United News of Bangladesh

Four more deaths were reported from dengue in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, raising the number of fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh to 343 this year. During the period, 920 more patients were hospitalised with viral fever, raising the total infected-case to 86, 924 this year, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). According to the DGHS, new cases were reported as follows: 146 in Barishal Division (Out of CC), 116 in Chattogram Division (Out of CC), 147 in Dhaka Division (Out of CC), 211 in Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), 151 in Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), 72 in Khulna Division (Out of CC), 65 in Myemnsingh Division (Out of CC), two in Rangpur Division (Out of CC), and 10 in Sylhet Division (Out of CC). 5 more die of dengue; 1139 hospitalised in 24 hours Last year, dengue claimed the lives of 575 people. In 2023, 1,705 people lost their lives due to dengue, making it the deadliest year on record. The DGHS recorded 321,179 dengue cases and 3, 18,749 recoveries in the same year.

A group of protesters set fire to the house of former MP and suspended Awami League district general secretary Nizam Uddin Hazari in Feni town on Monday night. The incident took place around 8pm in the Masterpara area, shortly after the International Crimes Tribunal announced the death sentence of Sheikh Hasina. According to witnesses, the protesters set fire to the gate and boundary wall of the house. The building had already been destroyed during earlier attacks, so no new major damage was reported. The protesters chanted slogans demanding punishment for Hazari and others. They gathered wooden sticks and bamboo in front of the main gate and set them alight, though no one managed to enter the house. Muhaymin Tajim, former coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) in Feni, said, “The administration has failed to take legal action over previous incidents of arson carried out by Awami League activists, including the attack on the July Martyrs’ Memorial. This inaction is encouraging repeated incidents. We are on the streets to resist it.” He demanded quick trials for those who attacked students in Feni, similar to the tribunal verdict against Sheikh Hasina. Another former coordinator, Omar Faruk, said that the attack on Hazari’s house was a response to the arson at the July Memorial. He also added that a similar verdict should be delivered against Nizam Hazari and also against Shushen. Shushen is the convener of the Feni municipality unit of the Awami League and a former upazila chairman. Earlier in the evening, protesters vandalised and defaced nameplates carrying photos and names of Awami League leaders near the Feni Government College gate. Security beefed up at ICT-1 chief’s home in Feni Md Shamsuzzaman, Officer-in-Charge  of Feni Model Police Station, said, “Police rushed to the spot after receiving reports of the fire and fire service teams extinguished the flames in front of the house. The situation is now under control. Only the gate was slightly burnt. There was no major damage.” The same house was attacked, looted and burnt on August 5 last year. Earlier on Monday, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Sheikh Hasina and former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal to death for genocide committed during the July–August uprising.  

Gono Odhikar Porishad (GOP) General Secretary Rashed Khan on Monday urged the Indian government to either return convicted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Bangladesh or “take the entire Awami League to India.” “This verdict has proved that no matter how powerful a leader is, no one is above the law. India must now return the convicted Sheikh Hasina without delay, because the verdict was delivered in line with the law and constitution of Bangladesh,” he said while addressing a public meeting in the Hamdah area of Jhenaidah city. Rashed warned that if the Modi government believes it can maintain ties only with Hasina and her party instead of the people of Bangladesh, then “India should take the Awami League entirely to India and let them do politics there.” He said Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League “no longer have any right to do politics in Bangladesh,” adding that the party would not be able to return to the country “for the next fifty years.” He mentioned students who “sacrificed their blood and lives” during the movement would never allow the Awami League to regain political space. BNP ‘factional’ clash leaves 15 injured in Jhenaidah Describing the verdict sentencing Hasina to death as “historic,” Rashed Khan said it had restored the rule of law and judicial independence. He urged “innocent leaders and activists” of the Awami League not to fall into what he described as Hasina’s conspiracies “from abroad.” He thanked the interim government for gathering evidence of crimes including genocide and taking appropriate action. Leaders from various units of the Gono Odhikar Porishad were present at the event.    

Bus services from Nathullabad Bus Terminal in Barishal remained suspended for the second consecutive day on Monday (November 17), leaving thousands of commuters grappling with the crisis. The bus operations on 23 intra-district routes have been halted since Saturday night (November 15) after students of BM College allegedly vandalised over 150 buses following a clash with the transport works over half fare. According to bus owners, not a single vehicle was left in operable condition, making it impossible to resume operations. “Almost all our buses were damaged. We have asked the college authorities for compensation. Only after receiving it, we can repair the vehicles and return them to the road,” said Mosharraf Hossain, president of Barishal District Bus Owners’ Group. The deadlock began on Saturday night when a dispute broke out over a bus refusing to offer a student half fare. Several hundred BM College students allegedly stormed the terminal and smashed buses, the terminal building and ticket counters. Bus services cut off in Barishal after clash, 150 vehicles vandalised Since the suspension began on Sunday morning, passengers have suffered severe disruption. During a visit to the terminal on Monday, many were seen returning home in frustration, while others attempted to reach their destinations using three-wheelers or motorbikes. However, long-distance routes, including Barishal–Dhaka services, continue to operate normally.

