Faridpur
Untimely rain damages crops in Faridpur
Incessant showers over the past few days have damaged crops across 20,000 hectares of farmland in Faridpur district, officials said on Tuesday.
Deputy director of Faridpur Agricultural Extension Department Hazrat Ali said, "20,000 hectares of crop land have gone under water. But we will give incentives to the affected farmers to overcome their losses. Our officials will survey the affected areas soon."
Read: Incessant showers damage lentil, wheat & mustard crops in Narail
Crops such as onions, garlic, potatoes and mustard have also sustained damage in the showers, according to farmers. "Untimely rain has taken away our last hope. We don't know how to tide over the losses," a farmer told UNB.
Atul Sarker, district commissioner of Faridpur, said, "We have already asked the authorities concerned to ascertain the extent of damage. The government stands by the farmers."
Faridpur man to die for killing wife in arson attack
A Faridpur court on Tuesday sentenced a man death for killing wife by setting her on fire in 2011.
Faridpur Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Pradip Kumar Ray handed down the verdict.
The condemned convict is Shahabuddin Khan, of Dholairchar village in Alfadanga upazila.
The court also sentenced his brother Sumon Khan to life term imprisonment and acquitted two other accused in the case.
The convicts were fined Tk 50,000 each.
On June 27, 2011, Monira Khanam’s husband Shabuddin Khan, in-laws Sumon Khan, Asia Begum and Jhumur Begum set her fire after pouring kerosene to kill her, said Public Prosecutor of the tribunal advocate Shwapan Paul.
She was rescued by neighbors and rushed to a hospital and then succumbed to her injuries at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, he said.
On July 3, 2011, Monira’s father filed a case at Alfadanaga police station.
On September 28, 2011, a charge sheet in the case was submitted to the court and after a long trial the court pronounced the verdict.
1 killed, dozens wounded in Faridpur UP polls violence
A man was killed and at least 30 were injured in a clash between the supporters of two chairman candidates ahead of Union Parishad elections in Saltha upazila of Faridpur on Saturday.
The victim was identified as Mariz Shikder, 32.
About 30 houses were reportedly vandalized and looted during this time.
Police and locals said supporters of independent chairman candidate Rafiq Mollah clashed with supporters of another independent candidate Tuku Tagore in Khardia village of the union around 3pm today.
Marij, a supporter of independent chairman candidate Rafiq Mollah, was seriously injured following the clash .
Read: Woman killed in Bagerhat UP polls violence
PM for formation of two new divisions as Padma, Meghna
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said she wants to upgrade Faridpur and Cumilla as two new divisions after the names of two major rivers – Padma and Meghna.
“I’ve decided to form two new divisions after two rivers- one would be named after Padma and another after Meghna,” she said.
Read:WTO rules to help Bangladesh more after graduation: Hasina
The Prime Minister revealed it while opening the newly-constructed office Bhaban for Awami League’s Cumilla City unit virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban.
She said if the division is formed after the name of Cumilla other districts might not be interested to join it.
Read: Hasina unveils state-of-the-art exhibition centre in Purbachal
The PM said she will form Faridpur Division after the name of Padma, another famous river of the country.
LGRD Minister Tazul Islam, AL organising secretary Abu Sayeed Al Mahmood Swapon and local Awami League MP AKM Bahauddin and other local AL leaders joined the virtual the function from the new office building.
Covid-19: Infection rate rises to 23.84 % in Faridpur ; 3 more die
Three more Covid patients died at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical College (BSMMC) Hospital in district in 24 hrs until Monday morning, health officials said.
Among the deceased, two died of Covid and remaining one died after showing symptoms.
With the latest figures, the number of fatalities in the district rose to 516.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 51 more deaths, 1871 cases in past 24 hours
Meanwhile, 61 more people were found positive for Covid-19 after testing 260 samples in the last 24 hrs.
The positivity rate now stands at 23.84% which was below 20% for a week, according to the district civil surgeon’s office.
BSMMC Director Md Saifur Rahman said 10 more Covid patients got admitted to the hospital during the period.
Currently, 59 patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital and among them 11 are in the ICU.
Read: No room to defy Covid norms at schools, colleges: Dipu Moni
Health officials said this situation may worsen further if the health safety measures are not followed properly.
Bangladesh logged 51 more Covid-19 deaths and 1,871 cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily case positivity rate increased a bit to 7.46% from 7.03 % on Saturday .
Rare yellow turtle rescued in Faridpur
A rare yellow flapshell turtle has been rescued from a canal in the Ambikapur area of Faridpur's Sadar upazila, forest officials have said.
The turtle was spotted by a youth, named Riyad, a resident of Ambikapur village, on Sunday afternoon when he had been fishing in the canal in Biswas Dangi.
Read: Rare 'cheetah cat' found in Chandpur
The turtle was subsequently caught in a fishing net and handed over to the Faridpur forest department. The reptile is currently kept in a reservoir of the forest department at Gangavardi in Faridpur Sadar.
Faridpur Divisional Social Forest Officer Kabir Hossain Patwari said that the turtle is a unique and rare reptile. "It weighs about 1.5 kg and has a diameter of eight inches," he said on Tuesday.
However, Ashikur Rahman Shomi, a student of zoology at Dhaka University, said that it's very much possible that the Sundhi turtle species -- matte and grey in colour -- may have turned yellow due to genetic changes.
Read:Rare fishing cat captured in Chattogram village
The Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Department in Khulna has been informed. The next step will be taken as per their advice, said the forest officer.
