United News of Bangladesh

Disaster Management and Relief Minister Asadul Habib Dulu fell sick on Saturday morning at Saidpur Airport in Nilphamari district while travelling to his home district Lalmonirhat. An air ambulance has already left from Dhaka to bring him back to the capital, said Abdur Gafur Sarkar, president of Saidpur district unit BNP on Saturday. The minister arrived at Saidpur Airport by a flight from Dhaka in the morning and fell sick at the lounge. He was immediately taken to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) at Saidpur Cantonment where he received primary treatment. Gafur Sarkar said arrangements were initially made to send the minister back to Dhaka on a scheduled flight at around 12:10pm. However, as his condition did not improve he was unable to travel by commercial flight. Later, it was decided to send him to Dhaka by an air ambulance, he said.  

Thakurgaon district unit Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Belal Uddin Pradhan, who was detained at Saidpur Airport ‘with around Tk 74 lakh’, fell ill and was admitted to a hospital on Tuesday afternoon. After he complained of illness, he was taken to Saidpur 100-bed Hospital in Nilphamari district by an ambulance at 1:47pm. Nazmul Huda, Resident Medical Officer of the hospital, said, “No sign of a heart attack was found in the Jamaat leader after conducting medical tests. An ECG was performed, but no indication of a heart attack was detected. He has been referred to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for further evaluation.” Additional law enforcers were deployed in and around the hospital to avoid any untoward incident. Earlier in the day, police arrested Belal Uddin at Saidpur Airport in Nilphamari and recovered ‘Tk 74 lakh’ from his possession, said Officer-in-Charge of Saidpur Police Station Abdus Sattar. Jamaat leader’s arrest with cash ‘stage-managed drama’, party claims   A case was filed in connection with the cash recovery, said OC. Meanwhile, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair on Wednesday claimed the arrest of Thakurgaon district Jamaat Ameer Belal Uddin with a large amount of cash was a ‘stage-managed drama by law enforcers’. Speaking at an emergency press conference at the party’s central office in Moghbazar, the Jamaat leader claimed that the recovered money was not related to the election but was linked to Belal Uddin’s personal business transactions.

Bangladesh has agreed to allow Nepal to use its Saidpur Airport as part of strengthening trade and connectivity between the two countries.