United News of Bangladesh

Three Rohingya refugees who fled Bhasan Char have been detained and sent back, police said Friday. Locals nabbed the three in Mohammadpur union of the district's Subarnachar upazila on Wednesday evening and handed them over to the Char Jabbar police. Also Read: Ukhia camp: 6 Rohingyas burnt in gas cylinder fire The three Rohingyas have been identified as Khairul Amin, 21, son of Syedul Amin, Abdullah, 12, son of Md. Rafique, and Saiful Islam, 18, son of Abdul Khaleque. Ziaul Haque, officer-in-charge of Char Jabbar police station, said the detainees were handed over to Bhasan Char police on Thursday itself.     

Police have arrested a man for allegedly raping his 13-year-old stepdaughter in Kamalnagar upazila of Lakshmipur. Locals told UNB that the accused had been living at his parents-in-law's house since his marriage with the rape survivor’s mother three years ago. Also read: College student accuses former lover of rape with promise of marriage in Kurigram On Wednesday, when the girl’s mother went to her sister's house, the accused raped the girl after spiking her juice with sleeping pills. The girl narrated her ordeal to her aunt the next morning, following which the police were informed and a complaint was lodged. Also read: 3 arrested in Ctg over gang rape of girl who escaped from Cumilla "A case of rape has been filed and the accused has been arrested. The girl has been sent for a medical test," Mohammad Solaiman, officer-in-charge of Kamalnagar police station, said.

Farmers of Jashore have become worried about the shortage of labour during this Boro paddy harvesting season. According to the district department of agricultural extension, a total of one lakh 85 thousand 505 hectares of Boro lands have been cultivated this year. Paddy production is also satisfactory in the district. But the labour shortage has become a cause of concern for growers.  Jashore farmers have so far harvested only 30 per cent of the Boro paddy.  Every year an acute labour crisis hits the farmers across the country during the Boro paddy harvesting period. Farmers  eagerly wait for the labourers to come from the northern districts including Rangpur and Dinajpur. But, due to financial solvency and alternative employment opportunities, the number of labourers is decreasing during Boro harvesting time. As a result, the demand for local labourers has increased in every district of the country. Jashore is no exception to it. Farmers said local labourers are demanding extra wages for paddy harvest. Some of them are taking advance payment and working half  the day taking advantage of the labour crisis. Labourers are being benefited from that. On the other hand, farmers are counting extra money for paddy harvest which will add to the additional cost of the total rice production.   Expert labour of Jashore is charging Tk 1,000 for half-day work and working at two fields of two separate farmers. His daily net income rises to Tk 2,000. Nevertheless, farmers are not getting enough labour in time to cut their ripe paddy. Also Read: Sunamganj farmers apprehend missing Boro harvest Abdul Khaleque, farmer of Hanua village under Monirampur upazila, said he has cultivated two bighas of land. But due to labour shortage, he could not harvest his paddy yet.  “I have booked some labours today with advance payment. They will cut my Boro paddy at their convenient time. This is not fair. But, I am bound to keep their conditions to save my paddy from further loss.” Echoing him, farmer Sohanur Rahman of Sirajsingha village of the same upazila said, the rate of day labour was Tk 800 before Eid. Now he cannot get the schedule of the labours even offering Tk 1,000. This week's cyclone ‘Ashani’ increased their workload as farmers feared that a hit can destroy their crops within a few minutes. Farmers made frantic efforts to harvest the Boro paddy before rainfall caused by the ‘Ashani’.  All farmers want to cut their paddy at a time which puts pressure on the labour market. Labourers are also taking advantage of the crisis.    Meanwhile, some volunteer organisations of the district have been harvesting the Boro paddy of the poor farmers free of cost.    Around 50-60 volunteers led by Haibatpur union parishad member Abdur Rahim, have harvested 10 bighas Boro paddy which came to the attention of the area.  Youths of the Uttar Lalidah are also harvesting the Boro paddy of the poor villagers.  Sheikh Sajjad Hossain, agriculture officer of Jashore sadar upazila said, “Farmers of the district have already harvested 30 per cent Boro crop. I hope they can cut the entire paddy within the next 10 days.” Confirming the acute labour crisis, Sajjad said only the use of the latest technology-based harvester can resolve the problem. The government is providing subsidized harvesters to the farmers, he added.        

Six Rohingyas, including children, sustained burn injuries from a gas cylinder fire at Ukhia camp in Cox's Bazar Thursday, police said. The injured were identified as Nur Alam, his wife, their two sons and two others from a nearby home. They are being treated at Kutupalong MSF Hospital, said Naimul Haque, commander of Cox's Bazar Armed Police Battalion-14 (APBn-14). Read: Four of family suffer burns in Narayanganj fire The fire broke out at the house of Nur Alam of at Block D/4 in Ukhia Rohingya Camp 1/East. "Nurul Alam's wife was trying to light their gas stove in the morning but it did not work. She might have left the gas cylinder on to light the stove with a match stick, which caused the fire," said Naimul.

