A two-month ban on catching 'jatka' (hilsa fry less than 9 inches or 23 centimetres in length) from March 1 to April 30 will begin in five hilsa sanctuaries across the country on Tuesday midnight. To increase the production of hilsa, the government has imposed the ban in the Padma-Meghna sanctuary under Chandpur, Shariatpur, Laxmipur, Barishal and Bhola districts, said Golam Mehedi, Chandpur district fisheries officer. Seventy kilometers sanctuary of Meghna in Sadar, Haimchar, Matlab North and Matlab South upazilas of the district is also under the restriction. Besides, the government will provide 40 kgs of rice to 44,035 fishermen during the period, he said. District taskforce committee has taken all necessary steps to stop netting jatka.  

Three men were killed and one was injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw at Ghosher Haat area on Chandpur-Cumilla highway under Chandpur Sadar upazila earlier today. The deceased were identified as Habibur Rahman, 25, a resident of Matlab Dakshin upazila; Nesar Ahmed Hawladar, 25, a fish trader and resident of Wapda Gate area of Chandpur city; and Mahabub Pradhaniya, 50, resident of Bishnupur village of Sadar upazila. Abdur Rashid, officer-in-charge of Chandpur Sadar Police Station, said that the accident occurred when a CNG-run auto-rickshaw overtook a truck and collided head-on with a bus – leaving three passengers dead on the spot. Police seized the auto-rickshaw and the truck, said the OC, adding that the bodies will be handed over to their families after completing legal formalities.   

Four men were arrested at Gandharbyopur village in Haziganj upazila of Chandpur district over gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl.The crime occurred on Monday night, said Zubayer Syed, officer-in-charge of Haziganj Police Station.Police arrested Nimai Chandra Das, 24; Momin, 32; Mamun, 30; and Mizan, 45 in this connection.A complaint was lodged with Haziganj Police Station on Tuesday.According to the complaint, Nimai developed a relationship with the girl, hailing from Darbeshpur village in Ramganj upazila.Nimai invited the girl to his village. On Monday, Nimai took the girl to his village.At one point, Nimai along with three other men took the girl to an abandoned place and raped her.Hearing screams, locals rescued the girl and informed police who arrested the four men.The arrestees were sent to jail after being produced before the court on Tuesday, said OC.The girl is now undergoing treatment at Chandpur General Hospital.

Police on Sunday recovered the body of a man from Sakdirampur village in Chandpur's Faridganj upazila, four days after he went missing. The deceased was identified as Sohel Bepari, 30, son of Fazlu Bepari of the Dokanghar area of Chandpur Sadar upazila. Abdur Rashid, officer-in-charge (OC) of Sadar Model Police Station, said Sohel Bepari went missing on Wednesday night. His wife Josna Begum lodged a general diary at Chandpur Model Police Station on Sunday (February 5). Later, police detained Sohel's friends Shahadat Hossain, 30, and Zakir Hossain, 42, in this connection. Based on the information given by the detainees, police recovered the body of Sohel from a bush behind the Baropatwari house in Sakdirampur village this afternoon, added the OC. An investigation into how he ended up there continues.

Members of Coast Guard (CG) seized 1,020 kilograms of shrimp injected with unhealthy jelly in the Meghna River on Tuesday. Lieutenant Commandant Khandakar Munif Taki, media officer of the CG Dhaka Zone, said acting on a tip-off a drive was conducted in Alubazar Ferry Ghat area and it seized the shrimps weighing around 1020 kilograms from a trawler. Read more: Shrimps inflated with jelly seized in Jashore Later, the shrimp injected with the jelly, which is considered to be injurious to health, were buried in presence of the upazila’s fishery officer and law enforcers, he added.

A 16-year old boy in Chandpur sadar upazila was stabbed to death on Monday night allegedly by his friend following an argument over Argentina’s match against Mexico in Qatar World Cup. The deceased was identified as Mehedi Hasan, a student of class X and son of Helal Bepari from South Nanupur village. The incident occurred around 7 pm in front of Amin Beprai’s house in the village, said police. Mehedi was declared dead when he was taken to Chandpur Government General Hospital. “He had three stabbing injuries on his chest," said duty doctor Omar Faruq. With the help of locals, police detained accused Barkat, 20, and seized the knife he used for stabbing, said A Rashid, Officer-in-Charge of sadar model police station. Mehedi’s father Helal said Barkat had beaten his son over a heated argument while watching the World Cup match on Sunday night. “ Barkat called Mehedi from home today and severely stabbed him,” he said. Additional Superintendent of police (finance and crime) Sudipto Roy said according to locals they were friend and neighbours. “They had a fight over personal issues and the accused has confessed to stabbing Mehedi in primary questioning. More information can be known after investigation,” he said.

