United News of Bangladesh

Police recovered the hanging body of a Comilla University student  from a rented flat at Fatullah in Narayanganj early Sunday. The deceased was identified as Farjana Islam, 25, a  student of the Pharmacy Department of the university and daughter of Rafiqul Islam of Bancharampur upazila in Brahmanbaria. Police recovered her body around 1:00am from a second-floor flat and sent it to Narayanganj General Hospital (Victoria Hospital) morgue for an autopsy. A suicide note was recovered from her bed, in which Farjana cited unbearable mental torture and taunts by her husband as the reason for ending her life, said Anwar Hossain, Fatullah Model Police Station Inspector (Investigation). Police detained her husband, Najmul Islam, 30, an employee of ACI Company and also a former student of the same department at Comilla University. The women’s elder brother, Ariful Islam, alleged that Farjana had been subjected to physical and mental abuse by Najmul since their marriage in 2023. Inspector Anwar said legal action is being taken.

The body of Bangladeshi national Sohel Rana, who died in Latvia after allegedly being tortured by human traffickers, returned home on Sunday. The remains of Sohel, 45, son of Abul Hashem, reached his home at Ramchandrapur village in Sadar upazila around 3:00pm, triggering an outpouring of grief among family members and relatives. Hundreds of villagers gathered at his home to pay their last respects. According to his father-in-law, Alfaz Uddin, Sohel was rescued by Latvian police from a forest near the Latvia-Belarus border on October 7 after being subjected to inhuman torture by a human trafficking gang that had promised to send him to Italy. He died the following day while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Latvia's Latgale region, Alfaz said. The family was informed of his death through a text message from Polish police on October 12, he added. On October 17, Sohel's wife, Jasmin Sultana, filed a case with a court accusing nine people in connection with the incident. The court subsequently directed the Officer-in-Charge of Jhenaidah Sadar Police Station to register the complaint as a first information report (FIR). Sohel's father, Abul Hashem, said his son's body was brought from Dhaka to their village home after completing the necessary legal procedures and administrative formalities. Local Union Parishad Chairman Enamul Haque Nilu said Sohel's namaz-e-janaza was held at the local Ramchandrapur School ground in the afternoon, after which he was buried at the family graveyard. Villagers demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the alleged human trafficking network responsible for the incident.

Freedom fighter Manik Pashari, a key witness in a crimes against humanity case against late Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, was buried at Chitolia village in Pirojpur Sadar upazila amid tight police security early Sunday. Police buried the body on the premises of his home around 2am. Earlier, when the body was brought on Pirojpur Sadar Upazila Parishad premises on Saturday noon the family members faced protests from local Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, activists and some local people, claimed his family members. The body was later taken to the police lines with police assistance. After a guard of honour around 5pm, police from Pirojpur Sadar Police Station kept the body under tight security. Around 1am, police took it to his home where the burial was completed an hour later in the presence of his wife, children and local residents. Abdur Razzak, assistant secretary of Pirojpur district Jamaat-e-Islami, said no leaders of the party or its affiliated organisations obstructed the burial. Jamaat leaders do not engage in the politics of corpses, he said, adding that they fully cooperated with police to complete the burial. Officer-in-Charge of Pirojpur Sadar Police Station Md Shariful Islam said the burial was completed under tight security. Additional police personnel have been deployed near the grave to prevent any untoward incident, he added. Earlier, Manik Pashari’s sister, Mosammat Rina Akter, said the family brought her brother’s body to Pirojpur for burial but faced difficulties when they could not proceed with the burial. Manik Pashari was a resident of Ward No. 7 in Chitolia village under Shankarpasha Union. After the mass uprising in July-August 2024, Pashari reportedly remained in hiding in Jashore and Gopalganj districts. Family members said the freedom fighter breathed his last around 10am on Saturday at his daughter’s father-in-law’s house in Tungipara area of Gopalganj. He had been staying there after remaining in hiding for a long period and had been ill for about two months. On February 8, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced Sayedee to death for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War. The verdict triggered clashes between police and Jamaat-e-Islami supporters, leaving at least 35 people dead and scores injured. On September 17, 2014, the Supreme Court, following an appeal by Sayedee, commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment. The convicted war criminal died on August 14, 2023 while undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) at the age of 83.

