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Punak president stands beside Australian citizen who left country for love
President of Bangladesh Police Women's Welfare Association (Punak) Zeeshan Mirza expressed her interest to stand beside Australian citizen Malcolm Arnold, who left his hometown of Adelaide in South Australia and moved to Khulna in Bangladesh after falling in love with a Bangladeshi NGO worker.
74-year-old Malcolm Arnold has been living in Bangladesh for 19 years after marrying Halima Begum. Though Malcolm’s visa is valid till 2025 and he has assets and property in Adelaide he doesn't want to go there anymore.
When the UNB correspondent visited the couple in December last year, they recounted their story of love and marriage.
But now, he is facing a financial crisis and leading a miserable life due to his illness. When his condition came to light, Punak's president, also the wife of IGP, talked with Malcolm through video conference and inquired about his overall condition and promised to provide financial and medical assistance.
She also thanked Arnold for his unconditional love for Halima and Bangladesh.
On behalf of Zeeshan Mirza, Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md. Masudur Rahman Bhuiyan visited the ailing Australian citizen Malcolm Arnold and bought two paintings by Arnold.
KMP's Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) SM Fazlur Rahman, Additional Commissioner of Police (A&O) Sardar Rakibul Islam, BPM Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquarters) Mohammad Ehsan Shah, Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Sonali Sen, PPM-Service and Officer-in-Charge of Sonadanga Model Police Station Md. Mumtazul Haque were also present during the visit.
Earlier on Dec 11, on behalf of Punak President Zeeshan Mirza, Additional Commissioner of Police of Khulna Metropolitan Police SM Fazlur Rahman visited him and gave him medicines for one month and bought a painting.
Also read:For an Australian in Khulna, home is where his heart was won
28-year-old farmer commits suicide in Barishal
A 28-year-old man allegedly ended his life over a family feud in Uzirpur upazila of Barishal on Saturday.
The deceased Rajib, from Atipara village of the upazila, was a farmer by profession.
Deceased’s brother Sakibur Rahman said that Rajib and his wife had an altercation over a trivial matter on Friday morning. Rajib's wife went to her father's house following the incident.
On Friday night, Rajib took his dinner and slept in his bedroom.
Read: Missing woman found dead after 37 days
On Saturday morning, his family members called him several times. As he did not respond, they broke the door of Rajib’s bedroom and found him hanging from the ceiling and informed the police.
On information, police visited the spot and handed over the body to his family as no complaint was received, said Ali Arshad, officer-in-charge of Uzirpur model police station.
Flood situation improves in Sunamganj
The overall flood situation in Sunamganj district has improved as floodwater is receding in different areas gradually after 10 days of havoc.
Around six lakh people of three upazilas under the district have suffered a lot due to the flood water setting a new record of miserable life.
Although flood water has receded from the houses, it remains on the roads.
Shahid Mia, a sexagenarian of Kalipur under the Sunamganj suburb, said, "All our houses were inundated by the flood water in 2017. The water at that time receded hurriedly. But, this year, floodwater receded very slowly which barred our and cattle movement.”
Also read: Diarrhoea breaks out in flood-hit Sylhet
Freedom Fighter Nurul Momen, a senior resident of the same area, said, “I have made my house in Kalipur 40 years ago. Floods hit my house several times. However, floods in 1988 and 2022 have lasted ever long.”
The problem can be solved only by dredging the river from Sunamganj to Bhairab, Nurul added.
Haorer Krishi and Krishak Raksha Sangram Parishad member secretary Chittaranjan Talukder said waters at many haors in the district are also receding although onrush from the hilly areas continues. It takes a few more days to recede water from all the stagnant areas.
Also read: Ways to Purify Water during Flood, Disaster, Emergency Situations
Shamsudduha, executive engineer of Water Development Board, Sunamganj said, “Three waterways (Surma-Dhanu-Meghna, Surma-Kalni-Meghna, and Surma-Meghna) of the district were flooded due to flash floods. A survey will be conducted soon for dredging in these three waterways. After implementation of the dredging project, flood water will recede in a hurry.”
All rivers of the district were flowing above the danger mark due to the onrush of hilly water and torrential rains since May 10. Upstream waters have worsened the flood situation in Sunamganj leaving thousands of villagers marooned in their inundated homes.
Missing woman found dead after 37 days
Police recovered the body of a woman from Shibpur Purbopara village in Khetlal upazila of Joypurhat, 37 days after she had gone missing.
