United News of Bangladesh

Two people were injured after a bomb they were making went off at a house in Kalkini upazila of Madaripur district on Tuesday, police said. The injured were identified as Sumon Shikdar, 50 and Yeasin Bepari, 40. Also read: Ctg Cylinder blast: One injured dies in Dhaka Golam Mostafa Russel, superintendent of Madaripur Police, said the explosion occurred in the house of UP member Mannan Molla early this morning, leaving two people injured. Later, they were taken to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College and Hospital. The tin-roof of the house was also blown away during the explosion. Also read: Three hurt in unexplained explosion while cutting tree at Rajbari UP member Manna has been absconding since the incident.

Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has nabbed five suspected drug peddlers in Cox's Bazaar. The arrestees have been identified as Md Shamsul Alam (25), Md Akhter Hossain (35) Md. Hossain (28), Md Jamir Hossain (50), and Md Kefayetullah (30). Around 90,000 pieces of Yaba tablets worth over Tk 2.7 crore have been seized from their possession. Following a tip off that a trawler carrying a huge consignment of counterfeit goods  might arrive at Mistri ghat from Myanmar on Monday, a team from BGB-2 battalion Teknaf raided an anchored vessel, Colonel Mohammad Faisal Hasan Khan, the head of the battalion, told the media. Read: 2.59 lakh Yaba tablets seized from 2 picnic buses in Chattogram After a thorough search, the BGB personnel seized the huge quantity of Yaba tablets hidden inside the oil tank and took the five peddlers on board the vessel into custody. In an unrelated incident, a patrol team of the BGB 2 battalion seized some 14,000 pieces of Yaba tablets near the Damdamia check post in Teknaf. Sources said that the BGB personnel signalled a biker to stop for checking at the post but he abandoned the two-wheeler and disappeared in the mountains. A search resulted in the drug haul, the sources said.

A fire broke out in the basement of a luxury hotel in the port city on Tuesday morning. Fortunately, no casualties have been reported. Chattogram fire service officials told UNB that the fire started around 6.45 am at The Peninsula Chittagong and was contained within an hour and a half. Shamim Ahasan Chowdhury, deputy director of the fire service, said, "Five fire tenders were pressed into service to bring the blaze under control." Read: Angry ride-sharing biker sets bike on fire in Dhaka "The extent of damage is yet to be ascertained. A probe has been ordered to find out the exact cause of the fire," he added. Founded on July 25, 2002, The Peninsula Chittagong is the first and among the very few luxury hotels in the port city. Located near the famous GEC circle of Chattogram, the hotel is popular for its delicious cuisine, top notch services and attractive outlets.

Another dolphin was found dead in the Halda River in Hathazari upazila of Chattogram district on Monday. Naval police members recovered the dolphin carcass from Ramdas Munshirhat in the upazila. Professor Manjurul Kibria, co-ordinator of the Halda River Research Laboratory of Chittagong University, said local people spotted the dead dolphin in the morning and informed it to river police. Also read: Another dead dolphin found in Halda River A team of river police buried it near the river. On September 30, local people found another dead dolphin in the same area. So far, local people have recovered 31 carcases of dolphins from Halda River since 2017 and all the carcasses bore several injury marks. Also read: Dead dolphin washes ashore on Kuakata beach

The death toll from last week’s tragic boat accident in the Padma river rose to five with the recovery of another child’s body on Monday. Three people still remain missing, said the officials. The body of missing Brishti Khatun,8, daughter of Harunur Rashid of of Bish Rossia village in Panka union of Shibganj upazila was recovered from barrier dam-8 area of the river. Officer-in-Charge of Shibganj police station, Asaduzzaman said family members of the child spotted the body in the morning and recovered it from the river. Also read: Padma boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 4 The body was buried without an autopsy according to the family’s request, he said. The tragedy occurred on September 29, afternoon when the boat carrying 47 people sank in the Padma river off the coast of Laxmipur in Shibganj. The other five deceased were identified as Nilufar Begum, 62, wife of Khairul Islam of Bish Rossia village in Panka union of Shibganj upazila, and her grandchildren Maisha, 5, and Asmaul 7, children of Babu Ali, and Daisy Begum,35, wife of Harunur Rashid, Bish Rossia village. Also read: 2 dead, 7 missing in Sirajganj boat accident Shibganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Shakib Al Rabbi said the boat carrying around 50 people capsized in the river around 2.15 pm owing to strong winds. The boat was heading towards Bishrashia from Boglauri of Shibganj upazila.

