United News of Bangladesh

A suspected robber was killed in a lynch-mob attack at Rajendrapur in Gazipur district in the small hours of Saturday, said police. The deceased was identified as Rakib, 27, son of Alamgir H ossain of Joydebpur upazila. He was wanted in four robbery cases. Mahtab Uddin, officer-in-charge of Joydebpur Police Station, said garment worker Hashi Akter, 19 along with her colleague Ilias Hossain was heading towards Rajendrapur Haldoba area to visit one their colleague’s house in the  evening. Also read: Three robbers lynched in Manikganj, two die When they reached near Rakkhitpara, a group of miscreants intercepted them and took Hashi to Rakkhitpara forest after beating Ilias up mercilessly. Later, they tied Hashi to a tree and tried to realise ransom. At one stage, Ilias informed the matter to the local people and sought help. Local people then besieged the forest and caught Rakib around 12:30 am while the others managed to flee the scene. They also gave him a good thrashing, leaving him injured. Also read: Man killed by drug addict, accused lynched to death in Meherpur They also gouged out the eyes of Rakib and broke his two legs. On information, police rescued Hashi and Rakib and took him to Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared him dead. Hashi lodged a complaint with Joydebpur Police at  night.

Some four days after a 35-year-old woman was tied to a tree and beaten up in Koyra upazila of Khulna over a land dispute, police on Saturday claimed to have arrested two men in the case. The arrestees have been identified as Arafat Hossain and Saidur Rahman, said ABSM Doha, officer-in-charge of Koyra police station. “The arrests were made after a case was lodged against 14 people on Friday night, following a complaint from the woman's father. Efforts are on to nab the other accused,” said the OC. Also read: Councillor’s son arrested for killing wife in Chattogram A longstanding dispute between the woman's father and their neighbour over a land feud took a violent turn on July 11 when both sides clashed with each other. The neighbour and his accomplices subsequently abducted Shamima and tied her to a tree and beat her up. Unable to bear the torture, the woman fell unconscious, the police said. Police managed to rescue her after getting a call on emergency hotline number 999 but the accused could flee. The woman is currently being treated at Khulna Medical College and Hospital. Also read: College teacher ‘beaten by students with cricket stump’ dies in Savar The other accused in the case are Abdul Khalek Gazi, Akfar Hossain Gazi, Nur Alam, Shafiqul Islam Gazi, Rafiqul Islam Gazi, Liakat Gazi, Salauddin Gazi, Khokan Gazi, Nasrin Sultana, Sabina Akter, Abdul Maleque Gazi and Afsar Gazi, police said.

An angry mob went on a rampage in Lohagara upazila of Narail district on Friday night, damaging at least two houses of the Hindu community and several shops in Digholia Bazar. Haran Chandra Pal, officer-in-charge of Lohagarha Police Station, said a college student belonging to the Hindu community made a Facebook post "hurting religious sentiments" on Friday. As the news spread like wildfire, a group of local people thronged Digholia Bazar and vandalised two houses and six shops that night. They also set one of these houses on fire over the issue, the OC said. Read:Narail teacher's humiliation: Sadar thana OC stand-released On information, police rushed to the spot and fired in the air to bring the situation under control. "Additional police force has been deployed in the area to avert further trouble," the officer added.  

Rail communications between Dhaka and northern districts were restored Saturday morning after five hours of suspension following derailment of a bogie of a  train in Joypurhat. A bogie of Dhaka-bound ‘Ekota Express’ train from Joypurhat veered off the tracks at Tilakpur railway station in Akkelpur upazila around 5am onn Saturday, halting rail communications between the capital and the northern Bangladesh," said station master Tofazzal Hossain. also read: Derailment snaps Sylhet's rail links with other parts of country The rail communications resumed around 10:45 am after a relief train from Ishwardi removed the bogies from the track. Dhaka-bound ‘Nilsagar Express’, Panchagarh-bound ‘Drutojan Express’ and Chilahati-bound ‘Simanto Express’ got stranded at Akkelpur and Santahar railway stations respectively following the derailment.

A long tailback formed on Bangabandhu Bridge east link road in Tangail Friday due to the additional number of Dhaka-bound vehicles and holidaymakers, who were returning to the capital and workplaces after a long vacation. The crush of additional vehicle traffic towards Dhaka from northern districts caused the gridlock, triggering a 35km tailback stretching from Bangabandhu Bridge to Tangail's Karatia, Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga Highway Police, said. Till the filing of this report at around 10:30pm hundreds of vehicles packed with passengers were seen moving very slowly, causing immense suffering to Dhaka-bound people. Also, women and children were seen returning to the capital in trucks.

