United News of Bangladesh

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-6 arrested two criminals and recovered a foreign-made pistol, ammunition and a magazine during a raid in Khulna's Labanchara area on Friday. The arrests were made around 11:50 am from Islampara under Labanchara Police Station, according to a RAB press release. The arrestees were identified as Nazim alias Nadim, 30, son of Shahjahan of Amtala area under Labanchara Police Station, and his associate Md Masud Rana, 37, son of  Abdur Rahman Miaji of Islampara. RAB said Nadim was arrested first. Based on his information, a search was conducted at his residence, where the elite force recovered a foreign-made pistol, four rounds of live ammunition, one spent bullet casing and a magazine from a location he identified. According to the press release, Nadim is a listed criminal in the area and has multiple cases filed against him at the local police station. RAB said he had been under surveillance for a long time before the operation. Legal action against the two is underway at the concerned police station.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested two smugglers and seized 60 bottles of Indian liquor in separate anti-smuggling drives along the Sherpur border on Friday. The arrestees were identified as Jewel Rana, 25, son of Abu Salam, and Samiul, 18, son of Abdus Samad. Both are residents of Nowkuchi village in Jhenaigati upazila. The information was confirmed in a press release issued by Mymensingh Battalion (39 BGB). According to the release, a BGB patrol team conducted a special drive in the Nowkuchi border area of Jhenaigati early Friday and arrested the two with 12 bottles of Indian liquor. A case has been filed against them under the Narcotics Control Act with Jhenaigati Police Station. In another anti-smuggling operation on the same day, BGB members recovered 48 bottles of Indian liquor abandoned in the Kuchpara border area of Nalitabari upazila. In total, 60 bottles of Indian liquor, with an estimated market value of around Tk 90,000, were seized in the two drives, the press release said. Lt Col Md Nurul Azim Bayezid, commanding officer of Mymensingh Battalion (39 BGB), said the border force is conducting regular drives under its "zero tolerance" policy against drug trafficking and smuggling.

A schoolboy and a microbus driver were killed in two separate road accidents in Kishoreganj on Friday, while six others were injured. According to police and locals, a student of Janata School, identified as Tuhin, 10, was killed after being hit by a cement-laden truck on Janata School Road in Gaital area of Kishoreganj town around 11 am. Sexagenarian man found dead in Gazipur fish farm Locals rescued the critically injured boy and rushed him to a hospital, where he died before receiving treatment. His father is a member of the Bangladesh Police, according to local sources. In another accident around the same time, microbus driver AK Mostafizur Rahman was killed in a head-on collision between a bus and a microbus on the Dhaka-Kishoreganj highway near Moulvibari in Chilakanda area of Pakundia upazila. Mostafizur was a resident of the Kafrul area in Mirpur, Dhaka. Police said an Ananya Classic bus travelling from Kishoreganj collided head-on with a microbus that was heading from Dhaka to Nikli Haor. Following the crash, both vehicles plunged into a roadside ditch. The microbus driver died on the spot, while six other people were injured in the accident. Officer-in-Charge of Pakundia Police Station SM Arifur Rahman said legal proceedings are underway.

A court has sentenced a food department official, his father and his wife to five years' rigorous imprisonment each in a corruption case over amassing wealth beyond known sources of income. The court also fined Assistant Sub-Food Inspector Monirul Islam Tk 11.44 crore and imposed a fine of Tk 10 lakh each on his father Shahidul Islam Pramanik and wife Doly Begum. The verdict was delivered on Thursday by Judge Abu Saleh Md Salauddin Khan of the Pabna Special District and Sessions Judge's Court. Monirul, a resident of Char Damdama village in Ullapara upazila of Sirajganj, is currently serving as an assistant sub-food inspector at Kazipur Upazila Food Warehouse. He previously served at food warehouses in Sirajganj Sadar, Belkuchi and Kamarkhand upazilas. Public Prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commission in Pabna, Moloy Kumar Das, confirmed the verdict and said the court also ordered the confiscation of the convicts' movable and immovable properties in favour of the state. According to the ACC, its then Deputy Director Shahidul Alam Sarker of the Pabna Integrated District Office filed two separate cases on December 19, 2021, over allegations of acquiring illegal wealth. Charge sheets were later submitted following investigation. After examining the evidence, the court found the charges proved and handed down the sentences. According to the case statement, Monirul allegedly accumulated assets beyond his known sources of income while serving at food warehouses in Sirajganj Sadar, Belkuchi and Kamarkhand between April 22, 2014 and February 23, 2020. The ACC alleged that he invested Tk 60 lakh in a fixed deposit (FDR) at One Bank's Sirajganj branch in the name of his wife and spent Tk 54.80 lakh to construct a building on land owned by his father. Investigators said his father and wife assisted him in concealing the illegally acquired assets, constituting an offence under Section 27(1) of the Anti-Corruption Commission Act, 2004. None of the three convicts was present in court when the verdict was delivered.

