United News of Bangladesh

Police recovered the body of a five-year-old boy from a pond on Thursday, two days after he went missing in Banshkhali upazila of Chattogram. The deceased was identified as Tahmid, son of Alam, a resident of Ward-1 of Puichhari Union of the upazila.  Read: Two motorcyclists killed in Sylhet road crash  Tahmid's uncle Upazila Parishad, Vice Chairman Imran, said, Tahmid had been missing since Tuesday afternoon. Locals found the body floating in the pond near the house on Thursday morning. The family claimed that he was killed and that his body was thrown into the pond. Read: 6-year-old girl burnt in Ctg fire dies  Banshkhali Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Tofail Ahmed said, the body was sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy. 

Biman Bangladesh Airlines will start operating Dhaka-Rome flights from March next year, Biman MD and CEO Shafiul Azim said today (December 21, 2023). He was speaking at the ATJFB dialogue, organised by the Aviation and Tourism Journalist Forum of Bangladesh, at the Biman Training Centre in Dhaka. All Biman employees to get 5% allowance as ‘special incentive’ Mohammad Salahuddin, director (marketing) of Biman, said, "We discontinued the Dhaka-Rome flight after 2009. Now it will be resumed, for which GSA has been appointed, and ground-handling has been finalised.” “We can operate direct flights to Rome, Italy or via another country. We are studying it. It will take 9-10 hours for the direct flight to reach Rome,” he said. Biman commences flights on Dhaka-Chennai route For possible transition points, he mentioned Kuwait or Dubai. However, nothing is finalised, he said. ATJFB President and Special Correspondent of BSS, Md Tanzim Anwar, moderated the dialogue. ATJFB General Secretary and Bangla Vision Special Correspondent Ziaul Haque Sabuj delivered the welcome speech. London-bound Biman makes emergency landing in Sofia to save ailing passenger Senior officials of Biman and ATJFB members were present in the dialogue.

In separate incidents, two Rohingya men were shot to death by miscreants, allegedly over establishing supremacy, in Ukhiya upazila of Cox’s Bazar district early today. One of the deceased was identified as Abdullah, 27, a resident of Camp no 17 in Ukhiya, while the identity of the other deceased could not be known immediately. Shamim Hossain, officer-in-charge of Ukhiya Police Station, said a group of 20-30 armed miscreants entered Camp no 17 around 5 am and opened fire on Abdullah, leaving him dead. 3 more Rohingya men shot dead in Cox’s Bazar camp, death toll now 4 Meanwhile, another Rohingya man was shot to death by another group of miscreants in the camp around 6 am over the same issue. On information, police recovered the bodies and sent them to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy. Bangladeshi shot dead ‘by BSF’ in Thakurgaon

A man was killed and three were injured when a bus collided head-on with a private car on Dhaka-Khulna highway at Rataile in Kashiani upazila of Gopalganj district earlier today. The deceased was identified as Mohammad Ullah, 40, a private car driver and son of Abdul Latif of Manikganj district. The accident occurred around 9 am when the Dhaka-bound ‘Emad Paribahan’ bus from Pirojpur hit the Satkhira-bound private car from Manikganj, leaving one dead on the spot and three injured, said Zillur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Kashiani Police Station. The car also caught fire as the gas cylinder of the vehicle exploded after the accident. The fire also spread to the bus. 2 die in road accident in Naogaon On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze, said Rezaul Alam, station master of Kashiani Fire Service and Civil Defence. Among the injured, one was taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, while others were taken to Kashiani 100-bed General Hospital. All of the victims were passengers of the private car. Traffic movement on the Dhaka-Khulna highway remained suspended for two hours following the accident. Man killed, 20 injured in Cumilla road accident  

Police arrested an operator and a passenger attendant of Dhaka-bound ‘Panchagarh Express Train’ with 80 bottles of phensedyl at Bir Muktijoddha Sirajul Islam Station in Naogaon on Wednesday evening. The arrestees are operator Jahangir Kabir, 45, and compartment’s passenger attendant Sadekul Islam, 32. Md Muktar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Santahar Government Railway Police Station, said that the two were performing duty in the train heading towards the capital. Police conducted a drive on the compartment of the operator when the train arrived in the station from Santahar Junction in the evening, he said. Read: 2 die as oil tanker hits three-wheeler in Joypurhat A total of 80 bottles of phensidyl were recovered from the travel bags of the operator and the attendant, the OC said. A case under Narcotics Control Act was filed with the police station and the arrestees would be produced before a court on Thursday, he added.

