United News of Bangladesh

Rabbi, the husband of housemaid Ayesha Akhter, who was arrested in connection with the gruesome murders of a mother and daughter in Mohammadpur, gave a confessional statement under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) before a magistrate in Dhaka on Monday (December 15, 2025). Metropolitan Magistrate Ripon Hossain recorded the statement. Investigation Officer Sub-Inspector Shahidul Osman Masum of Mohammadpur Police Station produced Rabbi before the court after he was remanded for three days and sought permission to record the statement. Following the recording of his statement, the court sent Rabbi to jail. Read more: Mohammadpur Murders: Domestic help finally arrested after days on the run Ayesha Akhter was remanded for six days in the same case, which continues.  Police on Wednesday (December 10) arrested Ayesha, a young domestic worker who had been employed at the flat for only four days, during a drive in Nalchiti upazila of Jhalakathi. The victims—Layla Afroz, 48, and her daughter Nafisa Binte Aziz, 15—were found dead earlier by Layla’s husband, AZM Azizul Islam, after he rushed home from the school he teaches at. Later that night, Azizul Islam filed a case with Mohammadpur Police Station in connection with the incident. Ayesha had started working at the flat just four days earlier, and her suspicious movements recorded on the apartment block's CCTV cameras, showing her leaving the house dressed in Nafisa's school uniform and wearing a mask, made her the prime suspect.  Read more: Mohammadpur Murders: Three days of work, a deadly climax She was traced down and arrested along with her husband from his grandmother's home in Jhalakathi, where they went into hiding. 

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has identified the motorbike used in the gun attack on Inquilab Moncho spokesperson and Dhaka-8 election candidate Osman Hadi and detained its registered owner from the Mohammadpur area of the capital. Tipped off, a special team of RAB-2 conducted a drive in Mohammadpur area in the early hours of Sunday (December 14, 2025) and detained Abdul Hannan, said RAB Headquarters’ Deputy Director (Media) Major Mohammad Lutful Hadi. Read more: NBR freezes bank accounts of Hadi’s suspected attacker Masud and his firm After detention, motorbike owner Abdul Hannan was handed over to Paltan Police Station for further legal proceedings, he said. Major Lutful Hadi said interrogation is underway to identify those directly involved in the attack and to uncover the motive. Osman Hadi was shot by assailants in the capital's Bijoynagar area on Friday noon, triggering widespread concern and condemnation. Read more: NBR freezes bank accounts of Hadi’s suspected attacker Masud and his firm Law enforcement agencies including police and RAB have been conducting drives to identify and arrest those involved in the attack.

Amid recent attacks on political figures, politicians in Bangladesh are now facing serious security concerns alongside ordinary citizens, said Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Distinguished Fellow and Citizen’s Platform Convener Debapriya Bhattacharya on Sunday (December 14, 2025). Speaking at the inauguration of the Bangladesh Reform Tracker, organised by the Citizen’s Platform at Agargaon in the capital, Debapriya said citizens across the country are suffering from acute insecurity, with politicians now joining that list. “Citizen’s Platform has travelled across districts and identified a common problem—citizens are facing severe insecurity. Now politicians have joined them,” he said. Referring to the recent attack on Inqilab Mancha General Secretary Osman Hadi, Debapriya said, “We do not think this attack will be the last on politicians. Violence against women, attacks on minorities, citizens’ safety and now politicians’ security have all become major issues.” On the ongoing reform process, he said prolonged democratic deficits during previous governments had led to the emergence of a powerful oligarchic society, which now poses a major obstacle to reforms. Read more: BNP leaders meet CA; Tarique's security might be agenda Breaking this cycle of non-competitive politics and economy and advancing reforms remains a major challenge for present-day Bangladesh, he added. Appreciating the interim government, Debapriya said that while reforms were undertaken during previous governments, this is the first time an interim government has been formed with reform as its core objective. “The interim government has formed several commissions and taskforces as part of the reform initiative, which deserves appreciation,” he said. He, however, said the initial momentum of the reform process has weakened. “There has been a lack of consistent transparency in the reform process. Poor coordination within the government and inadequate public outreach on reforms have slowed the pace,” he said. Read more: Govt ready to provide special security to Tarique Rahman: Home Adviser Debapriya also pointed out that the absence of a political manifesto has made the implementation of reforms more challenging. Speaking about the Reform Tracker, he said citizen participation is essential for successful reforms. “Without meaningful citizen engagement, vested groups may capture reforms for their own interests. The Reform Tracker has been launched to keep citizens continuously connected with the reform process,” he said. “Planning reforms is not as difficult as implementing them. Without alignment between theory and practice, reforms cannot succeed,” Debupriya added. In a presentation at the event, CPD Additional Director (Research) Towfiqul Islam Khan said the website would allow anyone to track the progress of reforms across various issues. Read more: Bangladesh shifts fiscal gears as bank debt falls “This will ensure citizens remain actively engaged with the reform process and its implementation,” he said.

