United News of Bangladesh

A confrontation broke out between students of Rajshahi University (RU) and police after officers attempted to detain several students following a scheduled program on campus on Thursday. Students alleged that two RU students were taken by law enforcers, escalating tensions on the campus. Witnesses reported that around 11:15am, hundreds of students from various schools and colleges gathered at the Shaheed Buddhijibi Chattar of the university. They were set to hold a silent procession, their faces tied with red cloth as a form of protest. Classes resume at Rajshahi University 2 days after clash between students, locals At one point, teachers joined the students in solidarity. The procession moved through various parts of the campus, concluding back at the Shaheed Buddhijibi Chattar. As the teachers were preparing to leave, plainclothes police officers armed with weapons attempted to detain two students. This led to a scuffle involving students, teachers, and police. The intervention of the teachers ultimately forced the police to release the detained students. Hemayetul Islam, Additional Police Commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said that students engaged in a heated argument with the police. He confirmed that some students were called for questioning and subsequently released.    

A total of 77 officials including jail super and prison guards were suspended in connection with the attack on Narsingdi District Jail leading to escape of 836 inmates from jail on July 19. Among them, 67 are prison guards and 10 others of other posts, Shamim Iqbal, superintendent of Narsingdi District Jail said on Wednesday. Besides, a departmental case was filed against each of them due to negligence of duty, he added. Earlier on July 23, Narsingdi district jailer Abul Kalam Azad was also suspended over the jail attack issue. On July 19, a mob carried out an attack on the district jail, vandalized valuables, and looted 85 firearms and over 8, 015 rounds of bullets. Taking advantage of the turmoil, 826 inmates including nine militants escaped. On July 21, the district administration carried out publicity by loudspeakers asking the escaped inmates to surrender before the court. Responding to the call 575 inmates surrendered in the last 11 days till July 30. On the other hand, 49 out of 85 looted arms and 1,091 rounds of looted bullets were recovered.

Clashes broke with police when protesters were staging demonstrations tying red cloths on foreheads as part of March for Justice programme in Thakurgaon town  on Wednesday afternoon. Quota movement announces ‘March for Justice’ Wednesday protesters held a sit-in at the "Oporajeyo-71" monument located at Art Gallery Square in the city.Earlier, the students marched to the entrance of the municipal office, but the police blocked their way when they attempted to proceed towards the Chaurasta area, leading to chase and counter-chase between the protesters and police that lasted nearly an hour and a half. Initially, the students planned to gather at the Government Boys' High School playground, but the police did not allow them to assemble there. Quota movement deaths: JU teachers, students hold silent march with mouths, eyes covered with red cloth During the protest, the students demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the detained coordinators and students, withdrawal of false cases and an end to repression, reopening of universities, and justice for the killings of students and others.

Khulna, known as a fish-surplus district, saw a decline in export earnings from fish by Tk 679 crore in the last fiscal year (2023-24).Fish and fish products worth over Tk 2,144 crore were exported in the last fiscal year while in 2022-23 fiscal year, the export earning was Tk 2,823 crore , and in the 2017-18 fiscal year, the amount was Tk 2,489 crore.In the 2023-24 fiscal year, approximately 16,000 metric tonnes of shrimp were exported, earning Tk 1,744 crore, and the export quantity of other fish was 25,000 MT, with an export income of over Tk 400 crore.District Fisheries officer Jaydeb Pal gave the information to the UNB correspondent.He mentioned that alongside the netting of Hilsa in Khulna, extensive farming of Bagda and Galda shrimp, as well as Tilapia, crabs, and other white fish, are carried out.With a population of 26 lakh, the total fish production in the district is 125,000 MT. The daily per capita fish consumption requirement is 50 grams per person. The total fish demand is 57,000 MT in the district and so there is a surplus of more than 68 MT of fish in Khulna.