Police in separate drives have seized  around 69,000 packets of Orsalines from Hajarigoli and Andarkilla wholesale market and arrested a man in this connection. The arrestee is Sujan Kanti Sikder, 42, son of late Nirmal Sikder of Moddhom Sonaichhari under Sitakund upazila of the district. He runs a pharmacy named Sikder Medical Hall at Islam Market in front of Baro Auliya Mazar Also read: Over 92,000 litres of edible oil seized in Rajshahi, 5 held He has been sent to the court on Thursday, police said.   Chemist and Druggist Samity helped to recover the huge amount of Orsaline, the liquid formulation made by mixing salts for diarrhoea patients, kept in 172 cartons.    Zahidul Kabir, officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station, said police along with the leaders of Chemist and Druggist Samity and SMC Company’s representative Monwar Hossain, conducted drives in two separate places in the port city on Wednesday and arrested Sujan and seized the adulterated Orsaline.   Also read: Huge amount of yaba pills seized in Cox's Bazar

A 45-year-old indigenous man was shot dead by some armed miscreants at Langdu and Barakal border areas of Rangamati early Thursday. The deceased was identified as Lakshmi Kumar Chakma, a resident of Subalang area of Barakal upazila. He was a former member of the regional party United People's Democratic Front (UPDF). Also read:2 killed in JSS-UPDF gunfight in Rangamati Nasir Uddin, officer-in-charge (OC) of Barakal police station, said some gunmen opened fire at Lakshmi near his home in Shilchhari area around 1:45am, leaving him dead and fled the scene immediately. Lakshmi recently left UPDF and used to earn his bread by farming, said locals. Also read: UPDF chief collector held with arms in Khagrachari However, the OC said the motive behind the killing can be ascertained after an investigation.

Another tourist’s body was fished out of the Karnaphuli river off the coast of Rangamati’s Kaptai early on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Apurba Saha, 19, a resident of Chattogram city. He went missing while bathing in the river. Also read: 1 tourist drowns, another missing in Karnaphuli River Shaheen Alam, senior station officer of Kaptai Fire Service and Civil Defense, said some fishermen spotted Apurba’s body floating in the river in the Sitaghat area around 6am, 15 hours after he drowned. On information, Kaptai Fire Service personnel fished out the body. The body was later handed to Chandraghona police, said the official. On Wednesday, four of a six-member tourist group from Chattogram drowned in the Karnaphuli River at noon while bathing. Also read: Father, son go missing in Karnaphuli River Fighting against the current, three of them managed to swim ashore and another was rescued by Fire Service members, while two friends went missing. Later, a four-member naval diving team started searching for the missing tourist in the Sita Ghat area at 4.39 pm and recovered 19-year-old Lokesh Vaidya’s body.

A 50-year-old woman was hacked to death allegedly by her daughter-in-law over a family feud in Kathalia village of Barishal's Bakerganj upazila on Wednesday night. The deceased was identified as Nazneen Begum, wife of Hanif Hawladar of the village. Also read: Woman, 2 daughters hacked dead in Manikganj: Husband held Alauddin Milon, officer-in-charge of Bakerganj Police Station, said Laboni Akter and her mother-in-law lived in their village house "while Nazneen’s two sons stay and work in Dhaka". Around 10.30pm, Ujjal, the elder son of Nazneen, made a phone call to his mother. As no one received the call, Ujjal requested his uncle Kalam Hawladar to visit their house. When Kalam reached the house, he found Nazneen lying in a pool of blood. Also read: BCL leader hacked dead in Kishoreganj, 1 held On information, police recovered the body and arrested Laboni. "We are investigating the murder. However, we suspect family feud behind the crime,” said the OC.

A local leader of the Jatiya Jubo Jote was hacked to death allegedly by assailants in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia in the small hours of Thursday. The deceased was identified as Mahbub Khan Salam, 35, general secretary of Jatiya Jubo Jote and son of Alauddin of Amdah village in the upazila. Also read: 2 Jubo league activists hacked dead in Jhenaidah over toll collection, 3 held Jabed Hassan, officer-in-charge of Doulatpur Police Station, said Salam was brought to Kushtia General Hospital around 10.20pm in a serious condition, and he died at 1.20am. "The body bore several stab injury marks," said the OC. An eyewitness, identified as Mamun, who was accompanying the victim, told cops that a group of armed men suddenly attacked them near Allahrdarga Boyan intersection at night. Also read: Jubo League activist killed in Jashore "Mamun also suffered minor injuries in the attack. Efforts are on to nab the perpetrators of the crime," the OC said.

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company disconnected another 8,000 illegal gas connections in Bandar upazila of Narayanganj on Tuesday. A mobile court led by Fatema Tuz Zohra, executive magistrate and assistant commissioner (AC-land), conducted two separate drives in Gukuldasher Bag and Ispahani Bazar area of Dhamgarh union. Titas also removed around nine kilometres of illegal pipelines and seized a huge amount of risers during the drives. So far, 12,000 illegal gas lines have been disconnected in Bandar upazila. Earlier, 4,000 illegal gas connections were disconnected at two spots of Kuripara and Bage Jannat Masjid Road of the upazila. Md Suruj Alam, deputy general manager of Titas regional marketing department in Sonargaon, said the largest natural gas distributor in the country snapped around 30,000 illegal gas connections in three phases.    Also read: Illegal gas connections still in system despite repeated moves: Titas MD