United News of Bangladesh

Law enforcement agencies, including police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), are on high alert across key points of Dhaka on Thursday (13th November 2025) as the Awami League (AL) called a countrywide ‘lockdown’. The movement of people and transport, particularly private vehicles, was notably thinner than usual amid growing public anxiety over safety. Businesses and educational institutions remained open, continuing their regular activities. Dr. Mahfuzur Rahman, a resident of Gulshan and a well-known therapist, who travelled to Mirpur 7 by motorcycle for urgent work, told UNB, “The number of passenger vehicles was almost half of what we usually see on a weekday. Only a limited number of CNG auto-rickshaws, private cars, and motorcycles were on the streets. However, the police presence on flyovers has significantly reduced the risk of sabotage. I felt quite safe while travelling.” He added, “It’s clear that fear has kept many people at home today.” The supporters of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and allied parties took positions at several points in Dhaka to resist any move by the AL and brought out processions protesting the  ‘lockdown’ programme, called as the International Crime Tribunal-1 ( ICT-1) is set to announce a date today for the delivery of judgment in a case against ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina and others for crimes against humanity, including murders, during last year's July-August mass uprising.  Over the past few days, several incidents of arson and crude bomb blasts were reported in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, intensifying public fears of renewed unrest. To maintain order, the government deployed 12 platoons of BGB in Dhaka and two more in nearby districts. At a press conference on Wednesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali said the force was fully prepared to prevent any act of sabotage related to the lockdown. Read more: Tension rises in Dhaka ahead of planned ‘lockdown’ amid fears of violence The tribunal fixed November 13 for fixing a judgment date after both prosecution and defence completed their closing arguments before the three-member panel led by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder. Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh to India on August 5, 2024, amid the mass uprising. A total of 54 witnesses testified in the trial, including relatives of victims—such as the father of martyr Abu Sayed—and key witnesses like Nahid Islam, Convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), and Amar Desh editor Dr Mahmudur Rahman. According to the charges, the then Awami League government, along with party leaders, loyal administrators and members of law enforcement agencies, committed crimes against humanity to suppress the student-led July–August uprising. On July 10, the tribunal indicted Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former IGP Abdullah Al-Mamun, formally beginning the trial. Former IGP Al-Mamun later turned state witness and provided detailed testimony about the incidents. Besides this case, Sheikh Hasina faces two other cases before the International Crimes Tribunal—one over enforced disappearances and killings during the Awami League’s 15 and a half years in power, and another over the 2013 Hefazat-e-Islam rally killings at Dhaka’s Shapla Chattar. Read more: Tensions rise as ICT going to set verdict date in Hasina case

Bangladesh has been placed on high alert ahead of the International Crimes Tribunal-1’s (ICT-1) pronouncement of the verdict date on Thursday (13th November 2025) in a case against ex-PM Sheikh Hasina and two others over crimes against humanity during last year’s July uprising. The tribunal fixed the date on October 23 after the prosecution and defence completed their closing arguments before the three-member ICT-1 headed by Justice Md Golam Mortuza Majumder. Tensions have escalated across the country over the tribunal’s announcement of verdict date as the Awami League called for a nationwide ‘lockdown’ on Thursday through social media in protest against the trial. In the lead-up to the verdict date, several incidents of arson and crude bomb explosions were reported in different parts of the country, including Dhaka, raising public fears of renewed violence. Law enforcement agencies, including police, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), have been deployed across the capital and other major cities to maintain order. Read more: 14 platoons of BGB deployed in Dhaka, adjoining districts Dhaka’s usually congested roads appeared unusually calm on Wednesday, with significantly lighter traffic during office hours amid growing public anxiety and security concerns. Additional police personnel have been stationed at all entry and exit points in the capital. At a press conference on Wednesday, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sajjat Ali said the force was fully prepared to avert acts of sabotage associated with the lockdown. Fourteen platoons of the BGB have been deployed in Dhaka and surrounding districts since Wednesday morning. Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024 amid mass uprising  and the country has since experienced deepening political turmoil. The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police conducted simultaneous drives across the capital in the past 24 hours till Wednesday morning, arresting 44 more leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations. In this much-discussed case, the prosecution sought the maximum punishment for Sheikh Hasina and ex-home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on five charges of crimes against humanity. Read more: Sheikh Hasina and family members can't vote from abroad: EC official Relatives of victims, including the father of martyr Abu Sayed testified in the case, along with key witnesses including Nahid Islam, Convener of National Citizen Party (NCP) and Amar Desh editor Dr Mahmudur Rahman. In total, 54 witnesses testified in the trial. According to the charges, the then Awami League government, along with its party leaders, loyal administrators, and members of law enforcement agencies, committed crimes against humanity to suppress the student-led July–August uprising. Two international crimes tribunals are currently trying these allegations. On July 10, the tribunal formally indicted Sheikh Hasina, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former IGP Abdullah Al-Mamun, beginning the trial. Former IGP Al-Mamun turned state witness and gave testimony revealing details of the incidents. Besides this case, Sheikh Hasina faces two other cases before the International Crimes Tribunal—one over enforced disappearances and killings during the Awami League’s 15 and a half years in power and another over the 2013 killings at Hefazat-e-Islam rally at Dhaka’s Shapla Chattar. Read more: Tension rises in Dhaka ahead of planned ‘lockdown’ amid fears of violence

Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury on Tuesday (11th November 2025) said law enforcement agencies are on high alert ahead of the Awami League’s planned Dhaka ‘lockdown’ programme on November 13, assuring that the situation will remain normal. The adviser made the remarks after a meeting of the advisory council committee on law and order at the Secretariat. Read more: DMP bans gatherings near CJ’s residence, SC areas from Tuesday “There had been detailed discussions here and we need your cooperation in one matter. If anyone is found suspicious, immediately inform the law enforcement agencies,” he said. He said law enforcers are in a strong position and there is no cause for concern, as they will remain vigilant. “No leniency will be shown to terrorists. You often say terrorists get bail very quickly. To ensure they do not get bail easily, we will also request the authorities not to release terrorists on easy terms,” the adviser said. Read more: Govt vows to protect interfaith unity, communal harmony

The coastal regions of India and Pakistan were on high alert Wednesday with tens of thousands being evacuated a day before Cyclone Biparjoy was expected to make landfall. The India Meteorological Department said the cyclone was now packing maximum sustained winds of up to 145 kilometers per hour (90 mph). It is projected to make landfall near Jakhau port in the Kutch district of India's Gujarat state on Thursday. Residents living within 5 kilometers (3 miles) of the coast in Gujarat were evacuated, and those living within 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) may also have to move out, officials have said. Also Read: India, Pakistan deploy rescuers and plan evacuations ahead of severe cyclone Four people have been killed so far in incidents related to the cyclone, including three boys who drowned off Mumbai's coast and a woman who was killed due to an accident caused by strong winds in Gujarat. Search and rescue operations are still ongoing to find one more person who drowned in the seas off Mumbai. Experts say climate change is leading to an increase in cyclones in the Arabian Sea region, making preparations for natural disasters all the more urgent. At a relief camp for displaced people in the Pakistani village of Gharo in Sindh province, wage laborer Allah Noor, 59, said soldiers came and evacuated them amid a strong windstorm. Also Read: India, Pakistan brace for severe cyclone, deploy rescuers to coastal regions In Kutch, where the cyclone was expected to hit land, 57-year-old boat owner and businessman Adam Karim Dhobi said this was the worst storm he'd seen since 1998. "We have parked our boats in safe places," Dhobi said. "We are praying to God that this cyclone doesn't cause too much damage here." The Press Trust of India news agency said nearly 40,000 people have been evacuated to relief camps in Gujarat. Nikhil Mudholkar from the National Disaster Response Force who was overseeing relief operations in Devbhoomi Dwarka district along Gujarat's coast, said they were fully prepared and were now in waiting mode. Also Read: Heavy rains in northwest Pakistan leave 25 dead, 145 injured "We have deployed 23 teams and have moved everyone living near the coast to safer grounds," Mudholkar added. "Windspeeds have picked up now and rains have started too." In Pakistan, despite strong winds and rain, authorities said all people from vulnerable areas have been moved to safer places in the southern districts, including Thatta, Keti Bandar, Sajawal and Badin — regions that only last summer were affected by the devastating floods that displaced thousands. For many there, it ws a second displacement in less than a year. People packed up as many of their belongings they could into their cars and left — either on their own or under troop escort — heading to relief camps set up inside government buildings and schools. At the Gharo relief camp, 80-year-old Bayan Bibi said there was no medicine for the sick available at the camp. On Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif ordered the evacuations from risk areas and asked local authorities to arrange food, shelter and medical facilities for the displaced. Pakistan's Climate Minister Sherry Rehman urged people not to panic but work with the authorities, promising they would be taken to safer places. The cyclone has "extensive damaging potential" and is likely to impact Kutch, Devbhumi Dwarka and Jamnagar districts the most, India's IMD has said. Fishing activities have been suspended in both countries until June 16. All ports in the region including the major ports of Kandla and Mundra have been shut. Dozens of trains and flights that were scheduled to ply in this region have been diverted or canceled. Also Tuesday, India's home minister Amit Shah held an emergency meeting with senior officials to review preparedness and announced a budget of $972 million for disaster management. A recent study shows that the Arabian Sea has warmed up by almost 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since March this year, making conditions favorable for severe cyclones, he said. "The oceans have become warmer already on account of climate change," Raghu Murtugudde, an Earth system scientist at the University of Maryland said. Another study, in 2021, found that the frequency, duration and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea had increased significantly between 1982 and 2019, he said. Cyclone Tauktae in 2021 was the last severe cyclone that made landfall in the same region. It claimed 174 lives, a relatively low figure thanks to extensive preparations ahead of the cyclone. In 1998, a cyclone that hit Gujarat state claimed more than 1,000 lives and caused excessive damage. A cyclone that hit Sindh province and the city of Karachi in 1965 killed more than 10,000 people.

