United News of Bangladesh

Three bogies of the Dhaka-bound Karnaphuli commuter train derailed in Azgara area near Laksam upazila in Cumilla on Wednesday, disrupting train movement on Dhaka-Chattogram main railway line. However, train services on the Dhaka-Chattogram route remained normal through an alternative line following the incident, said Omar Faruk Bhuiyan, station master of Laksam Railway Station. Three bogies of the commuter train, which departed from Chattogram for Dhaka, veered off the tracks at around 12:45pm near Naoti Railway Station. A relief train was dispatched from Laksam to the accident site soon after the incident. Efforts would continue to restore the main line as quickly as possible, he added.

The bus involved in a head-on collision with a truck that killed 14 people in Natore’s Baraigram upazila was being operated despite its fitness certificate having expired, said probe body chief Additional District Magistrate Abul Hayat. A seven-member probe committee, led by Abul Hayat, visited the accident spot in Sardarpara area of Bonpara Municipality in the morning and spoke to local residents. The team later met injured victims undergoing treatment at Natore Sadar General Hospital. Abul Hayat said the accident occurred when the speeding bus attempted to overtake another vehicle and collided head-on with a truck coming from opposite direction, he said. The probe committee chief said the investigation would be completed as soon as possible and a report with recommendations would be submitted. The district administration formed the seven-member probe committee on Tuesday. Fourteen people were killed and 30 others were injured in the head-on collision between the bus and the truck on Tuesday. A case was filed in connection with the road crash.

Three members of a family suffer burn injuries in an explosion apparently from accumulated gas due to leak in gas pipeline at a house in Cherag Ali Market area of Tongi in Gazipur on Wednesday. The injured were s LKal Chan, 65, Nasima, 50 and Tanisa, 16. Dr Sultan Mahmud Shikdar, resident surgeon of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery, said a fire broke out from accumulated gas, leaving three people injured. The injured were taken to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery around 7:30 am. Among the injured, Lal Chan received 95 percent burn injuries while Nasima and Tanisha were injured with 85 percent burn, he said.

Interns at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) went on a a 24-hour work abstention on Wednesday morning, pressing for a five-point demand including resolving shortages of medical supplies and ensuring their security. Dr Mushfiqur Rahman, general secretary of the hospital’s Intern Doctors Society, said the interns started the work abstention at 8am. He said the hospital’s inpatient wards are facing an acute shortage of essential medicines and medical equipment, while unrestricted entry of patients’ attendants and negligence by Ansar members on duty are frequently exposing intern doctors to unwanted situation and collective threats. The closure of the hospital’s observation room and casualty department has also increased pressure on inpatient wards, forcing doctors to struggle to provide treatment with limited manpower and medical supplies, he added. Dr Mushfiqur said the hospital authorities gave assurances several times to address the problems but have taken no effective steps, leaving the interns with no option but to go on the work abstention.

The body of a local Jobo Dal leader was recovered from a bus counter in Magura town early Wednesday. The body  of Md Saker Hossain, senior joint convener of Magura municipality Jubo Dal, was recovered from Royal Express counter at Magura bus terminal around 6am, said Officer-in-Charge of Magura sadar Police Station Abdullah Al Mamun. Saker, son of the late Qutub Uddin of Beparipara in Parnanduali area of Magura town, also worked as a counter manager at the Royal Express counter. Locals said people found Saker lying at the counter early Wednesday and took him to Magura 250-bed Hospital, where the on-duty emergency department physician declared him dead. A hole-like mark was found at the back of his head, police said. Dr Mainul Hasan of the hospital's emergency department said Saker had died before being brought to the hospital. His body has been kept in the hospital's morgue, and the actual cause of death will be known after an autopsy, he added. Meanwhile, Saker's relatives and locals claimed that he had been deliberately shot dead. However, no conclusive information has yet emerged to substantiate the claim. Magura Superintendent of Police Molla Azad Hossain said the body was recovered on Wednesday morning and a mark was found at the back of his head. "It cannot be confirmed at this stage whether he was shot dead. Details will be known after receiving the autopsy report," he said.