Dhaka, the overcrowded capital city of Bangladesh, has ranked eighth on the list of cities with the worst air quality with an AQI score of 153 at 9:50 am this morning (December 14, 2025). Today Dhaka’s air was classified as ‘unhealthy’ referring to a health threat, according to the AQI index. The unhealthy air quality continued for the past few days. When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 50 and 100, air quality is considered ‘moderate’, usually sensitive individuals should consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion, between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. Read more: Dhaka choked by ‘unhealthy’ air; ranks 10th worst globally India’s Delhi, Pakistan’s Lahore and Egypt’s Cairo cities respectively occupied the first, second and third spots on the list, with AQI scores of 563, 214, and 192 respectively. The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them. The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. Read more: How to Reduce Air Pollution in Bangladesh? As per World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.

The nation is observing the ‘Martyred Intellectuals Day’ in a befitting manner on Sunday (December 14, 2025) to commemorate the intellectuals killed systematically by Pakistan occupation forces and their local collaborators at the fag-end of the Liberation War in 1971. Marking the day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin paid homage to the nation's intellectuals at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial in Mirpur at 7am. Later, he stood there silently for a while. Followed by the President, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus also paid tribute to the nation's finest intellectuals and observed a silence for a while there.   Later, all walks of life were allowed to pay tribute to the valiant people of the country who were systematically killed the Pakistan occupation forces, in collaboration with their auxiliary forces. Read more: Jamaat Ameer calls on nation to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day, Victory Day with due respect On this day in 1971, the country’s renowned academicians, doctors, engineers, journalists, artists, teachers and other eminent personalities were dragged out of their homes, blindfolded and taken to unknown places and then brutally tortured and murdered. Their bodies were later dumped at Rayerbazar, Mirpur and some other killing fields in the capital. Sensing an imminent defeat, the Pakistani forces and their local collaborators like Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Razakar committed the cold-blooded mass murders aiming to annihilate the country's intelligentsia and cripple emerging Bangladesh intellectually. Among the martyred intellectuals are Prof Munier Chowdhury, Dr Alim Chowdhury, Prof Muniruzzaman, Dr Fazle Rabbi, Sirajuddin Hossain, Shahidullah Kaiser, Prof GC Dev, JC Guha Thakurta, Prof Santosh Bhattacharya, Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury, journalists Khandaker Abu Taleb, Nizamuddin Ahmed, SA Mannan (Ladu Bhai), ANM Golam Mustafa, Syed Nazmul Haq and Selina Parvin. The interim government has chalked out elaborate programmes to commemorate the December 14 tragedy. Read more: Nation to observe Martyred Intellectuals Day on Sunday The family members of the martyred intellectuals and freedom fighters are paying homage to the martyred intellectuals marking the day. On the eve of the day, President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Chief Adviser Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus issued separate messages on the occasion of the day. Leaders and activists of different political and social organisations are also paying homage to the martyred intellectuals at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard. Special doa and munajat are scheduled to be offered at mosques, temples and churches marking the day. Bangladesh Television and private television channels are broadcasting special programmes highlighting the significance of the day. Read more: President Shahabuddin, Prof Yunus pay tributes to martyred intellectuals National dailies also published special supplements marking the day.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Saturday (December 13, 2025) released a photograph of a suspect involved in the gun attack on Inquilab Moncho spokesperson Sharif Osman Hadi and urged people to share any information about the suspect. A suspect has been identified preliminarily through analysis of CCTV footage collected from the scene, said a DMP media release signed by Muhammad Talebur Rahman, Deputy Police Commissioner. Fakhrul urges govt to ensure law and order after Hadi shooting Osman Hadi was seriously injured when a group of assailants opened fire on him in the Box Culvert area of Bijoynagar in the capital. A major operation is underway in Dhaka to arrest those involved in the attack, it said. Anyone having information about the suspect or his whereabouts has been requested to contact the police immediately by dialing the national emergency number 999 or calling the following numbers: DC Motijheel at 01320040080 and OC Paltan at 01320040132. Prof Yunus terms attack on Hadi a planned strike on Bangladesh’s democratic path The identities of informants will be kept secret, and suitable rewards will be given for credible information, the release added.