A young man and his wife sustained severe burn injuries after a fire, apparently caused by a gas leak, broke out in their rented house in Savar early Friday when they tried to light a mosquito coil. The victims were identified as Kaisar, 28, and his wife Ruby Begum, 24. Hailing from Matopara village in Goalanda upazila of Rajbari district, they had been residing in the Majidpur Dighirpar area of Savar. According to Kaisar's father Md Siman Sheikh, the couple lives on the ground floor of a two-storey building owned by Nur Mohammad in the area. Both work at garment factories. He said the fire broke out shortly after 12:00am when they struck a match to light a mosquito coil, apparently due to accumulated gas. The flames quickly spread throughout the room, leaving both of them critically burned. Neighbours broke open the door and rescued the couple and took them to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery in the capital around 2:50am. Dr Shawon Bin Rahman, a resident surgeon at the institute, said Kaisar suffered burns on 100 percent of his body, while Ruby sustained burns 80 percent burns. Both are in critical condition and are undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), he added.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Friday foiled an alleged attempt by India's Border Security Force (BSF) to push seven individuals into Bangladesh through the Charaldanga border in Gomostapur upazila of Chapainawabganj. Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Ariful Islam Masum, commanding officer of Naogaon Battalion (16 BGB), said members of the 12 BSF Battalion's Tilashan Camp allegedly tried to push the seven men into Bangladesh around 6:30am through the border near pillar 219/24-R/2. He said a BGB patrol team detected the attempt and prevented the men from entering Bangladesh. They are currently staying on the Indian side of the zero line along the border, Masum said, adding that the paramilitary force is closely monitoring the situation to prevent any further push-in attempts.

A Union Parishad (UP) member was hacked to death by unidentified assailants while returning home from a local market in Kalia upazila of Narail on Thursday night. The deceased was identified as Md Moni Mia Sheikh, 45, a member from ward No. 1 of Jaynagor Union Parishad and a resident of Char Jaynagor village. According to police and locals, around 11:30pm, Moni Mia was returning home after shopping at Puthimari Bazar when a group of assailants attacked him with sharp weapons in front of the house of Kamrul Thakur in Panipara village under Naragati Police Station. The attackers indiscriminately hacked him and fled the scene, leaving him critically injured. Locals rescued Moni Mia and took him to Kalia Upazila Health Complex. After primary treatment, the doctor on duty referred him to a hospital in Dhaka as his condition deteriorated. However, he died on the way to the capital, family members said. Officer-in-Charge of Naragati Police Station Abdur Rahim said the body was sent to Narail District Hospital for an autopsy. The motive behind the attack could not be known immediately, he said, adding that they were trying to identify and arrest those involved in the incident.

Police recovered the hanging body of a teen domestic help from a schoolteacher's flat in Parshuram upazila of Feni on Thursday night. The deceased was identified as Farzana Akter Priya, 14, daughter of Saiful Islam of Sebarhat in Noakhali. Priya had been working as a domestic help at the flat of Zaheda Akter Timu, an assistant teacher at Mohammadpur Govt Primary School, for the past three years. According to police and locals, the teacher left for school in the morning, leaving Priya alone in the flat. After returning home in the afternoon, she repeatedly knocked on the door but received no response. She later broke open the door with the help of the building staff and found the girl hanging from a ceiling fan with a scarf tied around her neck before informing police. Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Ashraful Islam of Parshuram Police Station said police are initially treating the incident as a suspected case of suicide. Police recovered the body around 9:00pm and sent it to Feni 250-bed General Hospital morgue for an autopsy, he said. A note bearing the letters "K+P" was recovered from the scene, and police are investigating all possible aspects to determine the actual cause of death, the OC said.

Police recovered the body of a tea seller bearing multiple injury marks from the Dharmadaha area of Adabaria union in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia on Friday morning. The deceased was identified as Samirul Shah, 60, son of late Bisharad Shah of Tekala Paschimpara village. Hailing from Gangni upazila in neighbouring Meherpur district, Samirul had been living in the area for many years along with his family. According to police, locals spotted the body lying on a bamboo structure in a field beside the Bangari-Dharmadaha road around 6:30am and informed them. Later, a team from the Tekala Police Camp rushed to the spot and recovered the body. Police said the body bore multiple marks of injuries from a sharp weapon on the face and other parts of the body. Officer-in-Charge of Daulatpur Police Station Khaledur Rahman said the body was sent to Kushtia General Hospital morgue for an autopsy. He also said they were investigating the incident. “Efforts are on to identify and arrest those involved in the incident.”  

A local BNP leader in Faridpur has been expelled from the party after an obscene video allegedly involving him went viral on social media. The expelled leader is Md Obaidur Rahman, organising secretary of Aliabad union unit of BNP in Sadar upazila. The expulsion was confirmed in a letter signed by Faridpur district BNP Convener Advocate Syed Modarres Ali Isa and Member Secretary AKM Kibria Swapon on Thursday night. According to the letter, Obaidur was removed from his party post and his primary membership was revoked for allegedly engaging in an act amounting to moral turpitude. Isa said the decision to expel him was taken at a meeting of the district unit on Thursday night after the allegations against him were found to be true. Repeated attempts were made to contact Obaidur over the phone for his comments, but he did not answer the calls. Earlier, an obscene video of the BNP leader – 5 minutes and 37 seconds long – with a woman proliferated widely on social media.