Police have recovered the partially decomposed body of an unidentified young woman from an abandoned building in the C&B Colony under Sonadanga Model Police Station in Khulna city late Tuesday night. Police said they searched a six-storey building of the Colony and recovered the body from its kitchen around 11:15pm on Tuesday after locals spotted it and alerted authorities by calling 999. Officer-in-Charge of Sonadanga Police Station Md Rafiqul Islam said they visited the spot after being informed. The body has been sent to the morgue at Khulna Medical College Hospital for an autopsy.

A 45-year-old man from Jhenaidah, who was rescued in critical condition from a forest in Latvia, died in a hospital after allegedly being tortured by human traffickers who had promised to send him to Italy legally in exchange for Tk 46 lakh. Sohel Rana, son of Abul Hashem of Halidhani union under Jhenaidah Sadar upazila, died at a hospital in Daugavpils in Latvia's Latgale region on October 8, family members said. His wife Jesmin Sultana filed a case against nine people with a tribunal dealing with the prevention and suppression of human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Jhenaidah on Monday. The accused were identified as Shamsunnahar, 55, her husband Shahjahan Sarkar, 58, her two sons Shohagh, 35, an expatriate living in Italy and Nasir Sarkar, 32, an expatriate living in Qatar, Sohel Rana, 41, son of Abul Kalam Sarkar, Abdur Razzak, 50, son-in-law of Shahjahan, Tonny Sarkar, 32, wife of Shohagh Sarkar, Riad Dewan, 35, an expatriate living in Egypt, and Shariful Sarkar, 48, of Ramchandrapur village in Sadar upazila of the district. According to the complaint, the accused initially took Tk 26 lakh from Sohel with the promise of sending him to Italy legally and sent him to Qatar on April 6, 2025. They assured him that he would be taken to Italy within 90 days, but he was not provided with any work, his wife alleged. When a return ticket was later sent for him, the accused allegedly prevented him from returning home and demanded another Tk 5 lakh, promising to send him to Italy through Egypt. After receiving the money, they sent him to Egypt on August 14, 2026, according to the complaint. On August 25, the family received a demand for Tk 20 lakh through Sohel's phone. Another Tk 4.5 lakh was demanded on October 9. His family sent money in five instalments in an attempt to save his life, his wife alleged. On October 12, Latvian police informed the family through a message that Sohel had been rescued from a forest on October 7 and admitted to a hospital, where he died the following day. Sohel's brother-in-law Ishtiaque Ahmed on Tuesday said the family had been promised legal migration to Italy. Instead, Sohel was allegedly moved between different countries over the past one and a half years before being tortured and abandoned in a forest near the Latvia-Belarus border. The family later learned through the Bangladesh Embassy in Poland that Latvian border guards rescued him in an ailing condition and took him to hospital, Ishtiaque said. Local residents alleged that at least 12 people were taken to different countries by the same group, with several crores of taka reportedly collected on promises of sending them to Italy through irregular routes. Three other men — Ripon Mia of Garamara village, Hamed Ali of Ramchandrapur village and Jagat Ali, son of the late Taizel Master — have been missing for around 12 years, according to locals. Their families suspect that they might also have fallen victim to the alleged trafficking network, though the claims have not been independently verified. Halidhani Union Parishad member Shahidul Islam said the group collected money from at least 15 people in Ramchandrapur and other parts of the union, promising to send them to Italy. Some of those people are now stranded in different countries without reaching their intended destination, he added. Halidhani Union Parishad Chairman Advocate Enamul Haque Nilu said he learned through social media that Sohel died in a Latvian hospital after being rescued from a forest, describing the incident as deeply tragic. Contacted, Additional Superintendent of Police Shekh Billal Hossain on Tuesday said they have yet to receive any official information from Police Headquarters or a foreign embassy about the incident. Authorities will take necessary action if information is received, he added.