As floodwaters recede, the Teesta River in Kurigram is witnessing severe erosion, devastating approximately 200 homes in the Rajarhat and Ulipur upazilas along a 40-kilometre stretch. The ongoing erosion at 10 different spots is causing the river's left bank to erode by an average of 10 meters, placing hundreds of acres of farmland and several educational institutions at risk. This alarming situation has left local residents and representatives in distress. A visit to the erosion-affected areas in the five unions of Rajarhat and Ulipur revealed the residents' despair, according to our local correspondent. Abdul Kuddus Pramanik, chairman of the Gharial Danga Union in Rajarhat upazila, said that over 100 families in his union have lost their homes due to the floods. In the past three days alone, 20 homes in Khitab Kha Bara Dargah and Burir Hat areas have been swallowed by the river, with the Bara Dargah Government Primary School also facing imminent risk. Tajul Islam, chairman of the Bidyanand union, said erosion continues in his union, with 13 homes in the Char Bidyanand and Tayeb Khan areas being engulfed by the river. In Ulipur, Liaquat Ali, chairman of Daldalia Union, reported that seven homes in Karpura Sardar Para have been lost to erosion. Ataur Rahman, chairman of Thetrai Union, mentioned that 45 homes and several acres of farmland in Char Goraipiya, Char Juan Sutra, Nagarpara, Paschim Kishorepur, and Bamanpara have been eroded, with several educational institutions also under threat. In Bajra Union of the same upazila, the areas of Saduya, Damarhat, Khamar Damarhat, Sata Laskar, Paschim Bajra, and Char Bajra have seen 100 homes disappear into the river due to severe erosion. Abdul Hai, the district relief and rehabilitation officer, said that they provided one to two bundles of corrugated iron sheets to those affected by natural disasters upon receiving applications. However, there are currently no allocations available, with more supplies expected in August. Rakibul Hasan, the executive engineer of the Kurigram Water Development Board, said that the Teesta River traverses 40 kilometres from Kurigram to Kamarjani in Gaibandha district before merging with the Brahmaputra River. Erosion continues at ten spots along this stretch, with the left bank receding by an average of 10 meters. Efforts to combat erosion with geobags are ongoing, and they are striving to address the issue effectively, he added.

General students of SUST organized a protest march against the nationwide abductions and arrests,  coerced statements taken from movement coordinators under DB custody, and  demanding withdrawal of false cases, where they were joined by fellow students from multiple institutions including MC College, Metropolitan University, Leading University, Madan Mohon College Students gathered in front of the main gate of the university, marched briefly on the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway, and then held a rally in front of the main gate on Monday afternoon .  In the rally, Faisal, a student from the Sociology Department of SUST, said, “The autocratic government tried to suppress the movement by forcing false statements from the coordinators of the student movement at gunpoint. However, as long as even one of our brothers is alive, none of the tricks of this autocratic government will work.” He further stated, "Those who have murdered Abu Sayed, our younger brother from the university, and all our fellow comrades, I want to make it clear to them: we do not seek justice for murder from the murderers. We have not come to seek justice for murder from the murderers. As Zahir Raihan said in 'Arek Falgun,' 'Expand the prisons; in the coming spring, we will double in number.' We want to tell you to turn all of Bangladesh into a prison." Faisal added, "If the government does not accept our nine-point demand, students will be forced to issue a single-point demand. If we issue a single-point demand, there will be no escape." At the protest rally, Tanzina Akter, a student of MC College, Sylhet, said, “This student movement has turned into a mass movement. From laborers to children as young as four years old have been martyred in this movement. As long as each murder is not accounted for, our movement will continue.” During the protest rally, students chanted various slogans such as "Compromise or struggle? Struggle, struggle," "My brother was killed, police will not be spared," "Why did my brother die? We demand an answer from the administration," "Why is there police on campus? We demand an answer from the administration,"  "Light the fire, light the fire together, burn down the throne of the autocrat," "One, two, three, four, Sheikh Hasina, leave the throne," "Who are you, who am I, rajakar( traitor), rajakar, Who said, who said, autocrat, autocrat."

Leaving no room for doubt that Sunday's statement by their six coordinators in DB custody is to be disregarded, the 'Anti-Discrimination Student Movement' staged a protest march in Bogura today demanding a thorough investigation and justice for the deaths of students and other people across the country caused by law enforcement shootings.   During the demonstration, police detained three students who were gathering at Satmatha of Bogura on suspicion. Additionally, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and law enforcement agencies conducted searches for suspects at various points throughout the city. According to district police, 15 cases have already been filed in Bogura related to these incidents, with at least 145 individuals arrested and sent to court. Shahinuzzaman, Inspector (Investigation) of Bogura Sadar Police Station, confirmed the arrests and stated that the students were detained for questioning and will be released after interrogation.