The deceased was identified as Beauty Begum, 33, of Syed Damgarah village of Bogura’s Shibganj upazila.
Read: 3 hanging bodies recovered from different parts of Naogaon in 24 hours
Police said Beauty Begum had an illicit affair with Uzzal and she came to visit him at Shibpur Purbpara village in Khetlal upazila of Joypurhat from Bogura on the night of April 21.
Uzzal Hossain raped her at his house and when Beauty pressurized him to marry her, Uzzal strangled her to death and hide the body in the toilet’s septic tank of his house.
Later, victim's family lodged a complaint with Shibganj police.
Based on the complaint, police arrested Uzzal Hossain from Bogura city on Friday night.
Read: Woman burnt to death by ex-husband in Patuakhali
On the basis of Uzzal's information, police recovered the dismembered body of Beauty Begum from the septic tank of Uzzal’s house Friday midnight.
A murder case was filed at Khetlal Police Station on Saturday, said Raushan Yazdani, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Khetlal Police Station.
8-feet long python rescued from paddy field in Lalmonirhat
Farmers rescued an eight-feet long python from a paddy field in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat district on Saturday, said the district administration.
The snake was rescued at noon from a field in Mothergor area in the upazila, said Dr Motaharul Islam, upazila livestock officer.
Habibur Rahman, a local farmer, found the python in his field while harvesting paddy and rescued it with the help of other farmers.
READ: Python found at 12 BGB HQ handed over to Forest Dept
The python has been kept under the custody of Nowdabas Union Parishad for now, said Dr Motaharul Islam.
Nazir Hossain, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, said “We immediately sent police to the spot when we received the information. The snake has been rescued and forest department officials will release it later into Shal forest.”
Diarrhoea breaks out in flood-hit Sylhet
As many as 550 people have been diagnosed with water-borne diseases, including diarrhoea, in the past one week in Sylhet, compounding the woes of the district's flood-hit residents.
According to the Sylhet Civil Surgeon's office, 400 people have been suffering from diarrhoea while 150 people were diagnosed with skin and other diseases. The number of infected people is increasing day by day.
Already, some 140 medical teams have been sent to the 13 upazilas of the district -- declared as diarrhoea-prone -- to provide medical services to the flood-hit people.
While 12 medical teams have been sent to Kanaighat upazila, 11 to Jaintapur, 10 each tk Goainghat, Sadar, Fenchuganj and Jakiganj, 16 each to Beanibazar and Golapganj, nine to Osmaninagar, eight to Dakkhin Surma and seven each to Balaganj and Companigonj upazilas of the district.
Deputy Civil Surgeon Dr Joyshankar Datta said, "People are suffering from diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases, and our medical teams are working round-the-clock clock to provide medical services to them."
Read: Sylhet schools shut due to flooding
Zahidul Islam, chief health officer of Sylhet City Corporation, said a ward-level health campaign has already been launched and "we have a plan to carry out such health campaigns daily for a fortnight".
"Residents of the city are suffering a lot due to the unavailability of pure drinking water, and we have already distributed 1.60 lakh water purification tablets," he said.
Dr Himangshu Lal Roy, director of Sylhet Health Division, said, "Some 183 people have been diagnosed with diarrhoea in the past 24 hours. The figure was 171 the previous day."
Besides, a total of five water purification machines -- four from the Department of Public Health Engineering and one from the Red Crescent Society -- have been pressed into service in the district.
Read: No improvement in Sylhet's flood situation
"Each machine can purify 500 litres of water an hour," the official said.
Woman 'ends life' over family feud
A woman has allegedly committed suicide over a family feud in Chattogram’s Uttar Kattli area.
Deceased Taslima, 22, wife of Kamal Hossain of the area, had a quarrel with his husband on Friday night when she was beaten up, police said.
"Soon after the incident, her husband found her hanging from the ceiling fan," a police officer said.
Neighbours rushed her to Chattogram Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
READ: 2 teenage girls ‘commit suicide’ in Pabna
Officer-in-charge Sadiqur Rahman of Panchlaish Police Station said that the woman died before she was taken to the hospital.
Her body has been kept in the CMCH morgue, he said.
Global Covid cases near 531 million
The overall number of Covid cases is fast approaching 531 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 530,920,131 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,309,638 on Saturday morning.
The US has recorded 85,699,847 cases so far and 1,031,218 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 43,147,530 on Friday, as 2,710 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, showed the health ministry's latest data.
