United News of Bangladesh

A joint team of the Manikganj District Detective Branch (DB) police and Customs, Excise and VAT Division has seized 370,000 cigarettes and 13,000 unused stamp banderols suspected to be counterfeit from a tobacco factory in Shibaloy upazila of Manikganj district. The seizure was made during a raid on Beauty Tobacco Company on Aug 11 following a tip-off, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) said in a press release on Wednesday. Samples of the seized cigarettes and banderols were sent to the Security Printing Corporation (Bangladesh) Ltd in Gazipur on Aug 12 for verification. In a report issued on Aug 23, the Security Printing Corporation confirmed that the stamp banderols attached to the Dollar-brand cigarettes and the 13,000 unused banderols were counterfeit. The NBR said the amount of customs duties and taxes involved in the use of the counterfeit banderols was approximately Tk 11.32 lakh. A criminal case was filed against Beauty Tobacco Company at Shibaloy Police Station on Wednesday on charges of evading duties and taxes by storing and using counterfeit and illegal banderols. Following the action, production at the establishment was suspended and the factory was sealed, according to the NBR.

One person was killed and at least 10 others were injured when a bus fell into a canal in Shibaloy upazila of Manikganj on Sunday morning. The deceased was identified as Delwar Hossain, 50. The Dhaka-bound “Selfie Paribahan” bus from Paturia lost control after one of its tyres deflated while trying to overtake another vehicle in the Barongail Bus Stand area around 8:00am, said Harun-or-Rashid, officer-in-charge (OC) of Barongail Highway Police Station. Later, it fell into a canal between two bridges on the Dhaka-Aricha highway, he said, adding that some 10-12 passengers were injured in the accident. The injured were taken to hospital where Delwar succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment, the OC said. He added that efforts were underway to recover the damaged bus and legal action will be taken after completion of necessary procedures.

A man was killed in a lynch-mob attack over theft allegation in Bandail (Jianagar) village in Singair upazila of Manikganj early Monday. The victim was identified as Rajib, 40, a resident of Dattakhand village in Nawabganj upazila of Dhaka district. Locals said a theft allegedly took place at the house of Mohammad Hakim Ali at around 2 am. Locals alleged that Rajib entered the house by cutting through a window grill, while several of his associates remained outside. Cash and gold ornaments were looted from the house and passed to the accomplices, who fled the scene, they claimed. When the homeowner became aware of the incident, he confronted the suspected thief, leading to a scuffle. Hakim Ali sustained head injuries during the scuffle and was later admitted to Singair Upazila Health Complex. Following the incident, locals caught Rajib and beat him, leaving him dead on the spot, said witnesses. Md Mazharul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Singair Police Station, said police recovered the body after receiving information about the incident. "The process of sending the body to the morgue for an autopsy is underway. The incident is being investigated and legal action will be taken accordingly," he said. Police are preparing to file a case in connection with the incident, the OC added.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) on Thursday completed the recovery of an oil-laden truck that had fallen into the river at Paturia Ghat in Manikganj. Azgar Ali, Deputy Director of BIWTA and head of the recovery operation, said the accident occurred Wednesday night around 8:00 pm when the truck fell into the river while disembarking from the Shah Makhdum ferry at Paturia’s No. 5 ghat. Recover vessel Hamza pulled the truck from under 60 feet of water in the Padma River using ropes and brought it to the riverbank. Around 2:00 pm, the truck was lifted onto the pontoon at Paturia’s No. 2 ferry ghat. Fire service personnel with help from locals rescued the truck driver, Shariful Islam, and his helper and admitted them to hospital. The recovery vessel Hamza reached the site around midnight and attempted to retrieve the submerged truck. After persistent efforts, the truck was brought close to the bank by 5:30 am and lifted along with its oil load at 2:00 pm. The ten-wheeler truck was carrying 17,000 liters of oil from Jessore to Narayanganj.

The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection fined two traders in Manikganj for selling diesel at prices higher than the government-set rate. Assistant Director Asaduzzaman Rumel conducted a drive in Chandahar and Sirajpur markets under Singair Upazila on Wednesday afternoon. During the drive, Tariqul Store in Chandahar Bazar was fined Tk 10,000 for selling diesel at Tk 150 per litre, although the government-fixed price is Tk 100 per litre, officials said. Divisional cities to get more fuel as BPC trims supply cut Another trader, Mahmud Enterprise in Sirajpur Bazar, was fined Tk 20,000 for the same offence. Asaduzzaman Rumel said such drives will continue in order to protect consumer interests.