At least ten people including a policeman were injured in a clash between police and quota reform protesters at Cheragi Hill intersection in Chattogram port city on Monday. Witnesses said a group of protesters under the banner of anti-discrimination student’s movement, numbering 20-30, took up positions at Cheragi Hill intersection in the afternoon and chanted slogans. At one stage, police tried to pick up two protesters in their police prison van but other protesters  successfully obstructed them and took to the street. Later police hurled two sound grenades to disperse them, triggering a chase and counter chase that left ten people including a police man injured. Police also charged batons to disperse the protesters. Mosharraf Hossain, a sub-inspector of Kotwali Police Station, suffered wounds to his eye. Police claimed that the policeman was injured by the crude bomb hurled by the miscreants. The injured students include Mohammad Emon, second year student of Engineering Department of Southern University, Azmain Karim Nihal, a class XI student of Bakolia Government College and Julhaz Hossain, a degree student of Gachbaria Degree College and Nazrul Islam, student of Chattogram Law College. The protesters said they gathered in the area protesting what they claimed over ‘disappearance, killing and false cases’ following the quota reform protest across the county. However, they tried to gather in the Jamalkhan area around 3 pm but police removed them, forcing them to gather at Cheragi Hill intersection. The clash spread to the Old Biman office on  Love Lane. SM Obaidul Haque, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, said additional police have been deployed to maintain law and order situation in the area. The protesters attacked police and those who were arrested will go under securitisation, he said. Kazi Md Tarek Aziz, deputy commissioner of Chattagram Metropolitan Police (media), said some miscreants from Teribazar-Andarkilla joined with the protesting students and exploded crude bombs by which a policeman got injured. He was first taken to a private hospital and then referred to an eye specialist. He will be taken to Dhaka for better treatment.

Police have arrested Mamun Mia, a life-term convict who escaped from Narsingdi District Jail during the quota reform protest violence on July 19. Mamun was arrested in Rowmari upazila of Kurigram district. Mamun was sentenced to a life term in a murder case, and is from Babenchar village in the upazila. Prison break: Probe team visits Narsingdi district jail Golam Matruza, Inspector of Rowmari Police Station, said that a police team arrested Mamun from his village home early Monday morning. According to jail sources, Mamun escaped from the jail along with other inmates using various means of transportation, including vans, human haulers, and trucks, and returned to his village home, where he had been hiding ever since. Leading lawyer in Narsingdi demands further investigation into how jailbreak occurred In 2019, Mamun was convicted under the Women and Child Repression Prevention Act for the murder of Marjia Akter Kanta in Belabo, Narsingdi. Kanta, who owned a beauty parlor business, was taken to Kuakata in 2019 by her husband, Shahidul Islam Sagar, and her cousin, Mamun Mia. There, they killed her at a residential hotel and fled the scene. The court sentenced Kanta’s husband Shahidul to death while Mamun was awarded life imprisonment. Militant who escaped from Narsingdi jail arrested in Narayanganj Earlier on July 19, during the quota reform protests, at least 826 inmates escaped from the district jail amid the chaos.

Khadija Begum (19), wife of Nur Alam from Kurigram who was killed during the recent quota protest violence, has become speechless. Losing her husband just one year into their marriage, she is now eight months pregnant and in a state of confusion. She demands justice for her husband’s murder and a secure future for her unborn child. Nur’s relatives and neighbours shared the same demands. During a visit to their home, this correspondent saw Khadija, crying uncontrollably and at times standing silently by her slain husband’s grave. Rokeya University provides financial assistance to Abu Sayed's family On the morning of July 20, 2024, 20-year-old Nur from Mollapara under Bhogdanga union in Kurigram Sadar upazila was working as a mason in Gazipur and was on his way to his rented house there for lunch. As violence over the quota reform protests was underway, a stray bullet went through his eye. Nur collapsed at the scene and was later declared dead by doctors when locals took him to the hospital. His body was kept at the government hospital in Joydebpur, and the next day, he was buried in his village in Kurigram. Relatives and neighbours are grief-stricken by Nur’s death and are worried about the future of his wife and unborn child. Family failing to make sense of 6-year-old's death from stray bullet during July 19 unrest Neighbour Shafiqul Islam said, “Nur Alam was a good-natured boy. He was not involved in any party or politics. They were poor people, living day to day. He left home to work as a mason and was killed by a bullet. We demand justice for this murder. We also demand a secure future for his unborn child and his wife.”