United News of Bangladesh

A 55-year-old man was shot dead by miscreants at Nastipur village in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga district early Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Hazrat Ali, son of Rois Uddin of the village. AHM Lutful Kabir, officer-in-charge of Darshana Police Station, said miscreants shot Ali, a farmer, at his head through the window of his house in his sleep at the dead of night. Read: UP polls violence: One shot dead in Sylhet Hearing the sound of the gunshot, the family members woke up and found Ali lying in a pool of blood. He was taken to a local hospital where doctors declared him dead around 3 am. Ali’s family said he used to work as a source of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB.  

Rail communications on Dhaka-Chattogram route remained cut off after a Dhaka-bound train hit a lorry at SKM Jute Mills level crossing in Sitakunda upazila of Chattogram district on Tuesday night. Read: 8-yr-old girl killed in Dinajpur road accident Officer-in-charge (OC) of Chattogram Railway Station, Mohammad Nazim Uddin said the accident occurred when the Dhaka-bound ‘Turna Nishitha’ train, which left Chattogram at night, collided head-on with the lorry. Railway authorities are working to restore the train service on the route, he added.    

A Chattogram court sentenced six Bangladesh Chhatra League activists to life imprisonment for killing another activist Nurul Alam Raju. Chattogram Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge AKM Mozzammel Haque passed the order on Tuesday.  The court also fined them Tk 10,000 each. READ: Attack on FFs, journos: MP, 25 others sued in Chattagram Two of the accessed Emon and Dipu were present at the court and remaining four are fugitive. The court also acquitted 14 persons as their charges as were not proved. As two accused were underaged their trial would be held in a separate court, the defense lawyer Kamrul Islam Sajjad said. According to the case statement, Nurul Alam Raju was killed on November 23, 2014 at Babirhat area of Panchlaish in Chattogram over sharing drug dealing money. Brother of the deceased, Md Kutubul Alam, filed the case.

Member of Awami League's advisory council and a former MP of Feni Joynal Abedin Hazari was laid to rest at the Mujib Udyan in Feni district town on Tuesday. His namaz-e-janaza was held at 10 am at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. Read: AL leader Joynal Hazari of Feni passes away The veteran AL leader was buried around 5:30 pm after the second namaz-e-janaza at 5 pm at Feni Government Pilot High School ground. Several thousand people including leaders and activists of Awami League attended the janaza. Besides, he was given state honour at the initiative of local administration. The body of the Awami League leader reached Mastarpara Hazari Bari around 2:30 pm from Dhaka and then it was taken to Mujib Udyan. Joynal Hazari, , a lifelong bachelor, died at Labaid Specialized Hospital in the capital on Monday. He was 76. Hazari, a valiant freedom fighter, was admitted to the hospital on December 15 with lung infections, cardiac and kidney problems. Born on August 24, 1945 in Feni, Hazari was elected MP thrice--1986, 1991 and 199--with Awami League ticket from Feni-2 constituency. Later, Hazari was the general secretary of the Feni district unit of AL from 1984 to 2004. Read: PM mourns Joynal Hazari’s death In 2001, a joint forces team conducted a drive at the house of Hazari during the caretaker government, but he managed to flee to India. He was expelled from Awami League in 2004 when he was on the run in India. In 2019, Hazari was made a member of Awami League's advisory council. He was also Editor of a newspaper, ‘Hazarika Pratidin’.