Biswajit Das murder case: Fugitive convict held in Faridpur
Police on Tuesday night arrested a fugitive criminal who had been on the run since his conviction in the 2012 Biswajit Das murder case.
Imran Hossain Imran, who was sentenced to life in jail in the case in 2013, was nabbed from a house in Char Bishanpur village of Faridpur's Sadarpur upazila, police said.
Acting on a tip-off, a team conducted a raid in the area and arrested Imran around 10.30 pm, said Subrata Goldar, officer-in-charge of the Sadarpur police station.
Imran will be produced in the court on Wednesday, the OC said.
On December 9, 2012, tailoring shop employee Biswajit was chopped to death by some BCL activists near Bahadur Shah Park in Old Dhaka during the BNP-led alliance's countrywide road blockade programme.
On December 18, 2013, a tribunal sentenced eight BCL activists to death and 13 others, including Imran, to life imprisonment in the Biswajit killing case.
On August 6, 2017, the High Court upheld the death sentences of Rafiqul Islam Shakil and Rajon Talukder and commuted the capital punishment of four other convicts — Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, Emdadul Haque Emdad, GM Rasheduzzaman Shawon and Mir Nurul Alam Liman — to life term.
Miscreants smash Ashrayan project house pillars in Faridpur
Unidentified youths broke two pillars of a house being built under the government’s Ashrayan project in Madhukhali upazila of Faridpur on Sunday night telling the beneficiary that these were not properly built.
The incident happened in Kalinagar area's Ashrayan project in ward-2 of Megmachi union in the upazila, officials said.
Also read: Ashrayan Project: Govt thoroughly scrutinizing “irregularities”
The perpetrators smashed two pillars of one of the five under construction houses of the project around 8:30pm.
One of the beneficiaries of the house, Akhi Mandal said, some four or five youths came and said they were sent from Faridpur to dismantle the house as those were not properly built.
“They broke the pillars saying they will rebuild them again”, she said.
On Monday morning Rakhi informed the incident to the Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md. Mostafa Monwar.
Also read: No laxity in costruction of Ashrayan houses to be tolerated: Project Director
The UNO said, in ward no 2 five houses were being built under the government’s Ashrayan Project 1 and 2, including Rakhi’s house.
He said, higher authorities were informed about the incident and a complaint will be filed with the police station in this regard.
Faridpur district’s Deputy Commissioner Atul Sarkar said, some evil quarters might have done this to tarnish government’s image.
Legal action will be taken in this regard after proper investigation, he said.
Officer-in-Charge of Madhukhali police station, Rathindranath Tarafdar said, “We have visited the spot and are investigating the matter”.
Padma river embankment risks catastrophic collapse
Residents of Charbhadrason upazila in Faridpur are living in fear of flooding as a large portion of an embankment along the Padma River in Haziganj Bazar has developed cracks.
Locals say vast tracts of land in the upazila could be inundated during the monsoon if immediate steps are not taken to protect the embankment from erosion.
Read:Over 50 Kurigram riverine villages inundated
They claim their repeated pleas to the authorities concerned for the restoration of the embankment along the Padma have so far fallen on deaf ears.
The three-kilometre-long embankment was constructed along the Padma in MPdangi, Charhaziganj Bazar and Charhossainpur areas in 2019-20 financial year. Three private firms were roped in to construct the embankment at a cost of Tk 144 crore.
Read:Riverbank erosion leaves Gashial residents on the edge
Sufficient sacrificial animals available in Faridpur despite pandemic
Although many districts are bracing for a shortage of sacrificial animals ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha due to the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country, Faridpur is an exception.
Livestock farmers are now busy nurturing cattle in more than 5,000 cattle farms in nine upazilas of the district ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest festival of Muslims when over one crore cattle are sacrificed across the country.
Officials at district Livestock Department said more than 50,000 sacrificial animals are ready in the district for the Eid-ul-Azha.
They are expecting to supply those to other districts after fulfilling local demand, they said.
The farmers of the district told UNB that there is no need to bring sacrificial animals from the other side of the border keeping in mind the Covid-19 situation, as they are confident that the homegrown cattle would be enough to meet the demand.
They also demanded the authorities concerned take steps to halt smuggling of cattle from India to ensure fair prices for local farmers.
READ: Khulna braces for shortage of sacrificial animals ahead of Eid-ul-Azha
Eid-ul-Azha, the festival of sacrifice, is likely to be celebrated across the country in late July for the second consecutive year under the shadow of a surging Covid-19 pandemic.
Keeping the status quo in mind, relevant authorities have taken steps to shift the major part of animal sales online.
Faridpur District Animal Resources Officer. Nurullah Md. Ahsan said,"We have taken initiative to sell sacrificial animals online in every upazila of the district this year. Farmers are posting pictures of their cattle on dedicated facebook pages and online spaces alongside their weight and value.”
He said at least 48,349 cattle if not more have been prepared for sale in the coming Eid despite the district having a demand of only 36,000.
Syed Zahurul Alam, owner of Syed Shah Ali Baghdadi, a large farm in Gerda area of Faridpur Sadar Upazila, said his farm has 60 large and medium-sized cows. He said that he has bought improved breeds of young cows and made them bigger for the sacrificial market.
READ: 27,000 sacrificial animals sold online ahead of Eid
He also added that they did not use any harmful chemicals for fattening their cattle this year.
“Many have been employed in my farm,” the proud owner said.
Abrar Nowsher, owner of Tahera Agro in the same area, said 50 large cows have been prepared for the sacrificial market on his farm.
"We have raised the animals through proper care throughout the year and hopefully we will get a good price," he said.