United News of Bangladesh

Police in a drive arrested three people in connection with their alleged involvement in violating a speech-impaired woman in Tajumuddin upazila of Bhola district on Tuesday. The arrestees were identified as Md Rakib, driver of the auto-rickshaw and his two associates—Md Jewel and Al Amin. Md Ibrahim, superintendent of Bhola (sadar circle) police said a joint forces team including DB police conducted a drive in the upazila on Monday and arrested them. Speech-impaired housewife gang-raped in Bhola Earlier on Sunday, a speech-impaired housewife was allegedly gang raped by three young men on her way to home from a programme of devotional song (kirtan) in Tajumuddin upazila of Bhola district.

A speech-impaired housewife was allegedly gang raped by some young men on her way to home from a programme of devotional song (kirtan) in Tajumuddin upazila of Bhola district. The woman aged about 25 is now undergoing treatment at Bhola Sadar Hospital. Family members of the rape survivor said the woman, a mother of one child, went to Anil Sadhu Temple of Golokpur village to attend a programme of devotional song (kirtan) on Sunday. Around 9 pm, she boarded on a battery-run auto-rickshaw to go to her house. When the auto-rickshaw reached at Dhopabari the driver of the auto-rickshaw along with two others took the woman to a garden and violated her in turns. They also beat her up. Local people rescued the woman and took her to Tajumuddin Upazila Health Complex on Monday morning from where she was referred to Sadar Hospital. Abdus Salam, officer-in-charge of Tajumuddin Police Station, said police are trying to arrest the rapist and case will be filed after the recovery of the woman.

Miscreants snatched away ballot paper after exploding crude bombs at a polling centre under Bhola-1 (Sadar) constituency in Sadar upazila of Bhola district on Thursday, forcing authorities to suspend votes for nearly one and a half hours. Omar Faruk, Presiding Officer of Alinagar School and College polling centre in Sadar upazila said a group of people entered the centre after setting off crude bombs around 12:15pm. Later, they beat up polling officials and snatched away 56 ballot papers and stamped 76 others irregularly. ‘Perhaps my last vote,’ says octogenarian voter in Faridpur Voting process was suspended for about one and half an hour due to the incident. Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Arifuzzaman along with police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control. Police also arrested an activist of Jamaat-e-Islami from the spot.

A clash broke out on Friday morning between BNP and Jamaat activists in Monpura upazila of Bhola over election campaigning, leaving at least eight people injured. The navy and police rushed to the scene to bring the situation under control. The incident took place around 8:00 am in Ward No. 3 of Sakuchia North Union under Monpura Upazila. Abdur Rahim, Sakuchia North Union secretary of Jamaat, alleged that BNP members blocked their campaign while they were seeking votes. A verbal argument escalated into a clash, injuring about five Jamaat supporters. BNP leader Kamal Uddin said Jamaat activists attacked BNP members in a coordinated manner while they were campaigning, leaving three to four BNP activists injured. Abdur Rahim Farazi, joint general secretary of Monpura unit BNP, said BNP members went to a house to seek votes when Jamaat leaders arrived, leading to a scuffle in which three BNP members were hurt. BNP-Jamaat clash leaves 30 injured in Sherpur The injured include BNP supporters Rasel Howlader, Md. Gonimajhi and his mother and Jamaat supporters Md Idris, Md Rubel, Tarek, Maulana Sharif and Md Saddam. Sheikh Farid Uddin, officer-in-charge of Monpura Police Station, said the police have been sent to the scene. “Legal action will be taken if a written complaint is filed,” he added.

A khatib (who leads Jumma prayers) was hacked to death inside his own home in Bhola town on Saturday night. The deceased was identified as Maulana Aminul Haque Nomani, a teacher at Bhola Darul Hadis Kamil Madrasa and khatib of the Sadar Upazila Parishad Mosque. He was also a well-known Islamic speaker in the area. Locals said Aminul returned home around 9 pm after leading the Esha prayers at the Paschim Charnoabad Jame Mosque. At the time, his wife, daughter and two sons were away visiting relatives, leaving him alone in the house. Around 9:15 pm, unknown assailants reportedly attacked him inside his room, hacking him multiple times before fleeing. Neighbours rushed to his house after hearing his screams, but found the front gate locked from inside. They broke through a tin-fence and found him lying in a pool of blood with severe injuries to his head, neck, chest and abdomen. He was taken to Bhola General Hospital where physicians declared him dead around 10 pm. Police later visited the crime scene and hospital. Blood stains were found on the floor of the drawing room, near a sofa set. A computer and webcam were found switched on, with Aminul’s cap lying on a nearby table, police sources said. Locals described Aminul as a respected alim (religious scholar), popular among the people of the area, and said he had founded a madrasa himself. Jubo League figure hacked to death in Jashore Hearing the news, leaders of various Islamic groups and residents held a protest march on Sadar Road in Bhola town, demanding immediate arrest of those responsible. They also staged a rally near K Jahan Market, issuing a 24-hour ultimatum to law enforcers to identify and arrest the killers. Officer-in-charge (OC) of Bhola Sadar Model Police Station Abu Shahdat Md Hachnain Parvez said several police teams have already launched operations to trace and arrest the perpetrators. “The motive behind the killing is not yet clear, but we are investigating with utmost priority,” the OC said.