Dhaka, the overcrowded capital city of Bangladesh, has ranked ninth on the list of cities with the worst air quality with an AQI score of 165 at 9:09 am this morning (December 13, 2025). Today Dhaka’s air was classified as ‘unhealthy’ referring to an alarming threat, according to the AQI index. India’s Delhi, Pakistan’s Lahore and India’s Kolkata occupied the first, second and third spots on the list, with AQI scores of 577, 317, and 263 respectively. Read more: ‘Unhealthy’ air quality persists in densely populated Dhaka When the AQI value for particle pollution is between 50 and 100, air quality is considered ‘moderate’, usually sensitive individuals should consider limiting prolonged outdoor exertion, between 101 and 150, air quality is considered ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, between 150 and 200 is ‘unhealthy’, between 201 and 300 is said to be 'very unhealthy', while a reading of 301+ is considered 'hazardous', posing serious health risks to residents. The AQI, an index for reporting daily air quality, informs people how clean or polluted the air of a certain city is and what associated health effects might be a concern for them. The AQI in Bangladesh is based on five pollutants: particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2, and ozone. Dhaka has long been grappling with air pollution issues. Its air quality usually turns unhealthy in winter and improves during the monsoon. Read more: How to Reduce Air Pollution in Bangladesh? As per World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, mainly due to increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer, and acute respiratory infections.

The massive fire that broke out in a 10-storey building at Aganagar near Babu Bazar Bridge area of South Keraniganj has been brought under control after seven hours of efforts. The fire was brought under control around 12:30 pm on Saturday but a total of 20 units were still working to extinguish the blaze, said Lt Col Mohammad Tajul Islam Chowdhury, director, Fire Service and Civil Defence (Operation and  Maintenance). Firefighters rescued at least 45 people who were trapped in the building and brought them to safety using various stairways. Witnesses said some 10-12 tenants of the building fell sick due to smoke and they were taken to a local clinic. Read more: 4 of a family suffer burn injuries in fire from ‘gas leak’ in N’ganj  

