United News of Bangladesh

Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR) authorities have suspended Sohel Rana, assistant director of its Physical Education Department after an investigation found that he had used fake academic certificates to secure his job. University Registrar (additional charge) Prof Dr Md Ferdous Rahman said the university verified the certificates and found that fake certificates had been used. "Necessary action will also be taken against others accused of using fake certificates. The university administration is working on the matter," he said. According to university sources, Rana submitted certificates claiming that he obtained bachelor's and master's degrees from Royal University of Dhaka when he applied for the job. Later, the university authorities sent a letter to Royal University of Dhaka to verify the authenticity of the certificates. In reply, Royal University of Dhaka informed the university that it had not issued any bachelor's or master's degree certificate in Rana's name. BRUR Vice-Chancellor Dr Shawkat Ali said investigations are underway several other teachers as well.

Habiganj district administration has withdrawn the Section 144 restriction  imposed in the municipal area of Habiganj on Wednesday amid tensions surrounding protest programmes by the National Citizen Party (NCP) and BNP’s affiliated organisations at the same venue. District Magistrate Dr GM Sarfaraz issued the withdrawal order on Thursday morning. According to a press release from the district administration, the order was withdrawn following reports from law enforcement agencies indicating that there was no longer any apparent risk of a breach of discipline. The restriction was imposed after the NCP and BNP and its affiliated organisations announced protest rallies at the same venue on Wednesday, creating concerns over a possible deterioration in the law and order situation. Meanwhile, after a day of dramatic developments on Wednesday, the NCP's central leaders ended their protest programme by filing a complaint against 11 named individuals, including Habiganj district Chhatra Dal President Rajib Ahmed Ringon, and 100 unidentified people. The complaint was filed by Tanmoy Taher, convener of the district Jubo Shakti, over an alleged attack on the NCP motorcade in Habiganj on Tuesday evening. The complaint was filed at around 8:30pm Wednesday at the Kamai Chhara police camp in Bahubal upazila.

Sylhet district administration has sought deployment of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in five upazilas to maintain law and order ahead of the National Citizen Party's (NCP) July march programmes scheduled for Thursday and Friday. Deputy Commissioner Abdullah Al Mamun sent a letter to the Ministry of Home Affairs and the BGB headquarters on Wednesday seeking the deployment. The five upazilas are Jaintapur, Golapganj, Gowainghat, Kanaighat and Companiganj. He said the request was made following a letter from Sylhet Superintendent of Police Chowdhury Md Jaber Sadek to the district administration. "We have applied to Dhaka seeking BGB deployment for Thursday and Friday," the deputy commissioner said. According to a local administration source, the NCP's Sylhet district unit is scheduled to hold its July march programmes in several upazilas on the two days. NCP Sylhet district unit Member Secretary Kamrul Arif said the party would hold the July march in three upazilas on Thursday and three more on Friday, with central leaders attending the programmes. All preparations have already been completed,he said. At a press briefing held at a hotel on Jail Road in Sylhet city on Wednesday afternoon, NCP Sylhet district Convener Md Junaed Ahmed announced details of the programmes. He said the party would meet families of the martyrs in Golapganj at 11am on Thursday, followed by July marches in Kanaighat at 3pm and Osmaninagar at 7pm. On Friday, the marches will be held in Companiganj at 3pm, Gowainghat at 5pm and Jaintapur at 7pm, he said. NCP Convener Nahid Islam, Member Secretary and MP Akhter Hosen, reserved women’s seat MP Mahmuda Mitu, Chief Organiser Nasiruddin Patwary, Chief Coordinator for the northern region Sarjis Alam, Chief Organiser for the southern region Hasnat Abdullah MP and spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, among other central leaders, are expected to attend the programmes. The upazila-level marches are being organised as part of the NCP's month-long nationwide programmes in July. Local NCP leaders have sought cooperation from the administration during the programmes. Police on Wednesday stopped a convoy of NCP leaders travelling from Moulvibazar to Habiganj after Section 144 was imposed in Habiganj municipality. Earlier, the Habiganj district administration imposed Section 144 across the municipality after the NCP and BNP’s associate bodies announced separate rallies at the Town Hall premises. The restrictions followed Tuesday’s violence in Habiganj, when the NCP alleged that Sarjis Alam and Nasiruddin Patwary were attacked after a programme

A student of the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) drowned in a pond adjacent to Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall on the university campus on Tuesday evening. The deceased, Arnab Saha, 22, was the son of Prabir Ranjon Saha. He was a second-year student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Arnab’s family is originally from Noakhali. However, his family has been living in a rented house on Middabari Road in the Ralegate area of Feni for nearly three decades due to his father’s job. Family sources said Arnab was a resident of Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall. Rafiul Adnan, Arnab’s roommate, said Arnab and some friends went to bathe in the pond at around 7:30 pm on Tuesday. "Suddenly, Arnab drowned. His friends searched for him and recovered his body after about 20 minutes," he said. Arnab’s body was taken to Feni early Wednesday, and his cremation was held at the Feni Municipal Crematorium in the morning.