Bus services on the Kishoreganj-Dhaka route have been suspended indefinitely since Sunday morning following a dispute between transport owners in Kishoreganj and Dhaka, causing suffering for commuters. The Kishoreganj District Road Transport Owners’ Association announced the suspension, halting all private bus services on the route. Association leaders said the newly formed committee took an initiative to improve passenger services by replacing old buses with new ones after assuming responsibility. Following discussions, transport owners in Dhaka also agreed to the proposal. However, while Kishoreganj owners replaced their old buses with new ones, their Dhaka counterparts did not replace their outdated vehicles and instead added two more buses to the route, they said. Tensions mounted between the two factions over the issue, culminating in a sharp dispute on Saturday. Following the dispute, the Kishoreganj association suspended all private bus services on the Kishoreganj-Mohakhali route from Sunday morning. The suspension left passengers travelling between Kishoreganj and Dhaka facing considerable inconvenience.  

A Gazipur court on Sunday sent Moslem Ahmed, the vice-principal of Qari-ul-Quran International Madrasah at Tongi in Gazipur, to jail in a case filed over the alleged sexual harassment of a Class-I girl. Gazipur Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Omar Haider passed the order when police produced him before the court. The court also turned down his bail petition. The girl’s father filed the case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, accusing the teacher of sexually abusing his daughter. According to the family, the alleged incident took place on the staircase on the ground floor of the madrasah on October 19. The girl reportedly did not want to attend the madrasah after the incident and later disclosed what happened to her parents when they asked her about it. On October 21, the girl’s relatives went to the madrasah and confronted the accused teacher, demanding an explanation. As the matter became known, local people gathered at the institution and physically assaulted the teacher, which went viral on Facebook. On receiving information, police rushed to the spot and brought the teacher to the police station. A case was filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. The magistrate of the tribunal also recorded the statement of the girl in the case on October 22.

Two individuals were killed in a mob beating over allegations of stealing an auto-rickshaw in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur early Sunday. The deceased were identified as Rezaul, also known as Kana, 42, of Bagdohora village under Nohali union, and Sadikul Islam, 32, of Kolkanda union, in the upazila. The incident occurred around 5:30am near the Teesta Large Irrigation Canal in the Giriyarpar area of Uttar Panapukur under Barabil union. Police recovered the bodies from the scene, said Md Abdus Sabur, officer-in-charge of Gangachara Model Police Station. Quoting local residents, he said Siddiqur Rahman Sohel, a resident of Bagpur Dakkhinpara in Barabil union, heard a noise coming from the shed where he kept his auto-rickshaw early in the morning. When he came out of his bedroom, he saw someone taking the vehicle away. At the time, worshippers were offering Fajr prayers at a nearby mosque. Hearing Sohel's cries, several worshippers came out and chased the suspected thieves. As they failed to catch them immediately, the locals were alerted using the mosque's loudspeaker, prompting more local residents to join the chase. The two men allegedly left the auto-rickshaw about half a kilometre from the house near the irrigation canal and tried to escape through a paddy field. Locals, however, surrounded them and beat them, leaving both dead at the scene. OC Sabur said police rushed to the scene after receiving the information and completed the inquest before taking the bodies to the police station. The bodies were later sent to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for autopsy, he said, adding that legal action was being taken over the incident.

A man and his six-year-old daughter were killed when a fish-laden pickup rammed an auto-van on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Muksudpur upazila of Gopalganj on Sunday morning. The deceased were identified as Saiful Islam, 45, son of Hemayet Molla, and his daughter Samira Akter, hailing from Pawanbeg village in Alfadanga upazila of Faridpur. According to police and locals, a Gopalganj-bound pickup carrying fish from Khulna hit a Muksudpur-bound auto-van coming from the opposite direction in the Gyrakhola area on the highway, leaving the father-daughter duo critically injured. Locals rescued them and took them to Muksudpur Upazila Health Complex, where the attending doctor declared them dead. Muksudpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdullah Al Mamun said the bodies will be handed over to the family following legal procedures.