Some exceptional photos of a school teacher teaching in a classroom with a baby on his lap have recently gone viral on social media and sparked debate. The incident took place at the Chinair Anjuman Ara High School in Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila where English teacher Pankaj Madhu was seen taking lessons holding a five-month old child of a student on his lap. Talking to the UNB correspondent, teacher Pankaj said a class IX student of the school was married off during the closure of the educational institutions due to the Covid pandemic. Also read: Viral: Woman tortured for failing to pay interest on loan “When the school reopened after the long closure we noticed the girl was absent. Later, we took initiative to bring back the dropped out student to school,” said Pankaj. “We came to know that the student was married off and gave birth to a child when we went to visit her house and requested her family to send her back to school,” he said. On Sunday, the girl came to her school with her child. “As the school girl was facing problem to attend the class, I took the baby on my lap and started teaching. I had no intention to make the photos viral,” said the teacher. Many people on social media appreciated the teacher for helping the student by holding her child while some expressed concerned over the baby’s health and hygiene issue. Many raised questions blaming the mother for taking her child to classroom. Contacted, headmaster of the school Mosharref Hossain refused to make any comment over the issue. Also read: Audio clip of Kurigram DC, journo Ariful goes viral Upazila Education officer Jiban Bhattachariya said the student should not take the child to school as the government did not make school attendance compulsory.

UNB’s Sirajganj district correspondent Masud Rana has resigned from the member post of the executive committee of district  press club. He resigned protesting the formation of new executive committee without holding any election. Read: Bagerhat DC visits ailing UNB correspondent Bisnu A new executive committee of Sirajganj Press club was formed in February this year without holding an election. “Despite being a member of the committee, I gave them an ultimatum to hold election. But not only did they listen to me, they have not invited me at any meeting although the committee has been active for almost 7 months,” said Masud Rana.

Three people in Jamalpur’s Islampur upazila  were killed by lightning strike.on Sunday afternoon The incident occurred at around 3 pm in the Kandarchar village of the upazila. Read: Panchagarh: 1 killed, 4 injured as lightning strikes tea stall The deceased were identified as Sundar Ali Sarder, 65, son of  Bhola Sarder; his grandson Rafiq Sarder, 14, and Mosharraf Hossain, 25, son of Mofazzal Hossain, all from Kandarchar. It was learned that they were working in the field when they were struck by a thunderbolt, and Sundar Ali died on the spot. Read:Lightning kills two in Kurigram Critically injured Rafiq died at Kandarchar Hospital Complex, and Mosharraf was referred to Jamalpur Sadar Hospital but died on the way there, according to the OC of Islampur Police Station Mazedur Rahman. 

Three Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists in Barisal’s Kalijira Bazar area were hacked with sharp weapons on Sunday morning during a clash between followers of the district Awami League's president and general secretary over extortion money. It has been alleged that the district AL general secretary Solaiman Bappi himself was involved in the attack that saw three BCL men- Raihan Munshi, Rajib Mallick and Jubayer - hacked with sharp weapons Kotwali Model Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Nurul Islam said he heard of fights in Kalijira market. Read: AL politician hacked to death in Bogura However, no party has lodged a complaint. Action will be taken on receipt of written complaint, he said. It was learned that the injured three were the followers of district AL president Humayun Hawlader. Solaiman Bappi with his followers attacked them in front of the Ward 26 party office as they previously protested Bappi’s extortion money collection from the hawkers and shops. The injured have been admitted to Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital after the incident. Read: AL activist hacked dead in Khulna Locals claimed that the AL general secretary and president had a long running dispute over extortion money collection from the roadside shops and the markets of the area. However, general secretary Solaiman Bappi denied the allegations and said that there is no such dispute.

Those who are dreaming of another caretaker government in Bangladesh defying the High Court order will never see it come true,  said Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif. The AL leader came up with the remark while talking to local journalists after a meeting of district Awami League in Chandpur town. Read: Evil intentions to create anarchy will be resisted: Hanif “Every political pary or leader has the right to participate in or boycot any election but the caretaker government system will never return in Bangladesh,” he said. Regarding BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s comment that  AL will not get 30 seats in the next  national election, Hanif said Begum Zia also made such comments during 2001 to 2006. “It’s a irony of fate that BNP itself got less than 30 seats in the national election in  2008,” Hanif mentioned. “BNP has become so detached from people due to their past activities, corruption and killing with petrol bombs that there is a serious doubt whether they’ll ever win any election,”said the AL joint general secretary. Replying to another question, the AL leader said they want an election with the participation of all parties and people’s spontaneous response.