A mobile court on Wednesday fined a chips manufacturing factory Tk 100,000 under the Safe Food Act, 2013 after detecting multiple food safety and hygiene violations during an inspection in Sylhet. The drive was conducted at Suman Food Products, located near the Telibazar Bypass in the Sylhet Metropolitan area, under the leadership of Assistant Commissioner Md Parvez of the Deputy Commissioner's Office, Sylhet. During the inspection, the mobile court found a series of irregularities in the factory's chips production process. The violations included the use of burnt cooking oil, the use of substandard black salt in food preparation, and the storage of salt in open sacks under unhygienic conditions. Inspectors also found that large quantities of chips were being produced and marketed using counterfeit labels in an unsanitary environment. In addition, the factory premises were found to be dirty and poorly maintained, while the establishment lacked a valid trade licence and other required approvals. The inspection further revealed that workers were handling and packaging chips with bare hands, with several food handlers having long and unclean fingernails. Food products were also found to be stored directly on the floor. Considering the offences, the mobile court imposed a cash fine of Tk 100,000 on the establishment under Section 39 of the Safe Food Act, 2013. The operation was coordinated by Syed Sarfaraz Hossain, Safe Food Officer of the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA), Sylhet Metropolitan. Officials of the BFSA, Sylhet Metropolitan, along with a team from the police, were present during the drive.

A Khulna court on Wednesday sentenced four people to life imprisonment for the murder of Rihad Hossain, a Class VI student of Rayermohol Secondary School. The convicts are Raju Sheikh alias Gangua, Shamim alias Sabuj Moral, Nur Alam Siddique alias Collins alias Badsha, and Jayanta. The verdict was confirmed by court bench assistant Nazrul Islam. Additional District and Sessions Judge's Court-1 Judge Nazmus Shahadat delivered the verdict. The court also fined each of the four convicts Tk 20,000, in default of which they will serve six more months in jail. The court also handed down separate sentences under two other sections of the law and fined them accordingly. Another accused in the case, Abul Kalam Azad, was sentenced to three years' rigorous imprisonment and fined Tk 5,000, in default of which he will serve one more month in jail. According to the court records, Rihad, a student of Rayermohol Secondary School in Khulna, left home on December 6, 2013, around 6pm with his father's easy bike to carry passengers at Mostofa's Mor. After reaching the area, several people hired his vehicle and took it to an unknown location. Rihad went missing from that day. Before disappearing, he informed the garage owner through his mobile phone that he would be late returning home. As he did not return, his family contacted the garage owner, but no further information about him was found. On December 9, an unidentified body was recovered from Dumuria Panchu Khal, and after seeing reports in local newspapers, family members identified it as Rihad's body at Khulna Medical College Hospital. Doctors found injury marks on his throat caused by a sharp weapon. Following the discovery, Rihad's uncle Sheikh Jahangir filed a murder case against unidentified persons with Dumuria Police Station.

Six people died from electrocution in separate incidents in Mymensingh, Gaibandha and Naogaon districts on Wednesday. In Mymensingh, two workers were electrocuted at an under-construction building at Tarail in Trishal upazila. The deceased were identified as Jisan, 18, son of Ratan Mia of Tarail, and Sirajul Islam, 22, son of Ibrahim of the Birampur Bhatipara area in the upazila. Two electrocuted while removing fallen tree in Gaibandha Officer-in-Charge of Trishal Police Station Mansur Ahmed said two workers of the under-construction building fell from the 3rd floor of the building as they came in contact with a live electric wire adjacent to the building while lowering steel rods from the rooftop. Later, they were taken to Trishal Upazila Health Complex, where the doctors declared them dead, he said. In Naogaon, two fishermen died from electrocution while catching fish in a water body at Katkoil village in Porsha upazila in the afternoon. The deceased were identified as Mahbub Hossain, son of Shafiuddin, and Abdul Aziz, son of Abdul Gafur of the upazila. OC Ziaur Rahman of Porsha Police Station said Mahbub and Aziz set up an electric motor to drain water from the water body in a bid to catch fish in the morning. After catching fish, they went to their respective homes. Around 1:00pm, Mahbub again went to the water body and found that the electric-powered motor remained switched on. At one stage, he got electrocuted as a wire of the motor came in contact with the water and electrified. Aziz also got electrocuted as he tried to save Mahbub. In Gaibandha, two people died from electrocution while removing a fallen coconut tree from a road in Gobindaganj upazila in the morning. The deceased were identified as Mowla, 35, son of Aibuddin of Patharepara village, and Azimuddin, 60, son of Basir Uddin of Darapara village. Quoting witnesses, OC Swapan Kumar Sarkar of Gobindaganj Police Station said a coconut tree fell onto an overhead power line in the Darapara area while being felled, snapping an electric wire. Mowla and Azimuddin came in contact with the live wire while trying to remove the fallen tree. Mowla died on the spot, while Azimuddin sustained critical injuries, the OC said. Azimuddin was taken to Gaibandha Sadar Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries.

