United News of Bangladesh

Detective police have arrested five brokers of the passport office in Faridpur for their alleged illegal activity. The arrestees were identified as Nadim Hasan, Tarikur Rahman, Rabib Molla, Al Amin Sheikh and Mojammel Hossain Shimul. Read: Visa Free Country List for Bangladeshi Passport Holders in 2021 Faridpur additional superintendent of police (ASP) Jamal Pasha confirmed the matter in a press briefing on Friday. Based on a complaint by a victim, police made the arrests by conducting a drive at places near Faridpur passport office on Thursday night, said the official. ASP Jamal said that the arrestees had been involved in the illegal activity for a long time taking extra money from passport seekers. If a person could not pay according to their needs, they used to torture the victims after detaining them. During the drive, police seized five registrar books for illegal trading of passports, receipts of depositing money of passport, two computers and cash Tk 2.50 lakh from their possession. Read:Rajbari Regional Passport Office under ACC scanner Earlier, a case was filed at Kotwali Police Station in this regard, said the ASP. The arrestees will be sent to jail through court on Friday, the ASP added.

Two men in their 50s died after being hit by a speeding bus while crossing the Jashore-Khulna Highway  in the district's Abhaynagar upazila on Thursday night. The deceased were identified as Subed Ali, 55, and Kubed Ali, 54, both residents of Paba upazila of Rajshahi. The accident occurred around 8.45 pm on the Jashore-Khulna Highway near Prembag School in the upazila when the two men returning from picnic in the Sunderbans alighted from their vehicle and attempted to cross the busy highway. READ: Mother, son killed in Pabna road accident The bus of Rupsha Paribahan hit the duo and sped away, leaving the duo severely injured, eye-witnesses said. Both died of their injuries on the way to hospital. Siddikur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Noapara Highway police station, said the bus was seized. "Efforts are on to arrest its driver and his assistant." READ: Four of family killed in Cumilla road crash

A woman and her son were killed when a truck hit their bike in Dashuria area of Ishwardi upazila of Pabna on Thursday afternoon. The deceased were identified as Mamtaz Begum, 60, and her son Mahatab Uddin, 35, of Islamganti village in Dapunia union of Pabna Sadar upazila. Read: Four of family killed in Cumilla road crash Confirming the matter, Pakshi Highway Police Officer-in-Charge (OC) Rezaul Bashar said the duo were travelling towards Pabna around 3:05pm. When they reached Kalikapur bazar, a goods-laden truck hit their bike, killing the mother and son on the spot, the OC added.

Post-poll violence involving supporters of a victorious and a defeated candidates on Thursday left at least 10 people injured, four of them by bullets, at Khajra union in Satkhira. The injured, one of them in critical condition, were being treated at Satkhira Sadar hospital after the clashes at Gadaipur village in Ashashuni upazila, said Golam Kabir, officer-in-charge of Ashashuni police station. The four who sustained bullet wounds were identified as Russel Hossain, Hafizur Rahman, Wadud Sardar while the injured are Nur Baksh Sardar, Aslam Kadir, Firoz Hossain, Sazid, Shahid Sardar and Emon Hossain, according to newly elected UP chairman Shanewaj Dalim. Read: Defeated UP member candidate beaten dead in Shariatpur Newly-elected chairman Shanewaj Dalim said his defeated rival Wahidul Islam fired at his supporters and threw bricks from rooftop of his house while they were heading towards Gadaipur village in a celebratory procession. Wahidul denied the allegation saying that supporters of Shahnewaj attacked and injured his supporters. Meanwhile accused Wahidul Islam said,”From last night Dalim’s men were attacking my house. At morning I fired at them from my licensed sten gun to stop them from coming inside.” Read: Rangpur cop’s wife sent to jail in fraud case Police reportedly fired shots to disperse the rival groups. Additional police personnel have been deployed in the area, the OC said.  

A defeated member candidate of the 5th-phase Union Parishad (UP) election was beaten to death by his rivals at Nowpara bazar in Nowpara union of Naria upazila on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Abdul Malek Malot,55, son of Kasar Ahommed Malot of Munshikandi village in the union. Witnesses said when Abdul Malek went to Nowpara Bazar on Thursday morning another member candidate and his cousin Delwar Hossain Malot, who was also defeated in the election, beat up with a bamboo, leaving him injured. Also read: Shariatpur polls violence: Injured AL activist dies He was taken to Munshiganj General Hospital in critical condition where doctors declared him dead, said Abani Sankar, officer-in-Chjarge of Naria police station. They locked into an altercation over contesting the election for the same post, said OC Abani Sankar quoting family members. The body will be sent for an autopsy and a case will be filed in this regard, he said. Also read: Pre-poll violence: 10 people injured in Shariatpur

In a horrifying incident, a jobless man set her 37-year-old wife, a primary school teacher, on fire in her sleep on Thursday. According to neighbours, Fatema Khatun, a teacher of Mohishbathan Government Primary School, is now at the crossroads of life and death with 25 percent burn injuries at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital. Her sister Nurjahan Khatun said when Fatema, a mother of two, was asleep at her home in the city’s Bulonpur Ghoshpara area when her husband Sadikul Islam set fire to her by pouring kerosene over her body around 1 am and fled the scene. Also read: Housewife killed in Kurigram, husband on the run Informed by the neighbours, Fatema’s family rescued her and took her to the hospital. “Fatema suffered 25 per cent burn injuries in her face, chest and hands. Her respiratory tract has been affected…her condition is critical,” said Dr Afroza Najnin, the head of RMCH burn unit. Nurjahan alleged that Sadikul has no job and he had been torturing Fatmea since their marriage 20 years ago. “My sister didn’t disclose the repression by her husband and maintained the relationship for social reasons. Now we’ll file a complaint against Sadikul,” she said. Meanwhile, Sadikul, son of former ward councilor Sazzad Hossain, could not be contacted over phone as he is on the run. Majharul Islam, officer-in-charge of Rajpara police station, said he got information about such an incident and Sadikul has gone into hiding. “Action will be taken once we receive a complaint,” the OC said. Also read: Man to die for burning pregnant wife to death in Kushtia In 2021, some 23 women and girl children fell victims to domestic violence (arson attacks) and 10 of them succumbed to their injuries, according to a recent report of Bangladesh Mohila Parishad on violence against women.