Besides, 14 deaths from the pandemic registered since Thursday morning took the total death toll to 524,539.
Read: South Asia's intense heat wave a 'sign of things to come'
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh registered 23 new Covid cases in 24 hours till Friday morning, taking the country's total caseload to 1,953,379, health authorities said.
With no new Covid deaths reported during the period, the total fatalities from the pandemic remained unchanged at 29,130.
On Thursday, the country saw 28 new cases with zero deaths.
The daily test positivity rate slightly dropped to 0.59 per cent from Thursday’s 0.65 per cent as 3,899 samples were tested, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.49 per cent. The recovery rate rose to 97.37 per cent as 221 patients recovered during this period.
In April, the country reported only five Covid-linked deaths and 1,114 new cases, while 14,100 patients recovered from the disease, according to the DGHS.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh registers 2 deaths with 31 new cases
Among the five deaths during the period, two were unvaccinated patients while three were vaccinated with two doses of the Covid vaccine.
The country reported its first zero Covid death in a single day on November 20 last year, along with 178 cases, since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020.
On January 28, Bangladesh logged its previous highest positivity rate of 33.37 per cent.
The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 in the same year.
3 hanging bodies recovered from different parts of Naogaon in 24 hours
Police have recovered the bodies of three persons from Manda upazila of Naogaon in the last 24 hours.
The deceased have been identified as Abdus Samad, 58, of Dakshin Mainam village of Manda upazila, Rabindranath Pike, 66, of Binoy Bazar area of Prasadpur union and Sabbir Hossain, 26, of Chakrajapur village.
Sabina Khatun, daughter of the deceased Abdus Samad, said that after the death of her mother, her father married a woman named Mausumi Khatun. Due to feud, his father divorced her stepmother a few months ago.
On Thursday evening, his father left the house with her sister Samia. Since then, he had been missing. At one stage of the search, his father's body was found hanging from a mango tree in Rubel Hossain's garden near the house at around 3 am, she added.
On the other hand, Rabindranath Pike's son Ratan Pike said that his father Rabindranath had been ill for a long time. At night he used to sleep on the veranda of the house. He has not been seen since 9pm on Thursday. Later, his body was found hanging from a tree in a mango orchard near the house, he added.
Surma Begum, wife of the deceased Sabbir Rahman, said that her husband closed the bedroom in the house on Friday noon. As he did not respond for a long time, the door of the house was broken and his body was found hanging from the fan.
Shahinur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Manda police station said three bodies were recovered within 24 hours in separate incidents and sent to Naogaon Hospital morgue for autopsy.
Three unnatural death cases have been filed at Manda police station in the incident, the OC added.
Also read: 2 teenage girls ‘commit suicide’ in Pabna
Need to be tougher on drugs: Home Minister
Mentioning that 24 types of drugs are smuggled to Bangladesh from neighboring India and Myanmar, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said the authorities have to be tougher on drug smuggling.
The minister said this while addressing a drug eradication function at the BGB Cox's Bazar Regional Ground in Ramu as the chief guest on Friday morning.
All offenders will be brought to justice, no matter who they are, he said.
"In our country, 50 percent of drug addicts are youth. To save this generation of the country, we have no choice but to be tough against the drugs. So our goal is to implement zero tolerance against drugs," the minister added.
While addressing the programme, the minister said there are huge swathes of Bangladesh's area bordering India and Myanmar and many of them are in extremely remote areas where border guards can't easily travel. So BGB is using modern technology including helicopters and the government is constructing border-roads, which will be completed soon, he hopes.
The minister also officially razed to the ground drugs worth Tk 395.76 crore seized over the past one year in Cox’s Bazar.
The destroyed drugs include 90,80,477 pieces of Yaba, 23.752 kg crystal meth ice, 6,767 cans of beer, 1,339 bottles of alcohol, 154 bottles of Phensedyl; 206 liters of local alcohol; 17 kg cannabis; 48,019 different types of tablets; 10,984 packets of cigarettes and sever bottles of ammonium sulfur.
Besides, 1979 arrested drug peddlers and drugs worth Tk 510.90 crore were handed over to police.
A documentary on the BGB's drive against drugs was screened at the programme and BGB Cox's Bazar Regional Commander Brigadier General Nazam-us-Sakib, AFWC, PSC delivered the welcome note.
Government officials, reporters, BGB officials and members were present at the event.
Also read: BGB destroys seized drugs worth Tk 395 crore in Cox’s Bazar