United News of Bangladesh

A madrasha student died on Wednesday while being taken to Jashore for treatment, with his father alleging that he was tortured and killed by teachers at the institution. The deceased was identified as Syed Sulaiman Islam, 14, son of Syed Ikramul Islam of Ramchandrapur village in Sadar upazila and a first-year student of the Kitab section at Markazul Quran Madrasha in Laskarpur-Chanmari near Narail town. Police detained three teachers of the madrasa for questioning in connection with the incident. Sulaiman's father, Ikramul Islam, said his son went to the madrasa from home on Tuesday morning. Around 11 am Wednesday, the family was informed by the madrasha authorities that Sulaiman fell sick. Family members then took him to Narail District Hospital. As his condition deteriorated, they decided to take him to Jashore for better treatment, but he died on the way. Ikramul alleged that his son suffered injuries from physical torture, including around his neck and other parts of his body. He also alleged that the madrasa authorities did not take Sulaiman to hospital even after he became ill and that he was tortured and killed on Tuesday night. “I want a proper investigation into the incident,” he said. .llHowever, Markazul Quran Madrasa Principal Maulana Nazmus Sayadat Al Mamun denied the allegations, saying no teacher physically assaulted Sulaiman. He said Sulaiman was admitted to hospital after falling ill and subsequently died. The principal said an autopsy would establish the actual cause of death. Officer-in-Charge of Narail Sadar Police Station Rasel Sarwar said the three teachers — Yusuf Haider, Hasibur Rahman and Fahad Sheikh — have been detained for questioning. He said no written complaint has yet been filed by the family. Additional Superintendent of Police Rakibul Hasan said the body has been sent to the district hospital for an autopsy. “The actual cause of death will be known after we receive the autopsy report,” he said.

An assistant teacher of a government primary school in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur was suspended Wednesday following allegations of sexually harassing a fifth-grade student, triggering a tense seven-hour confinement of the local education officer and other school staff by outraged guardians and residents. The confinement, which began at 10:30am and lasted until 5:30pm, ended after police rescued Upazila Education Officer Shaila Jasmin Sayeed, the school's headmaster and several other teachers. According to locals, the accused teacher behaved inappropriately with the student during class on August 31. After the victim informed her parents, the teacher stayed away from school. However, when he returned on Wednesday morning, guardians attempted to detain him, but he managed to flee. The outraged crowd then locked the headmaster and other teachers inside the school's office room. Upon receiving the news, Upazila Education Officer Shaila rushed to the scene with teacher leaders but was also confined by the people. During the standoff, the victim's father submitted a written complaint to the officer, who immediately issued a suspension order against the accused. Other female students also accused the teacher of inappropriate behaviour in the past, alleging that they felt uncomfortable around him. Furthermore, guardians alleged that the teacher faced similar sexual harassment accusations during his previous postings at two other schools. District Primary Education Officer AM Shahjahan Siddik said the teacher has been suspended due to the situation, adding that departmental action will be taken after a formal investigation. Officer-in-Charge of Gangachara Model Police Station Abdus Sabur said they deployed a police team to rescue the confined officials after receiving an emergency call from the upazila education office.

Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officials posing as patients conducted a surprise raid at the Kushtia 250-bed General Hospital on Wednesday, uncovering widespread irregularities including bribery for death certificates and patient harassment. Led by ACC Deputy Assistant Director Suraiya Sultana, the secret enforcement team arrived at the hospital around 11:30 a.m. and spent nearly two hours monitoring various wards, the pathology and ultrasonography departments, and the kitchen. They departed around 2pm. "We received numerous complaints regarding overall mismanagement, harassment of patients, and brokers taking bribes to move patients up the serial list," Sultana said. "But the most serious allegation we confirmed was the issuance of death certificates in exchange for money." During the drive, two ACC members secretly observed the hospital's operations firsthand. Sultana said that ACC drives are strictly confidential; even the participating officers were unaware of their destination until they boarded their vehicle.

