Fakirhat Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Bagherhat district was accused of slapping and harassing a former vice chairman of Fakirhat Upazila Parishad on Wednesday. The victim--Md. Mizanur Rahman--was taken to Fakirhat Upazila Health Complex with serious injuries in his eyes and ears with doctors sending him to Khulna Medical College Hospital for better treatment. But UNO Md. Monowar Hossain denied the allegations. Rahman was vice chairman of Fakirhat Upazila Parishad twice. He is also a former organising secretary of Fakirhat Upazila Awami League and a member of district Awami League. Rahman said: “I was going to my cattle farm on my motorcycle when it collided slightly with the UNO’s car. Following some altercation with the driver, the UNO came out from the car and slapped me on the road.” Read more: Attack on doctor: Medical services at Khulna hospitals hampered as physicians go on 24hr work abstention “He even forcefully took me to his car and harassed me inside,” the former vice chairman added.   Local politicians and residents expressed their anger and demanded strict punishment of the UNO. Bagerhat’s Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Azizur Rahman said there was a misunderstanding between the former Upazila Vice Chairman and the UNO. Upazila Parishad Chairman has been assigned to resolve the matter, the DC said.

Fakirhat in Bagerhat district, has outpaced 494 other upazilas in the country to become the first where 100 percent of its eligible population has received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine – a remarkable achievement at a time when countries around the world are struggling to convince people to take the Covid vaccine. Fakirhat on Thursday became the first upazila to inoculate 100 percent of its eligible population with the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. In this upazila of 1.63 lakh people, for months, day after day, long and orderly lines formed outside the vaccination centres. Students, teachers, farmers, potters – young and old, rich and poor, highly and barely educated –showed up when their names were called; then returned weeks later for the second dose. "Fakirhat is the first upazila in Bangladesh to have achieved 100 percent vaccination of all eligible population. This is quite an achievement. We will use Fakirhat experience in other upazilas of the country," Lokman Hossain Miah, senior secretary to the Health Services Division, said today while addressing a programme in the upazila. "All the eligible target group people above 12 years of age in Fakirhat have been vaccinated. Around 1.63 lakh people live here. Against an eligible population of 1,26,000 in the upazila, 1,20,000 people have been inoculated and 6,000 residents who live outside the upazila also got jabbed – that makes it 100 percent vaccination," Fakirhat upazila parishad Chairman Swapan Kumar Das said. Swapan credited the success to several campaigns, including mega vaccination drives, special camps for senior citizens, door-to-door campaigns, and the engagement of public leaders at all levels. "We need 27 crore vaccine doses. The government has bought 21 crore vaccine shots. Also, it has got 10 crore doses as gifts," Lokman said. "We have started administering booster doses to people over 60 years of age and want to fully vaccinate 100 percent of the target population against Covid-19 by March," Professor Meerjady Sabrina Flora, additional director general of the health directorate, said at the programme. Read: Access to safe, effective vaccines to be ensured in Bangladesh: Japan