United News of Bangladesh

A Mymensingh court on Sunday convicted five people and sentenced them to life imprisonment for killing a farmer in 2012. Additional Sessions Judge Md Samsuddin handed down the punishment. The convicts are Shukkur Ali, Harez Ali, Amir Ali, Jamir Ali and Hatem Ali of Haluaghat upazila in the district. The court also fined them Tk 1 lakh each, in default, to suffer, one more year in jail. According to the prosecution, farmer Ahmed Ali of Mokamia village had an enmity with Shukkur Ali over a piece of land. As a sequel to the enmity, on October 14, 2012, around 20–25 supporters of Shukkur Ali stormed into the paddy field of Nurunnahar, wife of Ahmed Ali, and forcibly took away the harvested crop. At one stage, Shukkur Ali and his associates attacked Ahmed, his wife, and other family members, including Nurunnahar’s maternal uncle Habibur Rahman and grandmother Sufia, with sharp weapons when they resisted, leaving five people, including Ahmed, injured. They also swooped on Nurunnahar’s house and looted valuables, including cash. The injured were later taken to Haluaghat Upazila Health Complex. Habibur succumbed to his injuries ten days after the attack. Nurunnahar filed a case with Haluaghat Police Station against 25 people, including Shukkur Ali. After examining the records and witnesses, the court acquitted 20 others as the allegations brought against them could not be proved.

Police recovered the body of a rickshaw puller from the Padma River in Rajbari Sadar upazila on Sunday. The deceased was identified as Liton Khan, 42, son of Akkach Ali Khan of Radhakantapur village in the upazila. Pplice recovered the body around 10am from the Urakanda area under Barot union. Family members said Liton went out with his rickshaw around 10pm wearing a jacket. He told them that he might travel far with a passenger and could return late. Locals spotted his body floating in the Padma River on Sunday morning and informed police. Officer-in-Charge of Rajbari Police Station Uttam Kumar Ghosh said the body bore injury marks on the head. “We suspect that miscreants snatched his rickshaw, killed him and dumped the body in the river,” he said. The body was sent to Rajbari Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy, the OC added.

A school teacher died after suffering a heart attack reportedly while waiting in a queue to buy fuel at a filling station in Rangpur on Saturday night. The deceased was identified as Mehedi Hasan, son of Matiur Rahman from the New Engineer Para area of the city. He was a teacher at Balakuar Chowrar Hat Government Primary School. Family members said Mehedi Hasan had gone to a filling station at Parjatan Mor to purchase fuel. While standing in line he fell sick and was immediately taken to Rangpur Medical College Hospita, where doctors declared him dead, they said. Officer-in-Charge of Rangpur Metropolitan Kotwali Police Station Azad Rahman  said police received information that a man had died after falling sick while waiting in queue at the fuel station. “He might have suffered a heart attack while standing in the queue,” the OC added.

The largest traditional festivals of Chakma and Tanchangya communites have begun in Bandarban with the ceremonial offering of flowers in a river to bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new one. The festivals formally started on Sunday morning as young men and women from the communities gathered at the Sangu River and floated flowers on the water. Participants from different villages came together for the ritual, symbolically washing away past sorrows and welcoming the new year. Children, men and women of both communities dressed in traditional attire offered flowers and prayers to the water deity, seeking blessings for peace, happiness and prosperity in the coming year while letting go of past hardships. Bandarban, one of the three hill districts, is home to 11 ethnic minority communities alongside Bengalis, making it culturally diverse compared to other districts of the country. The blend of ethnic traditions and cultural practices adds a unique dimension to such festivals in the hill region. A series of programmes have been arranged to celebrate the festivals across different communities. A traditional Ghila game Gold Cup tournament of the Tanchangya community will be held this afternoon at Roangchhari upazila. Other events include the Sangrai rally on April 13, Buddha statue bathing on April 14, and water festival, cultural programmes and traditional food preparations on April 15 and 16. Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Dipen Dewan is expected to attend the main water festival event as the chief guest on April 15 at Bandarban Rajar Math.

A Dhaka court on Sunday granted bail to former Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in an attempted murder case linked to the 2024 July uprising. Dhaka Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Zakir Hossain passed the order on Tk 50,000 on bond considering her illness and gender, said Public Prosecutor M Omar Faruq Faruqi. There is no legal bar to the release of the former Speaker as she has not been shown arrested in any other cases, said court sources. A Dhaka court on April 7 sent her to jail in the case following her arrest the same day. According to the case statement, Ashraful alias Fahim suffered bullet injuries to his left eye in the Azampur Bus Stand area of Uttara on July 18, 2024 during the mass uprising, which ultimately led to the fall of the Awami League government on August 5. Later, he filed a case against 25 named individuals, including Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, and 120 unnamed ones. Following the fall of the Awami League government, she resigned on September 2, 2024. Abdul Hamid was elected Speaker after the Awami League came to power through the 2008 general election. Following his election as President, Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was elected Speaker on April 30, 2013. Since then, she had been serving as Speaker until the government’s fall. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was a Member of Parliament from Rangpur-6 constituency.