Two people died and two others were injured after an oil tanker hit a battery-operated three-wheeler in Joypurhat’s Kalai area on Wednesday. The incident happened around 7:00 pm on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as the driver of the three-wheeler, Rafiqul Islam, and Abdus Sobhan, a passenger. Kalai Police Station Officer-in-Charge Wasimul Bari confirmed the matter. Locals rescued the injured and took them to the Kalai Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared Sobhan dead. Rafiqul died on the way to Joypurhat General Hospital, said the OC.

A leopard in Nilphamari was beaten to death by locals in Kishoreganj upazila of Nilphamari.  The incident happened at Magura union of Kishoreganj upazila around 11:00 am on Wednesday. Locals spotted the leopard on a tree near the bridge crossing of the Rangpur Irrigation Canal of Teesta Irrigation Project at around 11:00 am on Wednesday. As word spread, a crowd gathered. Later, the leopard came down from the tree and injured four individuals, including a child. In response, those present at the scene ended up fatally attacking the leopard. The injured were identified as Bullet Mia, 28, son of Budu Miah, Ferdous Alam, 35, son of late Makbul Hossain, Nayeb Ali, 40, son of Chakmal Hossain and Jannatul, 8, daughter of Chan Mia of Magura Uttar Para village. Among the injured, Bullet Mia was sent to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for better treatment. Smriti Singha Roy, wildlife and biodiversity conservation officer of Rangpur Forest Department, said, "There are no leopards in this area. It is believed that the leopard may have crossed the Indian border and came to this area."

Two youths were killed in a head-on collision between a motorbike and a pickup van in Niamatpur upazila of Naogaon district on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Parvez, 19, son of Sirajul Islam of Tagoril village of Niamatpur upazila and Habib, 20, son of Anarul Islam of Sadar upazila of Chapainawabganj. Locals said that the accident happened around noon when the youths riding on the motorbike collided with the pickup van on Dhansura-Nachol regional road, leaving Habib killed on the spot and Parvez injured critically. Read: HC dismisses writ seeking reschedule of polls He was rushed to Upazila Health Complex where physicians declared him dead, they said. Niyamatpur police station’s inspector (investigation) Kawsar Alam said they detained the pickup van and its driver in this connection. Legal actions will be taken in this regard later, he added.

An activist of the independent candidate in Durgapur upazila of Rajshahi was injured in an attack allegedly by ruling party activists on Tuesday. The injured was identified as Abdur Razzak, 31, a local leader of Jubo League and supporter of Obaidur Rahman, independent candidate of Rajshahi-5 constituency. Razzak, son of Afsar Ali of Maria village, is now undergoing treatment at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital as one of his hands was broken during the attack. 4 arson attacks recorded in 36 hours: Fire Service Witnesses said Razzak along with Chan Mia and Alamin went to Mridha Para to hang a banner supporting Obaidur Rahman on Tuesday night. At one stage, he climbed on a tree and hung the banner with a rope. When he got down from the tree, Maria Ward unit Awami League President Lion along with his supporters beat Razzak with a stick mercilessly, witnesses said. Attacks on railways claim five lives during BNP’s hartals, blockades : Railways Minister Khairul Islam, officer-in-charge of Durgapur Police Station, said legal action will be taken against the attackers after investigation.    

Police today arrested a local leader of BNP from Birampur upazila of Dinajpur district in connection with a case filed over attempt to set fire to a rail track. The arrestee was identified as Haidar Ali, joint secretary of Birampur unit of BNP. Subrata Kumar, officer-in-charge of Birampur Police Station, said police arrested Haider from the upazila in the morning. Earlier, a case was filed against eight identified people and several unidentified people in connection with the attempt to set fire to a rail track last night. Read: Rail track bolts stolen from Kurigram-Rangpur railway line  Haidar was the prime accused in the case. He was handed over to Railway Police after primary interrogation. “Police are trying to arrest the other accused in the case,” said the OC. ATM Nurul Islam, in-charge of Parbatipur Railway Station, said miscreants are trying to destroy lives and property through sabotage activities on railways but their attempt was foiled due to strict surveillance by police. Last night, law enforcers foiled miscreants’ attempt to set fire to a rail track in Birampur upazila of Dinajpur district. Read: Two motorcyclists killed in Sylhet road crash  Mia Ranjan, sub-inspector of Birampur Police Station, said a group of people set fire to the slipper of rail tracks near No 2 Litchi Bagan in Birampur municipality area between 8 pm and 9 pm. Noticing smoke, police and Ansar members rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze. They also managed to halt the Khulna-bound Shimanto Express train, which was scheduled to go through the area, a few yards away, saving lives and property.