The body of a nine-year-old girl was recovered from the Kaliganga River in Pirojpur after an overloaded trawler sank in the Nazirpur upazila on Monday night, while her 35-year-old mother remained missing. The deceased was identified as Arpita Bepari, daughter of Shankar Bepari of Bharatkathi village in Nesarabad upazila, while her mother Marina Bepari remained missing. The trawler capsized near the Shriramkathi-Bharatkathi ferry terminal on the border between Nazirpur and Nesarabad upazilas around 9:00pm on Monday, shortly after leaving the ghat, reportedly losing balance under the weight of excessive passengers and cargo. Witnesses said the trawler departed from the Nazirpur side for the Bharatkathi ferry terminal carrying more than 50 passengers and six motorcycles. Most of the passengers managed to swim ashore or were rescued by local residents. However, Marina and her daughter went missing. Shankar Bepari and his family visited their village during the Durga Puja holidays and were returning home by trawler after attending a puja programme in the Shriramkathi area. On receiving information, joint rescue teams from the fire service and police rushed to the scene. Following two rounds of search operations, divers from the Pirojpur Fire Service recovered Arpita's body from the river at night, but her mother remained missing. Nazirpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sajia Sahnaj Tama, Assistant Commissioner (Land) Md Ahsan Habib and Additional Superintendent of Police (Sadar Circle) Nasrin Jahan visited the accident site. Nazirpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Tariqul Islam said the Bangladesh Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard were also making efforts to locate the missing woman.

The body of a 23-year-old college student was recovered from the Kumar River in Faridpur on Tuesday, two days after he went missing after leaving home to attend a Puja celebration. The deceased, Kaushik Saha Jitu, was the son of Kamlesh Saha of Wirelesspara in Faridpur town. He was a student in the Department of Chemistry at Government Rajendra College. Police recovered the body around 11:30am near the Madankhali sluice gate in Bhatilakshmipur, within Faridpur municipality. Locals spotted the body floating in the river in the morning and alerted police through the national emergency service 999. River Police and officers from Kotwali Police Station later reached the spot and recovered the body. Family members said Kaushik left home on Sunday evening to attend a Puja celebration but did not return. After searching for him in different places the following day, his father filed a general diary (GD) with Kotwali Police Station. Additional Superintendent of Police Ajmir Hossain said the body was sent to the morgue at Faridpur Medical College Hospital for an autopsy. The exact cause of death will be known after the autopsy report is available, he said, adding that they were investigating the incident.    

Forest officials detained nine people along with a cargo vessel carrying 230 tonnes of coal from the Bhola River in the eastern Sundarbans on Monday night over illegal transportation and smuggling. The cargo vessel, named Hasan Bhandari, was carrying the coal from Joymoni in Mongla to Patharghata through the Sundarbans, according to forest officials. During a patrol, officials intercepted the vessel on charges of illegal entry into the forest area. The crew members said they were heading towards the Amua area of Patharghata. The nine detainees were held after failing to produce valid documents for the purchase of the coal. The detainees were Md Tarikul Islam, 34, Dulal Hawlader, 34, Md Sumon Talukder, 21, Md Nur Nabi Hossain, 42, Md Enayet Karim, 40, Md Obaidul, 22, Md Mamun, 22, Md Layek Mia, 50, and Md Kabir Hossain, 45. They hail from Mongla and Morelgonj in Bagerhat, Bhandaria in Pirojpur and Brahmanbaria. The seized coal is estimated to be worth around Tk 50 lakh. Forest officials suspect that the coal was illegally unloaded from a mother vessel anchored in  Joymoni area of Mongla, although they could not confirm the source. Two separate cases have been filed with Sarankhola Police Station under charges of illegal entry and smuggling, said Md Shariful Islam, assistant conservator of forests at Sarankhola Range of Sundarbans East Division. He said forest official Shyama Prasad Roy filed the two cases as the complainant and that the seized coal and the detainees have been handed over to Sarankhola Police Station.