Three people were killed after a head-on collision between a bike and a trolley on Beribadh road in Bagan Bari union of Chandpur’s Matlab North upazila on Saturday. The deceased have been identified as Shanto Miazi, 25, son of Abdur Rashid Miazi from Khaguria village of the union, Md Rashed, 24, son of Selim Bokaul from the same village and Selim Mia, 30, son of Abid Ali from Chandrakandi village of the union. According to locals, Shanto, Rashed and another youth named Tanvir were going towards Khaguria from Beltoli on a bike, while a trolley was heading from the opposite direction. “The collision happened on the Beribadh road in front of Hapania Bhuiyan Bari, leaving the trio on the bike and the helper of the trolley critically injured. Rashed died on the spot, while Shanto and Selim were declared dead by on-duty doctors when they were taken to the Upazila Health Complex,” said Hridoy Hossain, a local. Read: Two bikers killed in Chandpur road accident Md Mohiuddin, Officer In-charge (OC) of Matlab North Police Station, said that police couldn’t bring Rashed’s body to the hospital due to the insistence of his family members. “Bodies of Shanto and Selim are currently in the morgue. Tanvir has been sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for better treatment. The driver of the trolley has fled after the accident, while the vehicles have been completely damaged. We’ll take legal actions after investigating the incident,” Mohiuddin said.

A 20-year-old Indian has been walking across Asian countries – to generate awareness on plastic pollution. Rohan Agarwal, a resident of Nagpur under the Maharashtra state, has reached Bangladesh after walking 15,000 kms. He is a student of Government Sikkim Professional University in India. Rohan said he started walking from the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on October 24 in 2020. Read more: Plastics used in farming piling up in soil: UN After traveling to 27 states of his country, Rohan came to Bangladesh through Bilonia border in Feni on October 8, 2022. He visited Chattogram Hill Tracts and came to Chandpur on November 10. In Chandpur, he met the deputy commissioner, municipality mayor and journalists at the local press club and delivered awareness speech – on the dangers of plastic pollution – at several educational institutions of the district. “This is my journey to save the planet from plastic pollution. I came to Bangladesh from India and meeting many people along the way,” Rohan said. He said the world is not only for humans; animals and plants also share the planet. “So, you must be aware of the environment. It is the responsibility of all people.” Read more: Innovative, smart solutions must for plastic waste management: Tazul Islam “Wherever I go, I talk about the plastic pollution in public places, including schools and colleges. I tell everyone that they should protect the environment,” the youth added.

Police with the help of local residents on Wednesday recovered the body of a local BNP leader from beside a road at Matlab Uttar upazila in Chandpur. The victim-- Salimullah Lavlu--was a general secretary of Fatehpur Paschim union unit BNP. He was 50 and a resident of Mandartali village under the upazila. The victim’s son Laviv and some relatives said that one schoolboy named Shipon hit the leg of Laviv after his school on Tuesday. A brawl broke out between Lavlu and Shipon after the incident. Later, Shipon along with his friends went to the house of Laviv and threatened them. Van driver Jahangir Alam spotted the body lying beside the road when he was crossing the area at Mandartali village during early hours on Wednesday. Read more: BNP rally: Juba Dal leader dies of ‘heart attack’ in Rangpur Mohammad Mohiuddin Mia, officer-in-charge of Motlab Uttar police station, said they rushed to the spot after hearing the news and recovered the body. The body was sent to Chandpur General Hospital for an autopsy, he said. The OC said they would wait for the autopsy report to know the reason behind the murder. No case was filed immediately, he said.  

Fishermen are gearing up to resume netting, as the 22-day ban on catching, selling, transportation and hoarding of the delicious hilsa ends on Friday midnight. Fishermen in different districts, including Chandpur, are preparing their fishing nets and trawlers to head to the rivers after 12am. Read more: 5 arrested with five maunds of Hilsa in Shariatpur Like previous years, the ban was imposed on a 90-kilometre-long area from Matlab Shatnol to Haimchar in Chandpur. The law enforcers seized huge quantities of mother hilsa and fishing nets, trawlers in different parts of the country for catching hilsa defying the ban. Fisheries department, upazila and district administrations, police and Coast Guard personnel carried out regular drives to make sure that the ban was implemented strictly. During the ban, around 50,000 fishermen remained unemployed and were allocated 25kg of rice each, which was not enough for them, said local fishers. Taukir Ahmed, an official from the control room of the district fisheries office, said around 212 fishermen were sent to jail during the ban period in 178 cases. Besides, 41,855 metres of current nets were seized and destroyed, said head of Chandpur Naval Police Mohammad Kamruzzaman. The 22-day government ban on hilsa catching, selling, hoarding and transporting came into effect on October 7, with a view to boosting its production. The ban covered hilsa sanctuaries in six districts -- Barishal, Chandpur, Laxmipur, Bhola, Shariatpur and Patuakhali. Read more: Hilsa ban: 18 detained in Bhola after fishermen clash with police again Hilsa, the national fish of Bangladesh, is recognised as a certified patented product of Bangladesh. The marine fish goes to rivers in Bangladesh to lay eggs. The fish is very popular both in Bangladesh and West Bengal. About 75 per cent of the world's hilsa is netted in Bangladesh. Chandpur is considered one of the largest trading hubs of hilsa in Bangladesh as the fish from the Padma river is much more popular than the ones that come from other rivers.