United News of Bangladesh

The High Court on Sunday issued a rule asking the government to explain as to why the two daily wagers of Khagrachhari district, who were sentenced to five-day jail through a mobile court, should not be provided Tk 10 lakh as compensation. The HC bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Md Akhtaruzzaman issued the rule following a petition. The court also issued another rule asking the government to explain as to why the punishment provided to the two daily wagers—Abul Kalam and Ruhul Amin—should not be declared illegal. The court also asked the Ramgarh Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Khagrachhari district, Khandaker Ikhtier Uddin Arafat to refrain from conducting mobile court drive for punishing the two daily wagers until the disposition of the rule. Read more: CTTC files DSA case against Pinaki Bhattacharya for ‘tarnishing image of the state’ Secretary to the Public Administration Ministry and Khagrachhari Deputy Commissioner have been asked to implement the order. Barrister Hasan SM Azim stood for the writ petitioner while Assistant Attorney General AMG Sarwar Payel represented the state. On October 23, a writ petition was filed seeking its directives to not to allow Khagrachhari Ramgarh UNO Ikhtier to conduct any mobile court drive by sitting at this office though there is a provision that UNO should punish people after visiting the spot through mobile court. On August 5, a report was published at a daily vernacular saying that Khargachhari Ramgarh Local Administration and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) had a dispute over a piece of land in the upazila. On August 1, UNO Ikhtier sentenced two day labourers to five-day jail while they were engaged in erecting fence on the disputed land.

The decomposed body of a woman was found in the septic tank of a government secondary school in Jashore Sadar upazila Thursday morning. The deceased was identified as Fahima Begum, 35, daughter of Anshar Ali of Sat Pakhiya village in Tala upazila of Satkhira district. Read: Indian student found dead in Jashore dormitory Narendrapur police camp in-charge Supravat Mandal said the woman's brother identified the deceased as Fahima, a female brick kiln worker. Shariful Islam, the woman's brother, said, "Fahima and her husband Jahangir Hossain worked as daily wagers at Dafadar brick kiln in Narendrapur. Fahima was physically and mentally abused by Jahangir." Last month, when asked about his sister, Jahangir didn't respond properly. "So, I suspect he killed my sister and dumped the body in the septic tank." Read: Newly-elected UP member gunned down in Jashore Shiv Pad Biswas, headmaster of Narendrapur Secondary School, where the body was found, said that they opened the septic tank after foul smell was emanating and informed cops who fished it out. Kotwali police station officer-in-charge Tajul Islam said the body was sent to the Jashore General Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Three persons were killed and another was hurt after a speeding van ploughed into a tractor trolley parked along the busy Dhaka-Chittagong highway  in Chandina upazila early on Thursday. Of the deceased, two were daily wagers loading sand on to the tractor trolley. Police said that they were crushed to death under the van that rammed the tractor trolley and overturned. The van driver, cops said, also died in the impact of the crash. Read: Two youths killed in Naogaon road crash The deceased were identified as daily wagers -- Nurul Islam, 40, a resident of Harikhola village in Cumilla's Chandina upazila, and Foizar Rahman, 40, of Savar in Dhaka. Liton, 40, was the driver of the van. According to the highway police, Nurul and Foizar were loading sand on to the tractor trolley in front of a market in the Harikhola Mazar area in the morning when the Dhaka-bound van crashed into the tractor trolley after its driver lost control of the vehicle. A unit of Chandina Fire Service carried out the rescue operation. Nurul and Foizar died on the spot, while Liton succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital. Md Rahmat Ullah, Superintendent of Police of Highway Police Cumilla Region, said that the injured tractor driver, Amir Hossain, has been shifted to Cumilla Medical College and Hospital. "A probe has been ordered into the accident." Read: 2 killed in city road crash Road accidents in Bangladesh Road accidents are common in Bangladesh and have been a major cause of deaths. During the last Eid-ul-Fitr holiday rush, road accidents claimed 323 lives in just 15 days, said Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Shamiti, a human rights body. Besides, 513 people, including 63 children, were killed and 598 injured in 409 road accidents across the country in March, said Road Safety Foundation on April 5. According to the NGO, 147 lives were lost in 138 motorcycle accidents, which is 28.65% of the total deaths. Read: Three killed in Thakurgaon road crash In a report released in February 2020, the World Bank pointed out that Bangladesh needs to invest an estimated $7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities. The report attributed the high death rate on Bangladesh’s roads to lack of investments in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety programmes.