United News of Bangladesh

A Mymensingh court on Monday sentenced a young man to death and two others to life imprisonment for murdering an auto-rickshaw driver before snatching his vehicle in Mymensingh Sadar upazila in 2024. Farhana Ferdous, judge of the Mymensingh Special Sessions Judge Court, delivered the verdict at noon. The condemned convict is Palash, 25, son of Joynal of Madhya Barera area. He was also fined Tk 30,000. The lifers are Tofail Ahmed Nasim, 21, son of Abdus Samad, and Shakil, 22, son of Babul Miah, of the same area. The court fined them Tk 50,000 each, and in default of payment, they will have to serve six additional months in prison. According to the prosecution, on the night of January 17, 2024, auto-rickshaw driver Nazim Uddin, son of Mofiz Uddin of Gopalnagar village in the upazila, was returning home. The convicts blocked Nazim's path, murdered him and fled with his vehicle.

A one-and-a-half-year-old child, allegedly sold to another person for Tk 1 lakh in Dashmina upazila, was rescued on Sunday night. Musa was rescued from a house in Romanathsen village of Alipur Union through a joint initiative of the upazila administration and police, said Md Atiqul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Dashmina Police Station. In the presence of Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Mahmud Hasan Mridha, the child was handed over to his grandparents, Mofiz Munshi and Mahfuza Begum. The allegation was confirmed after authorities recovered a written agreement made on a Tk 100 non-judicial stamp. Regarding the agreement, accused Md Maruf of Boro Gopaldi village under Betagi-Sankipur Union admitted that he had taken money after handing over his son to another person. However, he claimed that the child had been given for adoption, not sold. Maruf admitted his mistake and apologised. Earlier on Saturday morning, Maruf asked her mother to dress Musa around 8am and then left home, saying he was taking the child to the market. When Maruf and Musa did not return for a long time, family members started searching for them in different places. At one stage, the family contacted Maruf's maternal uncle Bahadur Mia. The family said that, during questioning, Maruf initially did not disclose anything about the child. Later, according to the family, Maruf confessed that he had sold Musa to Imran Hossain of Romanathsen village under Alipur Union of Dashmina upazila.

A tribunal in Jamalpur on Monday sentenced three people to death for violating a woman in 2024. Judge of Jamalpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal -1 Abdur Rahim handed down the punishment. The condemned convicts are Abdus Sattar, 42, of Shankarpur village,  Abdul Malek, 44 and Anwar Hossain Anu, 32. 7 to die, 7 get life in prison for Jamalpur double murder The court also sentenced them to life imprisonment for abducting the woman before the rape. According to the prosecution, the woman, mother of two children, used to live alone at her house at Rashidpur Bhatipara village in Sadar upazila of the district. Abdus Sattar, one of the convicts, used to harass her. On October 19, 2024, Abdus Sattar along with 4-5 people including the two other convicts stormed into the house of the woman around 11 pm and took her to a bamboo bush where they violated her in turns. The woman later filed a case with Jamalpur Sadar Police Station.

The High Court on Monday upheld the death sentence of Hitu Sheikh in the much-discussed case filed over the rape and murder of eight-year-old Asiya in Magura. A High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja handed down the verdict. State-appointed lawyer Hafizur Rahman Khan defended Hitu while Deputy Attorney General Imam Hossain Tarek represented the state. Asiya rape-murder case: Verdict on Hitu Sheikh’s death reference, appeal today The HC also acquitted three others- Hitu’s wife Jabeda Begum, 40, and two sons – Sajib Sheikh, 20, and Ratul Sheikh, 25. A Magura court on May 17, 2025, sentenced Hitu Sheikh, 50, the prime accused in the case and father-in-law of Asiya’s elder sister, to death, while acquitted three others. The child was raped on March 6, 2025, while visiting her sister's house in Sreepur Upazila of Magura. She was taken from Magura Sadar Hospital to Faridpur Medical College Hospital and later to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. When her condition deteriorated, she was taken to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) on March 8. The child died there on March 13 while undergoing treatment. Before that, on March 8, the child's mother filed a case at Magura Sadar Police Station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. The main accused in the case, Hitu, gave a confessional statement under Section 164 in the court on March 15. Later, after the completion of the investigation, the police filed a charge sheet on April 13. On April 23, the court framed charges against Hitu under Section 9(2) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and against the other three accused under separate sections of the Penal Code, ordering the trial to begin. After hearing the testimonies of 29 state witnesses in a trial that lasted just a few days, the tribunal announced its verdict in the case on May 17 of that year.

The High Court is set to deliver its verdict Monday on the death reference and appeal involving Hitu Sheikh, the main convict in the murder of a child in Magura. A High Court bench comprising Justice Bhishmadev Chakrabortty and Justice KM Rasheduzzaman Raja will deliver the verdict. The same bench on Tuesday fixed the date for the verdict following a time petition filed by the state. The hearing on the death reference and appeal filed by Hitu Sheikh ended on August 24. State-appointed lawyer Hafizur Rahman Khan is defending Hitu in court, while Deputy Attorney General Imam Hossain Tarek is representing the state. A Magura court on May 17, 2025, sentenced Hitu Sheikh, 50, the prime accused in the case and father-in-law of Asiya’s elder sister, to death, while acquitted his wife Jabeda Begum, 40, and two sons – Sajib Sheikh, 20, and Ratul Sheikh, 25. After the verdict, Hitu appealed against the death sentence at the High Court. At the same time, the death reference in the case came to the High Court for the approval of a death sentence. The child was raped on Mar 6, 2025, while visiting her sister's house in Sreepur Upazila of Magura. She was taken from Magura Sadar Hospital to Faridpur Medical College Hospital and later to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. When her condition deteriorated, she was taken to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) on Mar 8. The child died there on Mar 13 while undergoing treatment. Before that, on Mar 8, the child's mother had filed a case against Hitu and four others at Magura Sadar Police Station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. The main accused in the case, Hitu, gave a confessional statement under Section 164 in the court on Mar 15. Later, after the completion of the investigation, the police filed a charge sheet on Apr 13. On Apr 23, the court framed charges against Hitu under Section 9(2) of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act and against the other three accused under separate sections of the Penal Code, ordering the trial to begin. After hearing the testimonies of 29 state witnesses in a trial that lasted just a few days, the tribunal announced its verdict in the case on May 17 of that year.

Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) officials seized 625 cartons of foreign cigarettes, a large quantity of whitening serum, zarda and foreign liquor in separate drives at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka.  The total estimated market value of the seized goods stands at around Tk 28 lakh. The seizures were made by the B and C shifts of the CIID based on reliable intelligence received by the director general. During a drive by the B shift, officials kept special surveillance on Emirates flight EK584 arriving from Dubai. While passing through the Green Channel, customs officials searched the baggage of passenger MD. Himel, holding passport number A16137538, and recovered 270 cartons of cigarettes and 1.24 kg of whitening serum. Another passenger on the same flight, Sharmin Akter, holding passport number A15558837, was also found carrying 270 cartons of cigarettes. The B shift seized a total of 540 cartons of cigarettes and 1.24 kg of whitening serum in the operation. The estimated market value of the seized goods was Tk 21.80 lakh. In a separate operation, the C shift conducted surveillance on Air India flight AI237 arriving from Delhi. After the flight landed at around 2:10am, officials searched the baggage of passenger Mahathe Hasan Babu, passport number A12376700, and seized 31 cartons of cigarettes and 132 pieces of Biscos whitening serum. They also recovered 54 cartons of cigarettes, 144 pieces of whitening serum and 3 kg of zarda from another passenger, SOHODUL HASAN SHAKIL, passport number A09913003. In another operation, officials searched the baggage of passenger Rafiqul Sarder, passport number A21565755, who arrived on Qatar Airways flight QR640 from Doha, and seized 3 litres of foreign liquor. According to the CIID, the C shift seized a total of 85 cartons of cigarettes, 276 pieces of Biscos whitening serum, 5 kg of zarda and 3 litres of liquor, with an estimated market value of Tk 6.20 lakh. The CIID said the coordinated operations by the two shifts on the same day resulted in the seizure of goods worth nearly Tk 28 lakh, including 625 cartons of cigarettes. The agency has been maintaining heightened surveillance at the airport to prevent smuggling and misuse of baggage facilities, officials said. The seized goods have been taken into custody for further legal proceedings.  

The government will ensure the maximum punishment for those responsible for the killing of Ganapati Chakraborty and his family members within the shortest possible time, Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu has said. Police will file a charge sheet after further investigation into the murders, and exemplary punishment will be ensured within a short time, he said while talking to reporters after visiting Ganapati Chakraborty's house in the Machuapara area of Rangpur city on Sunday afternoon. He also said that a movement against drugs should be launched in the neighbourhood, with people working alongside the administration and remaining vigilant. Only then, he said, would crimes committed by drug dealers and users be reduced. Dulu said the killing of four members of the same family, including Ganapati Chakraborty, was shocking and tragic. There were no words to condemn such an incident, he said. The accused, who were addicted to drugs, often went to Ganapati Chakraborty's house and harassed him, Dulu said. It was believed that Ganapati and his family members were brutally murdered when they tried to stop them, he added. The minister said police immediately arrested the two main accused after the murder. They later gave confessional statements before a court. The government is following a "zero-tolerance" policy towards such murders, he said. Dulu said the government had already set examples in several such incidents. He added that a charge sheet was filed quickly in the Ramisa murder case, and its trial had also been completed. Rangpur Development Authority (RpDA) Chairman Shamsuzzaman Samu and Rangpur Zilla Parishad Administrator Saiful Islam were present at the time.

Police arrested a man for posing as an assistant director of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) from Gulshan area of the capital on Saturday. The arrestee was identified as Md Saif Imran, 37. Police said Saif parked his motorcycle beside the Pakistan High Commission in Gulshan around 12:15pm on Saturday. When a police officer on duty asked him not to park there, he introduced himself as an assistant director of DGFI and claimed that DGFI vehicles were usually parked at the spot. Later, around 7:15pm the same day, he again parked his motorcycle at the same location, prompting police to become suspicious. After interrogation, Saif admitted that he was neither an official nor a member of DGFI, said Aktar Hossain, deputy police commissioner (Media and Public Relations) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Later, police arrested him for giving fake identity after concealing his real identity. A case was filed against him with Gulshan Police Station under the relevant law, Aktar said.

Abul Kashem Pallob, a two-time former chairman of Beanibazar Upazila Parishad and joint secretary of Beanibazar upazila unit of Awami League, was arrested in the capital on Saturday night in connection with several cases. Badda Police arrested him from the Bashundhara Residential Area at around 11:30pm, said Abu Zafar Md Mahfuzul Karim, officer-in-charge of Beanibazar Police Station. Pallob faces at least 20 cases, including murder cases, filed with different police stations in Sylhet, Beanibazar and elsewhere, the OC said.

A traffic sergeant chased and detained a mugger with stolen belongings in the capital’s Mirpur-12 area on Saturday afternoon. The detainee was identified as Jasim. According to sources at the Pallabi Traffic Zone, the incident occurred around 3:10pm near Molla Market. While the traffic sergeant was on duty, a pedestrian suddenly shouted, “Thief! Thief!” Hearing the cries, the traffic officer immediately chased the suspect, caught him and recovered the snatched belongings. The detainee and the recovered items were later handed over to Pallabi Police Station for further legal action.