Habiganj district administration has imposed Section 144 in the  district town following announcements by National Citizen Party (NCP) and BNP’s associated organisations to hold protest rallies at the same venue on Wednesday. The restriction was imposed at around 10:00 am on Wednesday after NCP and the BNP's associate bodies Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Jubo Dal and Swechchhasebak Dal announced protest programmes on Town Hall premises at 3:00 pm. Officer-in-Charge of Habiganj Sadar Police Station Zahedul Haque said the district administration issued the order to maintain law and order. The NCP called the rally and a protest procession to condemn Tuesday's attack on its leaders and activists. District NCP Convener Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal said several central leaders including Nahid Islam, Akhtar Hossain, Hasnat Abdullah and Dr Atik Mojahid were travelling to Habiganj to attend the scheduled programme. Meanwhile, tension prevailed across the district following Tuesday evening's violence. NCP claimed that its leaders Sarjis Alam and Nasiruddin Patwary came under attack after addressing a July mass uprising programme near the Court Mosque while the leaders were leaving the venue. Police later escorted the leaders to the Circuit House for security. Sarjis Alam blamed activists of Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal for the attack. He also claimed that one activist sustained serious eye injuries after being struck with an iron rod and another was critically injured. He also alleged that vehicles carrying him and Nasiruddin Patwary were vandalised. Witnesses said that during the rally, Nasiruddin Patwary criticised local BNP leaders and activists, alleging their involvement in drug trafficking and criminal activities. Responding to the allegations, Habiganj district Chhatra Dal General Secretary Zillur Rahman said there had only been a minor scuffle after NCP leaders made what he described as "offensive remarks" against the BNP and its affiliated organisations. To maintain law and order, police deployed additional personnel around the Circuit House. OC Zahedul Haque said. As of Tuesday night, NCP leaders were staying at the Circuit House under police protection. No cases or arrests were immediately reported in connection with the incident.

Five Bangladeshi women returned home through Benapole land port on Tuesday night after serving jail terms in India. Petrapole immigration police handed them over to Benapole immigration police around 8pm under special travel permits. The returnees were Papia Akter, Shimu Akter, Sharmin Khatun, Lovely Khatun and Rozina Khatun. They are from Jashore, Narail, Bagerhat and Tangail districts. Officer-in-Charge of Benapole Immigration Police Saifur Rahman said the women entered India through border routes about four years ago after being lured by brokers with promises of jobs. They were later arrested while working as domestic help and sentenced to two to three years in prison on charges of illegal entry. After completing their sentences, an Indian human rights organisation kept them at a shelter home. With the cooperation of the high commissions of the two countries and a special travel permit issued by the Indian government, they were repatriated. Human rights organisation Justice and Care received them and will hand them over to their families. Justice and Care field facilitator in Jashore Shafiqul Islam said they were taken to a shelter home Tuesday night and would be handed over to their families on Wednesday.

An auto-rickshaw driver was killed after two battery-run auto-rickshaws collided in the capital’s Chawkbazar area on Tuesday afternoon. The deceased was identified as Dabir Ahmed, 50, from Ashtamonisha village in Bhangura upazila of Pabna and lived in Mahdinagar of Kamrangirchar. Ratan, owner of an auto-rickshaw garage where Dabir worked, said local people told him that two battery-run auto-rickshaws collided in front of Urdhu Road Mosque around 4pm. The driver of the other auto-rickshaw took Dabir to DMCH and left him there, he said. His condition deteriorated on the way home after primary treatment, prompting Ratan to take him back to DMCH around 8pm. Doctors examined him and declared him dead around 8:30pm, Ratan said. Inspector Md Faruk, in-charge of the DMCH police outpost ,said the body has been kept at the hospital morgue for autopsy, and the concerned police station has been informed.