United News of Bangladesh

A husband and wife were killed in a fire that broke out at their house in the Bilashpur-Radhanagar area under Dohar Police Station in Dhaka early Saturday, while their two children and a grandson managed to escape safely. The deceased were identified as Salam Sikder, 55, and his wife Nasima Begum, 45. The fire erupted around 1:15am and spread through the house within minutes, trapping five family members inside, said Tamim Hawlader, station officer of the Dohar Fire Service. Family members managed to break open a window and rescue two daughters and a grandson from the burning house, but Salam and Nasima were unable to escape and died in the blaze. On information, firefighters and police rushed to the scene and brought the fire under control within five minutes. The bodies of the couple were later recovered from inside the house. Jannatul, daughter of the deceased couple, however claimed that the house door had been locked from the outside, raising suspicion over the incident. Tamim Hawlader said the fire had already engulfed much of the house by the time firefighters arrived. After extinguishing the blaze, rescue workers recovered the bodies and handed them over to police. Abu Bakkar Siddique, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Dohar Police Station, said the fire might have originated from a gas cylinder in the kitchen. He said the family had applied to receive the bodies without autopsy and the handover process was underway. An unnatural death case will be filed in connection with the incident. Dohar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Maidul Islam visited the scene around noon. The fire cast a pall of gloom over the area as grieving relatives gathered at the scene.

Election will be held in three municipalities –Panchbibi and Khetlal in Joypurhat, and Dohar in Dhaka—on July 27 with the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs). Also read: EC suspends Eochia UP election in Ctg The Election Commission on Monday announced the polls schedule for the three local bodies by issuing a notification. Also read: EC suspends Chambal UP election in Ctg As per the schedule, the deadline for submission of nomination papers is June 28, while the date for scrutinizing nomination papers is June 30 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is July 7.

Two people including a female physician were diagnosed with coronavirus in Dohar upazila on Sunday.   With the two new cases, total coronavirus cases rose to six in the upazila, said upazila health and family planning officer Md Jasim Uddin on Monday morning.   He said that 11 samples were sent to Dhaka for test. They received the test results in the early morning.   Among the new case, there is a 50-year old female physician of Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and and 21-year old young man who is a resident of Uttar Joypara village.   The physician is staying in Dhaka now, said the official.   Earlier, a man died from coronavirus in the upazila.

The local administration on Tuesday put 25 families under lockdown after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Dohar upazila.   Dohar Upazila Health Officer Dr Md Jashim Uddin said they collected the sample from the person on Monday and it came out positive on Tuesday morning.   The Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) will decide about taking the infected man to Dhaka or keeping him here for treatment, he added.   Md Sazzad Hossain, officer-in-charge of Dohar Police Station, said they put 25 families under lockdown after confirmation on Tuesday morning.   People’s movements in the area have been restricted while announcements were made from loudspeaker in the local mosque in this regard, OC added.   Bangladesh has so far confirmed 2,948 coronavirus cases and 101 deaths. 

At least six people were injured as Muslim devotees clashed over attending Jum’a prayers at Kartikpur Bazar Jame Mosque in Dohar upazila of Dhaka defying government’s instructions.

A case has been filed against Bangladesh Chhatra League’s (BCL) Dohar upazila unit president for assaulting the upazila executive engineer.