A tenant died at Khulna Medical College Hospital on Sunday morning after allegedly being struck on the head with a stick by his landlord during an altercation over house rent in Khulna city. The deceased was identified as Rakibul Islam, 40. Police detained landlord Majlis Khan and his wife Fatema Begum for questioning in connection with the incident that took place on Saturday. According to police and locals, an argument broke out between Rakibul and Majlis over house rent at the Shatarupa intersection of Basupara Bakultala on Saturday evening. At one point, Majlis allegedly struck Rakibul on the head with a stick, leaving him critically injured. Locals rescued Rakibul and took him to Khulna Medical College Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries around 8:00am on Sunday while undergoing treatment. Sonadanga Police Station Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Al Miraj Khan said the body has been kept at the hospital morgue for an autopsy. He added that the landlord and his wife were currently being interrogated at the police station.

Masked miscreants vandalised a clinic in Khulna city on Saturday night, spreading panic among patients and their relatives. The incident occurred around 10:30pm at Sandhani Clinic and Diagnostic Complex on Babu Khan Road, opposite Commerce College, in the city. According to police and local sources, 8-10 masked men entered the clinic and smashed the glass panels outside the chambers of Prof Dr Md Kutubuddin Mollick and Dr Moazzem Hossain. They also damaged chairs and tables inside the chambers, forcing the two doctors to flee for safety. The attackers then smashed glass panels at the cash counter, snatched the mobile phone of Iqbal Hossain, who distributes reports. The incident left clinic official Suresh Roy injured. Panic-stricken patients and visitors ran for cover during the rampage. Before leaving on foot, the attackers fired a shot outside the clinic to create panic among people, according to local sources. Clinic supervisor Kalyani said they were working as usual when the masked men began vandalising the premises. They went outside during the attack and returned after the assailants left, she said. Kalyani, however, could not say what prompted the attack. Police could not immediately establish the motive behind the attack or identify the perpetrators. Khulna Metropolitan Police (KMP) Assistant Commissioner Md Shafiqul Islam alleged that the clinic authorities did not cooperate, saying they could not contact them despite repeated attempts. He, however, said they were investigating the incident and action will be taken against those involved.

The houses of three suspects in the murder of a Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal worker were set on fire in the Satla area of Wazirpur upazila on Saturday night. The fire was set to the houses of Sajal Molla, 38, and Shamim Molla, 36, sons of Farid Molla of Alamdi village, around 10:00pm. The house of another accused, Iqbal Hossain alias Nannu Molla, also came under the arson attack. The arson followed the killing of Jubo Dal worker Kawsar Howlader, 37, who was hacked to death in the Satla area on Friday night. According to witness Rashed Amin Howlader, who was also injured in the incident, the attack took place near the Satla Bridge. He said they took shelter in a nearby house while trying to escape. However, a group of 18 to 20 people allegedly broke into the house and hacked Kawsar with sharp weapons. Rashed survived by hiding behind a door, while Kawsar was critically injured. Locals later rescued the two and took them to Kotalipara Upazila Health Complex in Gopalganj, where doctors declared Kawsar dead. Rashed alleged that an altercation took place between two groups earlier on Friday over a dispute involving drugs and that the killing stemmed from the incident. He also alleged that people from Dhaka and Barishal arrived in Satla in microbuses and motorcycles before the attack. Following the murder, police launched an operation and arrested nine people from the Padma Bridge South Police Station toll plaza area while they were allegedly trying to flee in a microbus. Police also said they recovered sharp weapons from them. Wazirpur Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Rakibul Islam said police initially learned that the murder stemmed from a dispute over a trivial matter. “Someone set fire to the houses of three accused at night. We have visited the scene,” he said, adding that necessary action will be taken if a case is filed over the arson.