Four members of a family, including a woman, sustained burn injuries after a fire broke out from an electric spark at a tin-shed house in sadar upazila of Manikganj district on Wednesday. The injured were identified as Shamsul Biswas, 65, his wife Mafiyara Begum, 55 and their two sons — Masum Biswas, 35 and Jony Biswas, 25. Witnesses said the incident occurred around 1 pm when a spark from an electric wire reportedly ignited a curtain inside the house, causing fire. Fire breaks out at Karwan Bazar, 10 units battling blaze Masum Biswas said his mother and younger brother were inside the house during the fire. “My father rushed in from outside to douse the flames and he was also burnt. I sustained minor injuries while trying to rescue them,” he said. The injured were first taken to Manikganj Sadar Hospital and later shifted to the emergency department of the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery around 6:30 pm for better treatment. Resident surgeon, Dr Md Harunur Rashid, confirmed that four burn victims from Manikganj were brought to the hospital in the evening. Gazipur jhut godown fire under control “They are currently undergoing treatment. The extent of their burn injuries cannot be confirmed at this moment,” he added.

Rising gracefully over the Kaliganga River in Ghior upazila, the concrete bridge at Baikunthapur was meant to end decades of isolation for dozens of villages, yet today it stands idle, cut off from the very communities it was built to serve. Three years after its completion, the Tk 42.34-crore structure remains unused, reminding how poor planning can turn development into despair, locals said. Read more: A decade on, Uttara lake development still stuck in limbo With no approach roads on either end, the 365-metre-long bridge has failed to deliver its promise of connectivity. For residents of at least 30 villages on both banks of the river, daily life remains shaped by hardship, risk and long detours. Rather than easing communication, the bridge has become a symbol of frustration, according to villagers. They said they continue to cross the Kaliganga by ferry boats, often at personal risk, while motorcycles, vans and rickshaws are ferried across the river one by one. “What should have been a journey of minutes now takes hours — or requires travelling nearly 15 kilometres extra to reach essential destinations,” said Habibur Rahman of Baliabadha village. Constructed under the Construction of Important Bridges on Rural Roads (CIBRR) project, the bridge’s construction began in 2018 following a tender process, officials said. They said the project included approach roads, with land acquisition factored into the overall cost. While the main bridge was completed in 2022, the crucial connecting roads never materialised. Read more: Endless delay pushes Barui Para Bridge cost to Tk 136cr; frustration grows According to the officials, the delay stems from complications in land acquisition. About 6.20 acres of land were acquired for the approach roads, and Tk 12.10 crore was allocated to compensate affected landowners. However, delays in distributing compensation cheques meant landowners did not hand over possession of their land, bringing construction to a standstill. “As a result, the bridge has remained idle for three years — a costly piece of infrastructure serving no practical purpose,” said an official, preferring anonymity.

A Manikganj court on Sunday sentenced a man to death for violating his daughter in 2012. Manikganj Woman and Child Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge MA Hamid handed down the punishment. The court also fined the convict Anwar Hossain Anu, son of Abdur Rahman Hawladar of Jashore district, Tk one lakh. According to the prosecution, Anwar along with his wife, two sons and one daughter used to live at a rented house at East Dashra in Manikganj district town. Manikganj highway crash leaves one dead On September 1, 2019, Anwar violated his nine-year-old girl when she was asleep. A case was filed with Sadar Police Station under Woman and Child Repression Prevention Act. Police arrested Anwar Hossain a few days later. Rakibuzzaman, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station and also the investigating officer of the case, submitted chargesheet against him on February 9, 2020.

A motorcyclist was killed in an accident on Dhaka-Aricha highway in Charkhand Golora area of Manikganj Sadar Upazila on Saturday. The deceased is Tara Mia, 35, son of Moslem Mia of Jagir Union in Manikganj sadar upazila. Motorcyclist killed in Manikganj road crash Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Golra Highway police station Sohel Sarwar said when Tara Mia was going to work on a motorcycle in the morning a speeding bus of Selfie Paribahan hit him, leaving him dead on the spot. Legal action will be taken in this regard, he added.    

The three-storey building of Bharanga Government Primary School in Manikganj has collapsed into the Jamuna River due to severe erosion caused by strong river currents. Md Khorshed Alam, Executive Engineer at the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Manikganj, said the school disappeared into the mighty river on Saturday afternoon.  Locals said the water level of the Jamuna had risen significantly in recent days, resulting in a powerful flow that led to erosion along the riverbank. Wazed Ali Sarkar, member of Ward No. 5 under Bachamara Union, said while some furniture, including chairs and table, was saved, heavier items such as steel furniture could not be salvaged. Nahiyan Nuren, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Daulatpur, said after being alerted about the erosion on Friday, a local engineer was sent to inspect the school.