Bangladesh Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan has said that the government has issued red alert at all the entry and exit points of the country to nab the two Ansar al-Islam members who escaped from the premises of a lower court in Dhaka on Sunday (November 20, 2022) noon. The minister said this while talking to journalists at his Secretariat office. “Police are looking for them everywhere. I hope we’ll be able to apprehend them soon. We’ve told law enforcement agencies to beef up their surveillance at the border areas so that they (the convicts) can’t leave the country,” Asaduzzaman said. Read: Dipan murder case verdict today Asked how the militants escaped, the home minister said that pepper spray was used on policemen before the duo fled. “The two Ansar al-Islam members were brought to the court earlier today and were kept in the lock-up. After producing them before a magistrate, police were taking them back to the lock-up when some of their accomplices emerged out of nowhere, used pepper spray on the police and whisked the militants away,” Asaduzzaman said. The home minister added that exemplary punishment will be given to those found responsible for negligence in duties. Read More: Police announce Tk 10 lakh for each death row convict who fled a Dhaka court today “Militants escaping from the hands of the police is an unfortunate incident. We’ll form a probe body and take necessary steps so that such occurrences don’t happen again,” added Asaduzzaman. Publisher Dipan, son of Prof Abul Kashem Fazlul Huq of Dhaka University, was hacked to death in his office on the second floor of Aziz Supermarket at Shahbagh in Dhaka on October 31, 2015. On February 10, 2021, Dhaka Anti-Terrorism Tribunal sentenced eight militants to death in the Dipan murder case. Read: Two militants convicted to death in Dipan murder case flee Dhaka court lock-up

The High Court on Sunday directed the authorities concerned to take necessary steps against former Assistant General Manager (AGM; System Operations) of Teletalk SM Tarek Rahman in the case filed for embezzling Tk 9.74 crore. The Inspector General of Police (IGP) and Secretary of Home Affairs have been asked to issue Interpol red notices in order to alert international authorities of the compulsion to arrest the fugitive. They have also been asked to inform the High Court in the form of an affidavit on October 16. Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order after hearing a petition filed by ACC. Advocate Rafiqul Islam Sohel appeared for the writ petition in the court, while Advocate AKM Fazlul Haque for the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Besides, Deputy Attorney General AKM Amin Uddin Manik represented the state. Read: 3 held for importing liquor under false declaration According to the case statement, company secretary Mahbubur Rahman filed a case at Gulshan police station on October 12, 2011. ACC pressed charges against the accused in court after investigating the case. The Divisional Special Judge of Dhaka on May 6, 2019, sentenced SM Tarek Rahman to 5 years imprisonment and fined Tk 3 crores under section 5(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The accused embezzled the money by calling generated Teletalk SIM without billing and converted prepaid SIM to postpaid between October 2010 to June 2011, the statement added.  

The Water Development Board (WDB) has issued a red alert in the Teesta Basin after the river swelled above danger level due to onrush of water from upstream. Teesta crossed 60 cm above danger level since Wednesday afternoon due to the onrush of hill water and heavy rainfall upstream in India. The authorities in Bangladesh have ordered an evacuation of the people living in villages along the river’s banks. Extreme panic is prevailing among the residents of Teesta bank due to the sudden rise of Teesta water. In addition, flood fuses on the north side of the Teesta Barrage are reported to be under threat of getting damaged. Due to the rise in Teesta, 15 villages of Purba Chhatnai, Tapa Kharibari, Khagakharibari, Khalisha Chapani, Jhunagach Chapani and Gayabari Union of Dimla upazila of Nilphamari and six villages of sandbar of Jaldhaka upazila have been flooded. The residents of those areas have evacuated to safer places, said the people's representatives of those unions. Hundreds of hectares of crop land have been inundated. READ: Teesta flowing above danger level, 44 barrage gates opened Abdul Latif Khan, Purbachhatnai UP chairman of Dimla upazila in Nilphamari, said the right bank of the Teesta at Zero Point in the area and the Groen dam is under threat of getting damaged. Water is flowing especially over the Groen dam. If the Groen collapses, hundreds of houses in the area, including the dam on the right bank of the Teesta, will be washed away by the Teesta River. Tepakharibari UP chairman Moinul Haque said the Teesta Bazar, Telirbazar, Dolapara and Charkharibari areas have already been submerged. All crop lands in the sandbars are under water. In Lalmonirhat, the Barakhata to Hatibandha bypass road has collapsed at various places due to sudden rise in water level of Teesta river. As a result, thousands of families in this union have been marooned. Thousands of acres of crop land on the banks of Teesta in five upazilas of Lalmonirhat district have been submerged in water. Lalmonirhat Deputy Commissioner Abu Jafar said he has instructed the union chairmen and UNOs to look over the flood situation in these areas. The Teesta river was flowing 52.70 cm above the danger level at Dalia point on Tuesday night while it was flowing 60 cm above the danger level around 10 am on Wednesday. This is due to the onrush of hill water and heavy rainfall, according to Board officials. READ: Teesta turns turbulent in Kurigram; leaves 100 families homeless The low-lying areas of Dahgram in Patgram upazila, Gaddimari, Singamari, Sinduna, Patikapara, Dauabari in Hatibandha upazila and Bhotmari, Soilmari, Nohli, Char Boirati in Kaliganj upazilas of Lalmonirhat district have been flooded, affecting some 10,000 families. Asfaudoula, executive engineer of the Water Development Board at Dalia point, said  “The Teesta water is flowing 60 cm above its danger mark and the authorities concerned have opened all the 44 gates of the barrage.” Besides, the residents along the river have been asked to take shelter in safer places issuing red alert.

Local authorities of Chile's southern region of Biobio issued a red alert on Saturday, after a forest fire burned 2.1 square km of vegetation.

Nigerian authorities issued a red alert on Monday to five southern states, saying there may be possible flooding in that region soon.