United News of Bangladesh

Some 2,000 goods-laden trucks have been stuck at the Petrapole land port in India's West Bengal for the past eight days due to suspension of export-import activities between the two countries after 6:30 pm, fearing closure of garments industries' production owing to lack of raw materials. A terrible tailback of trucks has formed in Petrapole and Bongaon Kalitala Parking, incurring huge losses as Bangladeshi businesspeople have to provide 1,500 rupees for 10-wheel trucks and 1,000 rupees for six-wheel trucks per day. Man held with 18 gold bars in Benapole The Indian land port users have suspended the trade activities between Bangladesh and India after 6:30 pm for the past ten days. As a result, 700 trucks were stranded at Petrapole port while 1,500 at Bangaon Kalitala parking. Matiur Rahman, director of India Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce, said earlier some 400-500 goods-laden trucks were used for import through the Benapole land port every day while 200-300 goods-laden trucks were used for export. The number has fallen to 200-300 and 50-100, respectively. Benapole Custom House surpasses revenue target by Tk 216 crore Most of the trucks were loaded with raw materials for garment industries and machineries, he said. Shamsur Rahman, President of Benapole Customs Agents Association, said the export and import activities had gone down due to the suspension of internet services and ongoing curfew. In the past one week, a total of 335-370 imported goods-laden trucks came from India while 40-80 exported goods-laden trucks went from Bangladesh. Rezaul Karim, director of Benapole land port, said different organisations at Petrapole port have decided to suspend the export-import activities after 6:30 pm after the announcement of curfew in Bangladesh. “We are discussing with the manager of the Petrapole land port to resume the port activities for 24 hours like before,” he said.  

The six-member team formed by the Home Ministry to probe Narsingdi jail break incident visited the district jail on Sunday.“Already the ground work related to the investigation has been done and the video footages collected from different sources, are being analysed,” said joint secretary of Security Services Division of the Home Ministry Faruk Ahmed, also the head of the probe body.Though the probe-body was asked to submit their report within 10 working days but the submission time may be extended, if needed, he said adding “We hope we can complete the investigation during the stipulated time.”He also talked with the jail guards and eye-witnesses.Narsingdi Additional District Magistrate Tazwar Akram Sakapi Ibne Sazzad, Additional superintendent of Narsingdi police KM Shahidul Islam Shohagh and Jail Super Shamim Iqbal were present there. 11 cases filed, 184 arrested over violence in Narsingdi: District SPEarlier on July 19, at least 826 inmates escaped from the district jail during an attack on it amid students’ demonstrations for quota system reform.Leading lawyer in Narsingdi demands further investigation into how jailbreak occurred

Sixty seven people were arrested in connection with three sabotage cases filed at Naogaon Sadar, Manda, and Patnitala police stations over recent violence amid quota movement. Naogaon Superintendent of Police Muhammad Rashidul Haque said that Naogaon has traditionally been a peaceful district. However, some activists of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami tried to destabilize the district during the recent quota reform movement. DB  chief Harun refuses to meet university teachers inquiring about their students in police custody “During the protests, the activists attacked the police in various parts of the district. Police had to use rubber bullets and tear gas to calm the situation,” he said. Following these, cases were filed 39 named accused. Current Naogaon municipality mayor and former district unit BNP president Nazmul Haque Sony, district Jamaat-e-Islami secretary Advocate Abu Sayem, and district Jamaat leader Moinul Islam were among the arrestees. Police said many involved in planning the sabotage are still at large, and operations are ongoing to arrest them. DB takes two more quota movement coordinators into custody Currently, the overall law and order situation in the district is stable and peaceful, with the police working alongside the army and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) to maintain order. Considering the situation, the district administration has extended the curfew relaxation period. The curfew is now relaxed from 6 am to 10 pm daily. Despite the relaxation, army and BGB patrols are visible in both urban and rural areas.

An activist of United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) was shot dead by miscreants at Santi Bikash Karbaripara in Dighinala upazila of Khagrachhari district early Saturday.The deceased was identified as Junel Chakma, 31, organiser of Tarabunia unit of UPDF (Prasit Group) and son of Tapta Kanchon Chakma of Amtoli village in the upazila.Junel recently joined the UPDF from Democratic Jubo Forum.Nurul Haque, officer-in-charge of Dighinala Police Station, some unidentified people entered the house of Master Lalit Chakma at Kangarima Chara area in the early morning when Junel was staying there and killed Junel.On information, a team of police was sent to the spot to recover the body.However, district organiser of UPDF Angya Marma blamed Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS-Santu group) for the killing and demanded justice.

Security has been tightened at Khulna district jail considering the current situation in the country including the recent attacks in Narsingdi jail. “Surveillance has been increased in and around the jail while the leave of all staff of the jail has been cancelled,” said Jail Super Md Rafiqul Kader. However, the jail authorities also suspended the visit of the relatives of the jail inmates, he said. “Everyone is performing their duties continuously. Additional police have been deployed at the main gate of the jail,” he said. Security has been beefed up inside the jail and the law enforcement agencies have been kept on alert, he added. Currently, there are 1,421 prison inmates in the jail against its capacity of accommodating 676 inmates.  

Two minor children drowned in a river while taking bath in Kurigram's Ulipur upazila on Friday. The deceased were identified as Meem, 11, daughter of Monnaf Mia and Habibur Rahman's daughter Hasi, 9, of Bagchir Kahmar Indararpar area of Dhamsreni Union of Ulipur Upazila. Golok Chandra Barman, sub-inspector (SI) of Ulipur police station, said the two kids went to bathe in Buri Teesta river near their house around 1:30pm. Victim Hasi's grandmother Hasena Begum, 60, was accompanying them. The two children dived into the water to take a bath. As they didn’t respond even after 15 minutes of diving, Hasi's grandmother started screaming. Hearing her screaming, the surrounding people rushed and started searching in the water. Later, they recovered the floating bodies of the children. A pall of gloom descended on the area following the incident.