Three people were killed and at least eight others injured when two buses collided head-on in Mymensingh on Wednesday evening. Two of the deceased were identified as Md Abdur Razzak, 60, of Dharapara village in Haluaghat upazila, and Md Tofazzol Hossain, 60, of Singherswar village in Phulpur upazila of the district. The identity of another male passenger, aged around 50, could not be confirmed immediately. The accident occurred around 6:30pm in the Alalpur area on the Mymensingh-Haluaghat road in Sadar upazila. Police said a Shyamoli Bangla Paribahan bus was heading for Dhaka from Haluaghat when it collided head-on with a Haluaghat-bound Imam Paribahan bus coming from Dhaka, leaving Abdur Razzak dead and eight others injured. Md Al Amin, in-charge of the hospital police camp, said six of the injured were taken to the hospital, where two succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment. Mymensingh Kotwali Model Police Station Sub-Inspector Jalal Uddin said police seized both buses and restored traffic movement. The drivers and helpers of both buses fled the scene, he said, adding that further legal proceedings are underway.  

Fifty-nine members of five active robber gangs in the Sundarban have surrendered to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), while the elite force recovered 59 firearms, 541 rounds of live ammunition, 14 empty cartridges and seven walkie-talkies in raids in the forest over the past three days. RAB Director General Md Ahsan Habib Palash, BPM-Seva, disclosed the information at a press briefing at RAB-6 headquarters in Khulna at 12:00pm on Wednesday. The surrendered robbers included 16 members of the Boro Jahangir gang, 13 of Anarul, 15 of Afzal alias Dulabhai, eight of Aftab and seven of Mizan gang. RAB said necessary legal action was taken against them and they were produced before courts. Following the surrender, RAB continued operations in different parts of the forest and recovered four shotguns, 47 one-shooter guns, four pipe guns, three airguns and a .22-calibre rifle. It also recovered 14 empty cartridges and seven walkie-talkies. The RAB chief warned those still involved in robbery to surrender and return to normal life, assuring them of maximum assistance. However, he said those continuing criminal activities would face strict legal action. “RAB’s zero-tolerance policy will continue to keep the Sundarban free from robbers and ensure the security of hardworking people in the coastal region,” he said. He also reaffirmed RAB’s commitment to protecting the Sundarban, the lives and livelihoods of forest-dependent people, and the country’s valuable natural resources and biodiversity. The Sundarban had remained off-limits to tourists and forest-dependent people from June 1 to August 31 to ensure uninterrupted breeding and movement of wildlife and protect biodiversity. The forest reopened on September 1 for tourists and forest-dependent people, subject to applicable rules and permits.  

Police on Wednesday interrogated two accused for the second consecutive day in connection with the killings of former schoolteacher Ganapati Chakraborty, his wife and their two children, saying they are close to uncovering the mystery behind the quadruple murder. A three-member Detective Branch (DB) team questioned Siddhartha Das and Mugdha Das at the gate of Rangpur Central Jail for three hours on each of the two days following a court order. Rangpur four murders: Siddhartha, Mugdha test negative for drugs after 10 days “We hope we are now close to uncovering the mystery surrounding the murders,” said Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operations) of Rangpur Metropolitan Police Tofael Ahmed. The accused were interrogated on Tuesday and Wednesday as the court allowed police to question them for three hours on any two days at the jail gate instead of granting a three-day remand. Earlier, the investigation officer of the case had sought a three-day remand for the two suspects on Monday. However, Metropolitan Chief Magistrate Rafiqul Islam allowed police to question them for three hours on any two days at the jail gate instead. On August 22, the bodies of Ganapati, 65, a former teacher of Rangpur Zilla School, his wife Pritilata Chakraborty Bala, 50, daughter Agami Chakraborty Prarthi, 25, and son Ayush Chakraborty Priyam, 12, were recovered from their locked home in Machhuapara of Rangpur city. Police said all four were strangled to death. Police arrested Mugdha, 23, and Siddhartha, 19, from the same area the following day in connection with the killings. The two arrested suspects later gave confessional statements under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure before a court, while two witnesses, identified as Shimanto and Bidyut Das, also gave statements before the court.

