing of this report at 3 pm.Md Ibrahim Khan, deputy commissioner of Gazipur Metropolitan Police, said they are talking to the factory owners to solve the issue.

A 30-year-old man was killed in an attack by assailants in Mubarakpur village, Jhikargacha upazila, around 2 pm on Saturday. The deceased, Piyal, was the son of Kitab Ali, a resident of Mubarakpur. Bablur Rahman, the officer-in-charge of Jhikargacha Police Station, confirmed the incident. According to locals and police, the incident happened when Piyal was standing near the Jhikargacha railway station when a group of youths attacked him, detonating two bombs in his direction. As he attempted to flee, the assailants chased him and dragged him to the balcony of Jhikargacha Girls' High School, where they hacked him with sharp weapons, inflicting critical injuries. Locals rushed Piyal to the Jhikargacha Upazila Health Complex where the on-duty doctor declared him dead on arrival. Following the incident, Jhikargacha police launched a large-scale search operation in the Jhikargacha market area, but no arrests have been made as yet. Investigations are ongoing to determine the motive behind the murder, said OC. “Efforts are underway to arrest those responsible for the murder,” he added.

Ferry services have been suspended on the Roumari-Chilmari route due to the navigability crisis of the Brahmaputra River in Kurigram. Around 50 trucks were seen stranded on both sides of the river on Saturday due to the matter. As the water level of the Brahmaputra has decreased, the ferries have been operating with difficulty for the past 10 days, but since Friday, the ferries have completely stopped. As a result, cargo- and goods-laden trucks are stranded on both sides of the river, waiting to cross. This has caused considerable distress for people from all professions. However, the BIWTA authorities stated that dredging work is ongoing, and river excavation work has started on the Chilmari-Rowmari route of the Brahmaputra River. Chilmari Ferry Service BIWTC Manager (Commercial) Proful Chouhan said, "For the past 10 days, there has been a navigability issue with the Brahmaputra. Since Friday, ferry operations have been temporarily halted. However, dredging work is ongoing on both sides of the Brahmaputra. I hope ferry services will return to normal soon." The water depth in various parts of the Brahmaputra is currently 6 feet. The office has stated that if the depth is increased to at least 7 feet by dredging, ferry operations will return to normal. Local resident Mohammad Nur Islam said, "Due to the drop in the river's water level, the ferry service has stopped. But if the dredging work was being carried out properly, we wouldn't have had to face this situation. The government is spending money on dredging, but if the dredging work is only carried out for two to three hours a day, how can a solution be reached?" Truck driver Saidul Islam said, "I go to Jamalpur every week via the Rowmari terminal. Last night, I arrived and heard that the ferry service had been stopped. I have a truck loaded with stones. I don't know when the ferry service will start again."