A case has been filed against two youths for allegedly raping a 26-year-old mother of one and recording the incident on mobile phone in Bhola’s Tajumuddin upazila. The woman’s brother filed the case with Tajumuddin Police Station on Sunday night, naming Rasel and Gias Uddin as accused. According to the complaint, the incident took place on June 10 in Charchra union of the upazila. The woman was staying at her father’s house with her child, around 11pm, she went to use the toilet behind the house. Gias Uddin allegedly grabbed her and raped her, while Rasel recorded the incident. The woman claimed that Rasel later attempted to assault her, but she managed to escape. She remained silent fearing social stigma, but the accused started harassing her in public and threatened to spread the video if she spoke out. Two held over gang-rape in Bhola, BNP expels three leaders The accused are local Awami League activists, but they now claim to be BNP and Jubo Dal activists. Tajumuddin police chief Mohabbat Khan confirmed the case and said efforts are underway to arrest the accused. Earlier, another gang-rape case was filed in the same upazila last week, with five suspects already arrested.  

A group of people vandalised and set fire to the house of Rafiqul Islam, former mayor of Borhanuddin Municipality and general secretary of the upazila Awami League, on Friday night. The incident occurred in Ward-2 of the municipality, but no casualties were reported as the house was unoccupied at the time. According to witnesses, a large crowd had gathered in the area when the fire broke out, but no efforts were made to douse the flames. ‘Bangabandhu Swadhinota Smritistambha’ vandalised in Faridpur Rafiqul is the nephew of Awami League Advisory Council member Tofail Ahmed. Borhanuddin Fire Service Station Officer Abul Kalam said they were not informed about the fire.

A group of Fisheries Department officials was attacked on Tuesday morning while conducting an operation to recover illegal nets in the Meghna River at Kathir Matha area in Bhola Sadar upazila. The five injured in the attack were Sadar Upazila Fisheries Officer ASM Mahamudul Hasan, field assistant Rafiqul Islam (45), and other team members Jamal (30), Tanzila (28), and Zafar (30). The injured officials reported that a team from the Fisheries Department was conducting an operation in the Meghna River when they attempted to recover illegal fishing nets. During the operation, they were attacked by local fishermen, allegedly led by a fish trader named Shahin, who was armed with local weapons. The Fisheries Department team members managed to escape with the help of local residents, though they were forced to stop the operation. The injured officials were later rescued and admitted to 250-bed Bhola General Hospital. Attempts to get a response from the accused fish trader Shahin were unsuccessful. Bishwajit Kumar Deb, Bhola District Fisheries Officer, confirmed that legal action would be taken against those responsible for obstructing government work and carrying out the attack. Abu Sahadat Md. Hasnain Parvez, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Bhola Model Police Station, stated that the Fisheries Department would be filing a case, although no official complaint had been received yet.

Bangladesh Coast Guard detained two people along with arms and explosives from separate places  in Bhola sadar upazila on Saturday night. The arrestees are Md Faruk Daulat from the Paschim Ilisha area of Bhola Sadar and Md Hossain Siam from Charsamaiya Union. Lt Commander Rifat Ahmed of the Bangladesh Coast Guard South Zone said they conducted drives Charpata and Charsamaiya unions under Bhola Sadar Upazila. They recovered a country-made firearm, two rounds of blank cartridges, 12 bombs and three locally-made weapons, he said. Besides , 16 government cards for people with disability were recovered from their pocession, he added. The detainees were involved in extortion, land grabbing and creating fear among locals, the commander said. Later, both of them were handed over to Bhola Sadar Model Police Station.    

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina distributed 18,566 more houses  among the homeless and landless families across the country under Ashrayan-2 project on Tuesday (June 11, 2024), five days before the Eid-ul Azha. She opened the distribution of the houses alongwith ownership documents through a videoconference from her official residence Ganabhaban, connecting to Kaliganj upazila of Lalmonirhat, Eidgaon upazila of Cox’s Bazar, and Char Fashion upazila of Bhola. Besides, the PM declared 70 more upazilas, including all upazilas of 26 districts, free from landlessness and homelessness people. With this declaration, the total number of landless and homeless-free districts has reached 58 and the number of landless and homeless-free Upazilas has gone up to 464 across the country. The houses were constructed under the government’s flagship housing programme, Ashrayan-2 Project, aiming to ensure housing for all. PM Hasina's Ashrayan project to set another milestone Tuesday On Tuesday, the prime minister distributed 1,282 houses in Lalmonirhat, 261 in Cox’s Bazar, and 1,234 in Bhola districts. Earlier, the prime minister distributed 63,999 houses in the first phase, 53,330 in the second phase, 59,133 in the third phase, and 39,365 in the fourth phase of the Ashrayan-2 Project across the country. Under the project, each landless and homeless family is provided with a semi-pucca house on two decimals of land, with ownership jointly granted to both husband and wife. Each house consists of two bedrooms, a kitchen, a toilet, and a veranda. The rehabilitation programme for homeless people was initially introduced by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1972. Following that PM Hasina initiated the Ashrayan project in 1997 to provide ownership of houses and lands to homeless and landless people. Since its inception, the Ashrayan project has rehabilitated a total of 771,301 families, benefiting an estimated 3,856,505 individuals. Across all programmes, 4,340,000 people from 867,904 families have been rehabilitated, including 2,910,265 people from 582,053 families under the Ashrayan Project. Read more: Ashrayan project: PM Hasina to provide free houses, lands to 18,566 families