Four railway policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), have been withdrawn following an allegation that a 44-year-old woman was raped on a moving train in the presence of police personnel. The four — Railway Police ASI Khokon Islam and constables Fazle Rabbi, Golam Mostafa and Ashikur Rahman — have been attached to the Railway Police Lines in Pakshi, said Mehedi Hasan, superintendent of police of Pakshi Railway Police. Man arrested for sexually harassing Naogaon college student A two-member committee, headed by Assistant Superintendent of Police Din-e-Alam of the Ishwardi Railway Police Circle, has been formed to investigate the allegation, he said. The committee has been asked to submit its report to the police superintendent within seven working days. Police Inspector Hafizur Rahman of the Ishwardi Railway Police Circle is the other member of the committee. The committee will investigate whether two of the four police personnel, who were on duty on the train, forcibly took Tk 10,000 from the woman, searched her body despite the absence of a female police officer and had any role in or assisted the alleged rape, said SP Mehedi. Police are also working to identify the two personnel allegedly involved in the incident. The investigation committee will speak to the woman and seek her assistance in identifying the two police personnel, the SP said. According to the complaint, the woman was travelling without a ticket on the Kurigram Express from Dhaka on the night of August 30. She boarded the train at Airport Railway Station intending to travel to Sirajganj. After railway police members became suspicious, they searched her and asked about her destination. When she said she was going to Sirajganj, the police personnel reportedly told her that the train did not stop there. She then said she would travel to Parbatipur in Dinajpur to visit relatives. The police personnel allegedly took her to the train’s canteen and left. Around 4:00am on August 31, the woman called the national emergency service 999 alleging that she was raped inside the moving train in the presence of police personnel. Later, Santahar Railway Police tracked the train’s location and asked Parbatipur Railway Police to rescue the woman. When the train reached Parbatipur Junction, railway police rescued the woman and arrested the canteen boy identified as Abu Bakar Siddique. A case was filed at Santahar Government Railway Police Station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.

The hanging body of a ninth-grade student was recovered from her home in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat on Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Tithi Rani, 14, daughter of Babul Chandra Roy of Dhaolai area in Ward No. 5 of Naodabas Union. She was a student of Ketkibari High School. Local residents said Tithi's family members found her hanging at their home around 8am. Hearing their cries, locals rushed to the house, brought down the body and informed the police. On information, police from Hatibandha Police Station went to the spot around noon and recovered the body. Ashrafuzzaman Sarker, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Hatibandha Police Station, said the family did not make any complaint. Considering the family's request, the body was handed over to the family without an autopsy, he said.

All passengers of a trawler were rescued after it sank following a collision with a ferry in the middle of a river in  Khulna district on Tuesday night. The trawler carrying around 30 to 35 people collided with the ferry near Jailkhana Ghat where the Bhairab and Rupsha rivers meet, police said. No deaths or injuries were reported. The trawler had left Jailkhana Ghat for Sener Bazar at about 9:45pm while the ferry was travelling towards Khulna from the opposite direction. Local boatmen quickly reached the scene and pulled passengers from the river. Fire Service personnel, the Coast Guard and Naval Police later joined the rescue operation. Abul Khair, in-charge of  Rupsa Naval Police Outpost, said police were alerted soon after the collision and rushed to the scene. All the passengers have been rescued, he said. The trawler remained submerged in the river, he added.

When 12-year-old Mostakim Hossain drowned in the Padma River his family had little choice but to wait. Local rescuers searched for the madrasa student after he went missing while playing football with friends at Bhagjot Ghat in Kushtia’s Daulatpur upazila on August 28. But the district had no trained fire service divers of its own. Instead, the family had to wait for a specialist team to travel nearly 150km from Khulna. By the time the divers arrived several hours passed. Mostakim’s body was eventually recovered from the river the following morning. For his mother, Sheuli Khatun, the wait was agonising. “My son drowned while playing with his friends on a holiday. We still could not find him. We had to wait for people to come from Khulna before the search could begin,” she said. The case highlights a persistent problem in Kushtia, a riverine district where several major waterways run through communities but where the fire service has no dedicated trained diving team.