Members of the law enforcement agencies including Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been patrolling the Sadar upazila of the district on Saturday  to ward off further trouble,  a day after the violence over an Ahmadiyya religious event that left 2 people and dozens injured. Though the law enforcers are on high alert, a tense situation has been prevailing in the area. Md AbdulLatif Miah, officer-in-charge of Sadar police station, said the law enforcers have been deployed at several points to avoid further disturbance. The bodies of the deceased were handed over to their families without autopsies following the request by their relatives around 1pm, he said. Also Read: Panchagarh clash leaves 2 killed and at least 50 hurt The Ahmidyya community will hold a press conference over the issue at Salana Jalsa village at 3pm, the OC said, adding that security were beefed up.   He also said that neither any case has so far been lodged in this connection nor anyone has been arrested. The Ahmadiyya devotees, who gathered at the Salana village to attend their scheduled event,were seen going back to their respective destinations on Saturday morning after the event was suspended for an indefinite period on Friday night.   Two men were killed and at least 50 people sustained injuries in the clash of a section of Muslim devotees and police demanding the closure of a Qadiani Salana Jalsa in Panchagarh town on Friday After the Jummah prayers, devotees gathered from some mosques in Panchagarh municipality area and started a protest march. Then they went to Panchagarh town staging an agitation there. At one point they marched towards the Qadianis Jalsa in the Ahmed Nagar area. As police stopped the procession at Panchagarh Chowrangi intersection, the protesters became angry and started throwing brickbats at the police in the city's cinema hall road area. Police had to move back at one point due to the protest procession. At least 30 people were injured. Shops in Panchagarh town closed as the violence spread panic among the people. The angry mob also looted around 20 houses of the Qadianis located in Ahmednagar.  

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked the security forces to be on alert saying that a quarter is targeting to thwart the much-awaited inauguration of Padma Bridge on June 25. “We’ve completed the work (Padma Bridge construction) throwing a big challenge. Those who opposed it have a target. We’ve got some information as well (in this regard). They will make such an incident to happen so that we can’t hold the inaugural ceremony on June 25,” she said. The premier was addressing a programme marking the 36th founding anniversary of the Special Security Force (SSF) at her office here. She said when the World Bank stopped the funding to the Padma Bridge due to instigation from Dr Muhammad Yunus and his friend Hillary Clinton, her government announced that it would construct the bridge with own funding. “At that time, many people thought that we could not do it. But we’ve done it,” said Hasina. She asked the security forces particularly the law enforcement agencies to be careful and ensure security to import structures (KPI ones) of the country ahead of the opening of the country’s largest multipurpose road-rail bridge. Read: Plant at least three trees each during monsoon, PM urges citizens She said the fire incidents have already been seen on train, launch and ferry in recent times. Suspecting foul play in the recent fire at BM Container Depot  she wondered how the blaze could occur in several sites and not at a single place. Noting that she saw a video footage of the train fire on Saturday, she said the fire started from the wheel. “How could it be possible?  So, all these things are mysterious,” she said. “So, I would like to ask all to remain alert, pay attention to our important establishments and ensure security to these,” said the PM. Sheikh Hasina asked the SSF members to always maintain the firmness of character, discipline, honesty and other qualities alongside acquiring professional skills. She also urged them to pay attention so that she would not be isolated from the people. “We do politics for the people…. You’ve to ensure that we are not isolated from the people,” she added. Hasina said her government has developed the country as ‘Digital Bangladesh’ and sent a satellite (Bangabandhu satellite) into space and introduced different digital systems. The technology has opened the new door for socio-economic development, but it also has created scope for those who are engaged in terrorist activities to carry out their activities using the latest technology. Read: Population Census gives right picture of country: Dipu  “The technology creates scopes for our socio-economic development, but the pattern of destructive activities changes due to the technology,” she said adding that keeping it in mind, her government has strengthened the SSF with the use of the latest technology so it could keep pace with the world.   Pointing to the chiefs of the three armed forces, police and other forces who were present at the function, Hasina asked them to continue to remain alert always against terrorism and militancy as some quarters are out to sabotages when the country get progress. “We’ll have to remain conscious always. Keep it in mind whenever we go forward, some quarters try to make different types of incidents to happen. It is unfortunate for us,” she said. In an oblique reference to the Gulshan Holey Artisan attack in 2016, the PM said every force -- from intelligences to army, navy, air forces, police, Rab, Ansar and VDB, and BGB-- has played an important role since the incident and thus the government has been able to curb the militancy and terrorism. “We’ll have to contain terrorism and militancy. Our every force is still alert and conscious in this regard,” she added. SSF Director General Major General Md. Majibur Rahman, on behalf of all members of his force, presented a memento to the prime minister on the occasion of the 36th founding anniversary of the elite force.

South Korea's president said Sunday that he was putting his country on its highest alert for infectious diseases, ordering officials to take "unprecedented, powerful" steps to fight a soaring viral outbreak, while a continent away in Italy, authorities battled to contain Europe's first major outbreak of the virus.

Benapole, Sept 28 (UNB)- Immigration police at the check post of Benapole land port have been kept on high alert to prevent the criminals involved in casino business from leaving the country.