A Chattogram court on Thursday framed charges against BNP leader Aslam Chowdhury, his wife and two others in a case filed for embezzling Tk 325 crore of bank loan. Chattogram District Special Judge Munshi Abdul Majid passed the order during a hearing on the case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), said Kazi Sanwar Ahmed, Public Prosecutor of ACC. The other accused in the case are Aslam Chowdhury’s wife Jamila Najnin Mowla, his brothers- Jashim Uddin Chowdhury and Amjad Hossain Chowdhury. Also read: Aslam Chowdhury's bail order stayed On July 17, 2016, Manik Lal Das, Deputy Assistant Director of the ACC, filed the case against BNP’s Joint General Secretary Aslam and his family members on charges of embezzling Tk 325.74 crore loan of AB Bank, Agrabad branch. On August 7, 2017, Deputy Director of ACC in Dhaka Md Mosharraf Hossain Mridha submitted the charge sheet in the case after investigation. Also read: BNP's Aslam Chowdhury gets bail in two 2013 sabotage cases

Miscreants allegedly abducted a 40-year-old man after killing his wife at Rajbila in Sadar upazila of Bandarban district in the early hours of Thursday. The deceased was identified as Chinganu Marma, 30. The abducted man has been identified as Rethoai Marma, a resident of Thongjoma Para of the upazila. Read: Young man gunned down in Bandarban Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station, said that some five to six men barged into the house of Rethoai around 3am and tried to abduct him at gunpoint. When his wife resisted, the miscreants stabbed her to death. "The motive behind the abduction is not clear," the OC said.

Four of a family were killed while another was injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw on the Cumilla-Noakhali regional highway on Thursday morning. The deceased were identified as Bahar Mia, 50, his wife Parul Begum, daughter Jannatul Mawa, and his mother-in-law Golap Nahar. All the victims were occupants of the auto-rickshaw. The accident occurred around 8am on the high-speed corridor near Kaliacho in Cumilla's Laksham upazila when the BRTC bus hit the auto-rickshaw. Read:Four, including 3 students killed in Dinajpur road crashes "The impact of the collision was such that it left Bahar and his mother-in-law dead on the spot," said Jasim Uddin, a sub-inspector at the Lalmai outpost of Laksham Highway Police. Parul and her daughter Jannatul succumbed to their injuries on the way to Cumilla Medical College and Hospital, where the critically injured auto-rickshaw driver is currently undergoing treatment. Police have seized the killer bus and the auto-rickshaw. However, the bus driver is on the run, said SI Jasim. Road accidents in Bangladesh As many as 413 lives were lost and 532 people sustained injuries in 379 road accidents across the country in November last year alone, according to a report of Road Safety Foundation (RSF), a body that campaigns for safer roads. As per the RSF report, 407 people were killed in 346 road accidents in October 2021. In November, motorcycle accidents turned out to be the deadliest as those alone caused the deaths of 184 people, which is 44.55% of the total fatalities. Read:Expatriate, 2 others killed in Barishal road crash The total number of motorcycle accidents was 158 during the last month, which is 41.68% of the total accidents. According to the RSF findings, at least 96 pedestrians were killed in road accidents, which account for 23.24% of the total deaths. The RSF pointed out 10 major reasons behind the increasing number of road accidents -- faulty vehicles, reckless driving, scant regard for traffic rules and poor traffic management being some of them.  

Two Bangladeshi nationals, who returned home from India through the Benapole border in Jashore, have tested positive for Covid-19, officials said on Tuesday. Dr Ashrafuzzaman of the Benapole Immigration Health Centre, said that three people returned to Bangladesh from India through the land border on Wednesday noon. Read:Covid positivity rate marks sharp rise in Bangladesh Of them, two -- Habibur Rahman, 60, and Habibullah Sohan, 30, of Sadar upazila in Thakurgaon district -- tested Covid positive, he said. The Covid-19 positive patients were sent to Jashore 250-bed General Hospital while another returnee, Kamal, was taken to the Jashore isolation centre for a mandatory 14-day quarantine. Raju Ahmed, officer-in-charge of the Benapole checkpost, said the two Bangladeshi nationals had gone to India for medical purposes. "Already the higher authorities concerned have been informed." The world is struggling to fight off the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and the number of corona cases is increasing fast globally. Three more cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been detected in Bangladesh, taking its total tally to 10, according to GISAID, the global database for genomic data on the Coronavirus. On December 11, Bangladesh reported its first two cases of the Omicron variant in two members of the Bangladesh women cricket team. Read: COVID case counts may be losing importance amid omicron India Wednesday reported its first known Omicron death in the northwestern city of Udaipur, as the country recorded a whopping 58,097 fresh Covid cases and 534 fatalities in 24 hours. Alarmed by the rising Omicron cases, India's federal government two weeks ago warned states that "the variant is three times more transmissible than the Delta" and directed them to take action to rein in its spread.