At least 19 spectators sustained injuries in a lightning strike when they were enjoying a football match at Jagir area in Sadar upazila of Manikganj on Friday afternoon. The injured were identified as Abul Latif, 60, Ismail, 15, Alamgir, 55, Arif, 29, Wasim, 20, Azizul Hakim, 35, Mokles, 62, Razzak, 50, Shamim, 35, Fahim, 17, Jahidul, 40, Sajeeb, 20, Rajib, 20, Faruk, 30, Shibu Miah, 20, Biplob Hossain, 20, Rauiz Uddin, 18, Lutfur Rahman, , 35, and Badsha Miah, 50. All the victims were residents of Sadar, Saturia and Singair upazilas. Of the injured, 18 people have been undergoing treatment at Manikganj Sadar Hospital where the physical condition of Jahidul, Mokles and Razzak were stated to be critical.       Eyewitnesses and victims said several hundred people from different areas of the district gathered to enjoy a football match at the field of Jagir Union Parishad in Jagir area nearby Dhaka-Aricha highway in the afternoon. Read: Lightning kills 2 fishermen in Sunamganj The spectators sustained injuries when lightning struck them triggering a huge panic, they said. The injured were rushed to the sadar hospital where 18 of them were hospitalised, said Dr Shamima Akter, posted at the emergency department of the hospital. Among the injured, three sustained severe burn injuries in the accident, she added.  

A school headmaster, UNO and local journalist were among a group of villagers allegedly beaten up by local Awami League and Jubo League leaders as he protested their illegally occupying a fish enclosure in Wazirpur upazila of Barishal on Friday, said police. According to the locals, Wazirpur upazila Awami League Organising Secretary Mashiur Mia and his younger brother Jubo League leader Monir Mia have been cultivating fish occupying fish enclosures belonging to others, including the school teacher, in Patibari village of the upazila. The victim, Ujjwal Kumar Mandal, headmaster of Rajihar Secondary School in Agailjhara upazila, said the local owners, including him, were protesting the illegal grabbing of the enclosure on Friday afternoon. Read: 7 injured in clash between rival BCL factions at Barishal University “Enraged by this, Monir and Mashiur beat me and UP member Amal Mandal,” he said, adding that they also vandalised Ujjwal’s shop and looted Tk 5 lakh. They also assaulted a local journalist, he said. In this regard, Mohammad Momen, inspector of Wazirpur police station, said legal action will be taken after investigating the matter.

Police on Friday arrested a fugitive convict  who had been on the run since his conviction in the 2012 Biswajit Das murder case. Alauddin, 35, who was sentenced to life in jail in the case in 2013, was nabbed from his parents-in-law’s house in the Mokamtola of Shibganj upazila in Bogura. Read: Fugitive convicted for attempt to assassinate Hasina in 1994 lands in Pabna jail Acting on a tip-off, a team conducted a raid in the area and arrested Alauddin in the short hours of Friday, said Bogura District Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ali Haider Chowdhury. 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 Alauddin, 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.

Monpura Senior Judicial Magistrate Court on Friday sent two people to jail for illegally possessing 8kg deer meat in a case filed by the forest department under Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, 2012. The two have been identified as Md Arif and Md Shakil, from Dasherhat village of Hazirhat union under the upazila. According to Md Abbas Ali, Beat Officer of Pocha Koralia forest department, a team led by him detained the two hunters from Charpiyal restricted forest area under Monpura’s South Sakuchia union in a covert operation early Friday. “Later, we brought them to Monpura forest department’s range office and filed a case against them,” Abbas said.   Md Moinul Islam, Range Officer of Monpura forest department, confirmed the matter. Read: Father-son arrested with deer meat in Bagerhat

Police arrested three people including a woman with 1,200 pieces of Yaba from Nabinagar municipality area of Brahmanbaria Thursday night. The arrestees have been identified as Liton Dev, his wife, Moni Rani Dev, and accomplice Mainul Islam. They are residents of Nabinagar municipality. Aminur Rashid, officer-in-charge (OC) of Nabinagar police station, said on secret information they conducted a drive at the house of alleged drug peddler Liton Dev on Thursday night. He said police team found the Yaba pills from the possession of the trio during the drive. Read: Rab nabs 4, including cop, with Yaba pills in Ctg A case related to drug peddling against them was filed at the local police station; the OC said adding that the arrestees have several earlier cases on drug peddling against them.