Solar irrigation projects in three upazilas of Manikganj have failed to deliver expected benefits, with all the pumps lying idle due to poor maintenance, weak management and technical faults, forcing farmers to rely on costly diesel amid the ongoing fuel crunch. Farmers said the projects, introduced nearly a decade ago to cut farmers’ irrigation cost and dependency on diesel, are now lying non-functional. Instead, farmers are struggling to irrigate their fields amid a growing diesel shortage and rising fuel prices. A costly bridge in Manikganj waiting for roads However, four pumps in Sadar upazila have remained functional, officials said. Projects turn ineffective In Singair upazila’s Rasulpur village, a solar irrigation pump installed in 2016 with support from a Korean organisation has remained out of service for years. The pump, equipped with 24 solar panels and a generation capacity of 5.16 kilowatts, was initially able to irrigate around eight bighas of land. Locals said the project worked well for the first two years, benefiting farmers with low-cost irrigation. However, the system collapsed after the solar panels were stolen at night. However, the authorities concerned did not take any effective steps in this regard, rendering the pump to lie abandoned. Farmer Abdul Halim said, “We got water easily at low cost in the beginning. But after the panels were stolen, no one came forward to restore the system.” Another farmer, Idris Mia, said the local managing committee also became inactive, leaving the project completely abandoned. Besides, the fate of a similar pump at Merundi in Harirampur upazila remained the same. BADC project yet to start A similar situation is observed in Ghior upazila, where one solar irrigation pump installed by the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) under a Tk 20.6 lakh project has remained non-operational for around five years since the beginning. The pump, set up on the bank of the Dhaleshwari River in Char Ghior, were expected to provide irrigation to at least 70 bighas of land and benefit over 100 farmers. A managing committee was also formed with local farmers, but the project never became functional. During a field visit, it was seen that no water is being provided though pipes were installed. Farmers are now relying on diesel and electric pumps to cultivate Boro paddy and other crops. Several farmers alleged that they were promised affordable irrigation facilities, but no official is seen in years after installation. They also claimed that the local committee members remained inactive for the last two years.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have detained a suspected smuggler along with four gold bars – weighing 452 grams – from the Darshana border area in Chuadanga district. The arrest was made on Saturday evening in the Baradi border’s Panch Kabar area, said BGB sources. The detainee, identified as Samar Halder, 27, is a resident of Parkrishnapur village under Darshana Police Station. Chuadanga father held over kidnapping own son for ransom

A local Jatiyatabadi Tati Dal leader was stabbed to death by miscreants in the Khalishpur area of the city early Sunday. The deceased was identified as M Sona Mia, president of ward No. 10 unit of Tati Dal and son of Jabbar Sardar of the Nayabati area. He used to run a grocery shop in the area. Locals said a group of three miscreants, riding a motorcycle, swooped on him at his shop around 12:05am and chopped him indiscriminately. Youth kills mother in Khulna Deputy Commissioner of Khulna Metropolitan Police Sudarshan Kumar Roy said after being attacked, Sona Mia started running and took shelter in a nearby warehouse. Locals found him lying unconscious there and took him to Khulna Medical College Hospital where he died.

Authorities have sealed off a private maternity clinic in Feni town following the death of a young mother, allegedly due to negligence during a caesarean procedure. The incident occurred at One Stops Maternity Clinic on Shaheed Shahidullah Kaiser Road, where 21-year-old Naima Akter Liza, wife of a Saudi expatriate from Fazilpur union, underwent surgery on Friday night. According to family members, Liza was taken to the clinic after she went into labour and was quickly advised to undergo a C-section. Following the operation, her condition deteriorated, with excessive bleeding reported. Despite repeated concerns from relatives, the clinic authorities allegedly downplayed the severity of her condition. Feni filling station fined over disruption in fuel supply As her health worsened, she was referred to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, but died on the way on Saturday evening. Soon after the incident, the district administration, in coordination with health officials, conducted a drive at the clinic and sealed it off for operating in violation of the Private Clinic and Laboratory Ordinance, 1982. Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate Mojibur Rahman said the healthcare facility had breached multiple regulations and was running unlawfully. Civil Surgeon Dr Rubaiyat Bin Karim noted that the clinic had previously been shut down and later allowed to reopen under conditions. “Initial findings suggest negligence and mismanagement. An investigation is underway, and action will be taken if allegations are proven,” he said. Police said no formal complaint had yet been filed, noting that legal steps will be taken upon receiving one.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained two individuals and recovered firearms and ammunition during a special operation in Naikhongchari upazila of Bandarban on Saturday. According to BGB sources, acting on intelligence provided by DGFI, a patrol team from Naikhongchari Battalion (11 BGB) conducted the operation in the Baganghona area of Sadar Union in the evening. During the drive, law enforcers detained Md Faruk, 21, a Rohingya youth from Camp-13, and seized one 9mm TT pistol (made in Yugoslavia), another pistol of unidentified type, and 42 rounds of live ammunition, BGB said in a media statement. Over 10.59 lakh Yaba seized in Cox’s Bazar, largest single-day haul in BGB history Based on information obtained from Faruk, another suspect, Md Nurul Alam, 30, was later detained from the Chakdala Bazar area of the upazila. During initial interrogation, the detainees reportedly confessed that they were planning to hand over the arms to another party at a local hotel named Cafe-13 for Tk 20,000, following instructions from an individual named as Ayatullah. They are currently in BGB custody, and legal proceedings are underway. Naikhongchari Battalion Commander Lt Col Md Faizul Kabir said BGB has intensified patrols and intelligence activities to maintain law and order and prevent illegal arms smuggling in border areas, adding that such operations will continue.