A road stretching from Gulshan-2 to Pragati Sarani has officially been renamed ‘Felan­i Avenue’ in memory of Felan­i Khatun, the teenage girl killed by India’s Border Security Force (BSF) in 2011. The announcement was first made on Tuesday by Local Government Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, who submitted his resignation on Wednesday. He shared the update in a post on his verified Facebook page shortly before stepping down from office. He wrote that the diplomatic zone road from Gulshan-2 to Pragati Sarani would henceforth carry the name ‘Felan­i Avenue’ to honour the 15-year-old who became a symbol of outrage against border killings. As naming and renaming of roads fall under the jurisdiction of city corporations, the responsibility in this case lies with the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC). Read more: March for Felani: Sarjis Alam vows justice for border killing victims Confirming the development, DNCC Administrator Mohammad Azaz told UNB on Thursday (December 11, 2025), “DNCC has formally renamed the Gulshan-2 to Pragati Sarani road as Felan­i Avenue. All necessary documentation is done. All official procedures for the renaming have already been completed.” Regarding the inauguration timeline, Azaz said, “The nameplate for Felan­i Avenue will be installed and unveiled anytime in December.” Felan­i Khatun was shot dead by BSF on January 7, 2011, at the Anantapur border point in Kurigram’s Fulbari upazila while returning to Bangladesh with her father. Her body was left hanging on the barbed-wire fence for hours, sparking widespread outrage in national and international media. Since then, various groups have repeatedly demanded that the road in front of the Indian High Commission in Gulshan be named after Felan­i. Read more: Felani’s brother joins BGB On September 13, 2024, the Peoples’ Activist Coalition (PAC) symbolically named the road ‘Shaheed Felan­i Sarak’ and installed an unofficial signboard in protest against border killings. Now, the interim government has officially renamed the stretch as Felan­i Avenue.

What began as a routine search for a missing sum of money spiralled into a shocking double murder inside a Mohammadpur flat, a crime that investigators say was rooted in a heated altercation between a housewife and the domestic worker she had employed only three days earlier! Police have arrested the housemaid, Ayesha, and her husband, Rabbi, from Nalcity in Jhalakathi, ending their frantic run across districts following the killings. The case has since unfolded as a chilling account of deception, theft and unverified domestic employment. Read more: Mohammadpur Murders: Chilling details emerge as hunt for domestic help intensifies Tracked Down Through an Old Police Record At a briefing at the DMP Media Centre on Thursday noon, Additional Commissioner of DMP SN Nazrul Islam revealed how investigators identified Ayesha. A crucial breakthrough came from an old record at Mohammadpur Police Station, a file containing her photograph, marked by burn scars on her face. This small but telling clue led police to the Geneva Camp, where she was already known for theft-related activities. Nazrul Islam said Ayesha had a long history of stealing from the homes where she worked. She routinely concealed her identity, avoided using a mobile phone, provided no address and kept her face veiled, making it difficult for employers to identify her later. In July, she allegedly stole Tk 8,000 from a residence, prompting the filing of a general diary at Mohammadpur Police Station. She has also been accused of stealing from her sister’s home. Read more: Mohammadpur double murder: Maid disguised herself in victim’s school uniform to flee A Husband Drawn into the Trail Investigators traced Rabbi after learning that Ayesha had once handed him her damaged mobile phone for repair. That allowed police to track the SIM card previously used in the device. Teams then conducted a series of raids — in Hemayetpur of Savar, Mohammadpur, Patuakhali’s Naluya, and finally in a village in Nalchity of Jhalakathi — where the couple were arrested around 12:30 pm on Wednesday. A stolen laptop was recovered from their room. Police say Ayesha has confessed to the murders. Three Days of Work, A Deadly Climax Ayesha joined the victims’ household only three days before the incident. Throughout her time there, she kept her face covered, preventing anyone from recognising her clearly. Read more: Domestic help sued over Mohammadpur double murder On the second day, she allegedly stole Tk 2,000, triggering an argument with the housewife, Laila Afrooz. On the third day, Ayesha returned with a switch-gear knife. Another confrontation broke out over the missing money — and this time, the dispute turned fatal. According to police, Ayesha stabbed Laila. When Laila’s daughter, Nafisa, tried to intervene, she too was stabbed to death. In her escape, Ayesha wore Nafisa’s school uniform and fled the apartment, taking with her a laptop, a mobile phone and other valuables. She later changed her clothes at her mother’s home in Savar, before travelling to Manikganj, where she disposed of the school uniform and blood-stained clothing in the Singair River. A Call for Vigilance The Additional Commissioner has urged city residents to verify the identity and background of any domestic worker before employing them, stressing that structured records and proper documentation could prevent similar tragedies in the future. Read more: Mohammadpur Murders: Domestic help finally arrested after days on the run