Several crude bombs went off at different points in the capital on Sunday evening (November 16), heightening tension on the eve of the verdict in the cases against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and two others accused of crimes against humanity during last year’s July–August uprising. Around 9pm, two crude bombs exploded in front of the Central Road residence of Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and the Ministry of Water Resources. However, no one was injured in the incident. Witnesses said unidentified miscreants hurled the bombs and fled the scene immediately after the explosions. Read more: BTV to broadcast live verdict on Hasina in July Uprising case Earlier, around 7:30pm, two crude bombs also went off near the Saarc Fountain intersection in Karwan Bazar. In a separate incident, two more explosions occurred minutes before 10pm in the Mohakhali Kacha Bazar and Amtoli areas. Police said no one was hurt. The series of explosions came a day ahead of Monday’s (November 17) scheduled verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal in the trial of the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina over allegations linked to last year’s July uprising. Amid the tense political climate, the Awami League last week announced a nationwide “lockdown” programme. Since November 10, incidents of arson attacks on buses and trains, along with crude bomb explosions in Dhaka and other districts, have occurred amid tight security. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has requested the Bangladesh Army to deploy troops to bolster security around the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) ahead of Monday’s verdict. Besides, BGB personnel have been deployed in Dhaka, Gopalganj, Faridpur, and Madaripur districts to maintain overall security and ensure law and order. Read more: Nation on alert as ICT set to deliver verdict in Hasina’s case

A 35-year-old man was shot and hacked to death by miscreants in the Sonadanga area of Khulna city, reportedly over a previous enmity. The victim was identified as Alauddin Mridha, son of Mona Munshi of the area.  The incident occurred around 8pm on Sunday near Karimnagar Syed Ali Hossain School under Sonadanga Police Station. Sumon Hawlader, sub-inspector of Sonadanga Model Police Station, confirmed the death but did not provide further details about the incident.

Jashore Superintendent of Police Rawnak Jahan has directed the Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Police Station to take swift and necessary steps to conduct a DNA test on Afia, a newborn with albinism. OC Abul Hasnat said, “The Superintendent of Police has given me several instructions regarding Afia, including initiating a quick DNA test.” “I have already spoken with the family, and they have agreed. An application will be filed in court through legal aid. Once the court order is received, Kotwali Police will provide all necessary assistance,” he added. Three-year-old Afia has been rejected by her father, who accuses his wife of infidelity — forcing the mother and child into a life of hardship in Jashore. The victim Monira Khatun, 27, is now living in hardship with her infant daughter, at her father’s dilapidated home in Bajuadanga Paschimpara under Ramnagar Union of Jessore Sadar upazila. Monira claimed that her husband Muzaffar Hossain, son of Majid Molla of Baulia Chandpara village, began accusing her soon after Afia’s birth on November 13, 2022, because the baby had milky white skin and light brown hair and eyebrows. “He kept saying the child wasn’t his and stopped communicating with me. After seven or eight months, he divorced me and left the country,” Monira told UNB. “If Afia is proven to be Muzaffar’s child, legal action will be taken against him for making false accusations, neglecting his wife and child, and abandoning them," police said.

Police recovered the bodies of a woman and her two young grandchildren from a house in the city’s Labanchora area on Sunday night, in what investigators are treating as a mysterious triple murder. The deceased were identified as Mahidunnesa, and her two grandchildren — Mustakim, 8, and Fatiha, 6. Police recovered the children’s bodies and sent them to Khulna Medical College Hospital, while the grandmother’s body remained at the house on Mukta Commissioner Kalvat Dorbesh Goli under Labanchora Police Station. Sub-Inspector Pishuj of Labanchora Police Station said the children’s parents both work full-time — the mother as a peskar at the Bagerhat District Registry Office and the father as a billing employee at the Khulna Chamber of Commerce. On Sunday morning, they left the two children in the care of their grandmother before leaving for work. When the parents returned home in the evening and knocked on the door, there was no response. With help from neighbours, they broke open the door and found Mahidunnesa lying dead inside the room. They immediately informed the police. Police later discovered the bodies of the two children in a nearby chicken shed adjacent to the house. Both had multiple injury marks on their bodies. The SI said the killings are believed to have taken place around midday. “We cannot yet confirm who carried out the murders or the motive behind them,” he added. Police say the incident appears “highly suspicious,” and an investigation is underway.

A passenger bus caught fire on the Dhaka–Mymensingh highway in the Chaydana area of Gazipur city on Saturday evening due to an engine malfunction. The blaze erupted around 7:30 pm, burning all the seats of the bus. No injuries were reported, as both the driver and passengers were able to evacuate immediately after noticing the fire. According to local witnesses and police, flames suddenly broke out from the engine, prompting everyone onboard to escape. Fire service teams soon arrived at the scene and brought the fire under control. Aminul Islam, officer-in-charge of Gacha Police Station (GMP), said the burnt bus was removed from the road after firefighters extinguished the flames. The traffic movement is normal now.

A local leader of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal was injured in a knife attack allegedly carried out by drug peddlers in the Masdair area of Narayanganj city on Saturday afternoon. The victim Md. Nahidur Rahman Parvez, is the organizing secretary of the Ward No. 13 unit of Krishak Dal. He also runs a grocery shop and an internet business. The incident occurred near Begum Rokeya School in Masdair. Narrating the attack, Parvez said he was returning from Masdair Bazar when he saw a man standing in front of the school. “At that moment, Buita Masud said, ‘Why are you staring at me?’ Moments later, he pulled out a weapon and tried to shoot me,” Parvez claimed. He added that Masud repeatedly questioned him, asking who he was. Soon after, Ripon allegedly approached from behind with a knife, and another man, Zahid, struck him on the head with an iron object. “Masud fired again, but luckily no bullet hit me,” he said. Parvez further claimed that Masud and his group are involved in drug dealing in the alley and believed he was watching them. “I was actually looking at someone else. I want justice,” he said. Parvez’s mother, Mokarima, also alleged that the attackers intended to kill her son and demanded justice. CCTV footage from the area shows four people attacking Parvez in the middle of the road, with one of them holding what appears to be a firearm. Anwar Hossain, inspector (Investigation) of Fatullah Police Station, said they have not found any evidence of gunfire. “Parvez was not shot, and neither witnesses nor locals reported hearing gunshots. However, something resembling a firearm is visible in the CCTV footage,” he added.