A total of 11 cases have been filed in connection with the clashes between quota reform protesters and law enforcers, and the looting of weapons from Narsingdi prison, said Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman, Narsingdi superintendent of police (SP), at a press conference at his office on Friday morning. Moreover, 184 people have been arrested, while four out of nine militants who escaped during the jail attack have been apprehended, he added. Recalling the July 19 incident, the SP stated that defeated anti-liberation forces and some miscreants, in a planned attack, targeted several government and private establishments after the Jum’ah prayers. Chases and counter-chases occurred between the attackers and the law enforcers when the miscreants attacked the district prison in the afternoon, he said. At one stage of the attacks, the perpetrators snatched away prison inmates, looted arms, and set fire to them, said the SP. After frantic efforts for around three and a half hours, the law enforcers took control of the situation around 10:30 pm, he continued. Police have also recovered 45 out of 85 looted arms and 1,091 rounds of looted bullets, while 481 inmates have surrendered, the SP added.

Two children died after drowning in a pond at Kumirmara Asrayan Project in Pirojpur Sadar Upazila on Friday morning. The deceased were identified as Jannati Akhter, 3, daughter of Yusuf Shesh, and Taifa Akhter, 3, daughter of Md Khalek Sheikh of the area, Azmir Hossain Majhi, chairman of Sharikatla-Dumritala union parishad, confirmed the matter. In the morning, the two girls went to play outside their house. Later, when their family started looking for them, they were not found. Around 11 am, both of them were rescued from the nearby pond and were taken to Pirojpur District Hospital, where the duty doctor declared them dead, said local UP member Omar Faruque. Dr Ranjan of the hospital said the two children were brought dead to the hospital.

Erosion has taken a serious turn in Kurigram, as waters started to recede in 16 rivers including the Brahmaputra, Teesta, Dharla, and Dudhkumar. Due to continuous erosion, some 458 houses in the district fell into the gorge in these rivers. Those affected by the erosion are running here and there in search of shelter. People are in great distress due to lack of sanitation, and food shortage. Meanwhile, 10 families affected by floods in the Bangladesh part have temporarily built houses for shelter near the Indian border, but the Indian Border Guard Force (BSF) is not allowing them to stay. “BSF has given a 3-day ultimatum to the victims to move out on the pretext of the border law,” Jatrapur union chairman Abdul Ghafur told UNB. The matter was reported to BGB, he added. “All in all, the flood victims are in dire straits.” He also said that about 200 houses in his union have been washed away by the Brahmaputra river. Of them, 55 houses were in Bhagwatipur, 40 in Barua, 55 in Ralakata, 26 in Jhunkar Char, 11 in Parvatipur, and 13 in Char Jatrapur. The UP chairman also said that his union was the most affected by the recent floods. Every day hundreds of needy people are flocking to his home with various problems including food items, shelter. “I am very worried about it,” he added. He said that 17 tons of rice has been distributed to 1700 families from the government as a relief to the flood victims. Now there is nothing in the Union Parishad treasury to help them. “A list was prepared for the shelter of 200 families affected by the floods. It will be submitted to the concerned office soon,” added the chairman. M Abdul Hai Sarkar, an official of the District Disaster Management Directorate, confirmed that 458 houses were lost in the river due to river erosion. A total of 1,63, 000 people in 55 unions of 9 upazilas of the district were affected by the flood. Besides, 609 metric tons of rice, Tk 35.85 lakh were distributed to mitigate the suffering of the flood hit people, he added Mohammad Saidul Arif, deputy commissioner of Kurigram, said that the list of victims of the river is being prepared. “They will receive assistance soon.”

In a heart-wrenching incident, Dipak Kumar Gope of Narayanganj is mourning the loss of his six-year-old daughter, Riya Gope, who was shot in the head by a stray bullet while playing on the roof of their home, during the quota reform protest on Friday. The tragedy has left family and friends in deep sorrow, struggling to find any consolation. Last Friday afternoon, in the Noyamati area of Narayanganj, little Riya was playing on the roof when a stray bullet from a clash surrounding the quota reform movement struck her. She was immediately rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where she remained unconscious and under treatment for five days. She succumbed to her injuries on Wednesday. Dipak, holding his daughter's lifeless body wrapped in a blanket on a stretcher, expressed his grief and despair, "I had everything. What will happen now? Who will I seek justice from? She was a treasure born after a long wait. After many years of marriage, I had this child. And now, her body is on my shoulders. The child who used to light up our home is no more." Visiting the morgue of Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Wednesday, scenes of anguish were evident as relatives of those killed in recent clashes waited for the bodies of their loved ones. Cries of pain echoed as some rolled on the ground in grief, while others navigated the bureaucratic maze for autopsy procedures. Dipak, carrying his daughter's body, could barely speak, overwhelmed by grief. He repeatedly questioned, "Why was my daughter killed? Can you bring her back to me? What is the use of talking now?" Riya was the only child of her parents, who had cherished great dreams for her. She was born after many years of their marriage. Riya's mother, devastated by the incident, has been in a state of shock, neglecting to eat or drink. Dipak voiced his concern, saying, "How will I face her mother with our daughter's body?" The family, residents of Noyamati, Narayanganj, recounted the fateful afternoon when Riya went to play on the roof and was caught in the crossfire of the ongoing clash. Despite the efforts of medical professionals, Riya's injuries proved fatal, leaving her family and the community in mourning. This tragic incident underscores the devastating impact of violence on innocent lives, leaving a family shattered and a community grieving.