Tourist Police have arrested another accused in the case over the gang rape of a woman in Cox’s Bazar. Esrafil Huda Joy was arrested from Chakaria Bus stand area of Cox’ Bazar on Tuesday morning, said Additional DIG of Tourist Police of Chattogram division Mohammad Moslemuddin. Read: Female tourist in Cox’s Bazar was gang raped for extortion money: Rab So far, six people have been arrested in this connection. Police will produce Esrafil Huda Joy before the court on Wednesday and seek remand for him, said Moslemuddin. He said process is going on for bringing Ashiqul Islam Ashiq, the prime accused in the case arrested by the Rab in Madaripur, from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar. Ashiqul Islam Ashiq was arrested from Madaripur district  on Sunday night. Cox’s Bazar Tourist Police arrested three more accused in the case- Rezaul Karim Sahabuddin, 25, Mehedi Hasan, 21, and Mamunur Rashid, 28, from different areas in Cox’s Bazar district  on Sunday morning. On Monday, a court in Chattogram placed the three accused on a 2-day remand each. On Saturday, Riaz Uddin Chhotan, manager of a hotel that was one of two locations where the woman was raped, was arrested and remanded for four days. On December 24, the court recorded the victim’s statement, said inspector Ruhul Amin, investigation officer in the case. Read:Cox's Bazar gang rape: 3 more arrested, although not prime accused On December 23, the woman’s husband filed the case under the Prevention of Women & Children Repression Act at Cox's Bazar Sadar Model Police Station accusing seven people. On December 22, the 22-year-old woman was taken to Zia Guest Inn and there the three accused again took turns to rape her for hours following an altercation with her husband. They released her in the early hours on the following day and allegedly threatened to kill her family if she discloses the matter to anyone.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have detained three people including the prime accused in a case over violating a schoolgirl in Cox’s Bazar. They were detained from different parts of Chattogram and Cox’s Bazar district s on Monday, said Commanding officer of Rab-15 Lieutenant Colonel Khairul Islam Sarkar on Tuesday. Read: Cox's Bazar gang rape: Another accused held Md Ashique, 27, son of Nazrul Islam of Uttar Nunuachhara of Cox’s Bazar district town, was detained from Anwara upazila of Chattogram district around 11:30 pm. The elite force members also detained Kamrul, no 4 accused in the case and Mohammad Shaheen, manager of Mom’s Guest House, from different areas of Cox’s Bazar district on Monday night, he said while speaking at a press briefing. During preliminary interrogation, Ashique  reportedly confessed to his guilt to Rab officials. On December 13, Ashique along with two others picked the girl up in a vehicle when she was returning to her home. Read: Woman raped by 3 in Chuadanga; 2 held Later, they took the girl to Mom’s Guest House where they violated the girl repeatedly after keeping her confined there for two days. On December 18, father of the girl, lodged a complaint against nine people and police later recorded the case.

Drowning in debt, a 56-year-old government school principal allegedly end his life in his parents-in-law's house in Kumarkhali upazila of Kushtia on Tuesday morning. Police suspect that Rezaul Islam, the principal of Keshabpur Government Primary School in Joduboyra union, took the extreme step as he was unable to repay a loan of Tk 20 lakh that he took recently to build a house of their own. Read: Teenage student allegedly commits suicide in Kaptai His wife, Shefali Aktar, the principal of Char Agrakunda Government Primary School, spotted the body hanging from an iron grille of their house and alerted their family members and police. Kamruzzaman Talukdar, officer-in-charge of Kumarkhali police station, said that no autopsy was conducted as the family members did not lodge any complaint. "It seems he was unable to repay the huge loan," he said. On Monday afternoon, his brothers lent Rezaul nearly TK 1.7 lakh. “He went to sleep at night like regular days, but early this morning, I saw his body hanging from the grille," said his wife. Read: Couple ‘commits suicide’ in Bagerhat Meanwhile, Monsur Ali, an assistant teacher of Keshabpur Government Primary School, said, “During a chat with other teachers last Thursday, Rezaul Bhai cracked jokes about leaving us for forever.”

Two men have been arrested in connection with the alleged gang-rape of a housewife in the Nilamore area under ward no 3 of Chuadanga municipality, police said Tuesday. The arrestees have been identified as Rubel Hossain, 32, and Md Nazim Hossain, 30. However, Billal Hossan, another accused, is absconding. According to the case statement, the three picked up the housewife while she was returning home around 8pm on Saturday. They took her to a mango orchard near the brick field on Buzruk Gargari Madartala Road in the municipality and raped her. Also read: Cox's Bazar gang rape: Prime accused Ashiq arrested Later, they took the housewife to her house at 12am. Mohammad Mohsin, officer-in-charge of Chuadanga Sadar Police Station, said the woman filed a police complaint against the trio on Monday night. Police arrested them from the area soon, the OC added. Also read: Teen housewife 'raped' on moving bus in Narayanganj, 3 held

The death toll from Friday's deadly launch fire off the coast of Jhalakathi rose to 44, with the recovery of two more bodies from the Sugandha River on Tuesday. The bodies of the unidentified people were fished out by firefighters from the waters adjacent to the Jhalakathi launch terminal at Shachilapur in the district, said Shafiq, deputy assistant director of the district fire service. The deceased were a boy aged around 12 and a man aged around 32, according to the Jhalakathi Fire Service and Civil Defence. The man’s face was burnt beyond recognition and he was wearing an off-white sweater and jeans, said Shafiq. "The body has been sent for an autopsy." Also read: Launch fire: CID collects DNA samples of missing passenger families in Barguna Meanwhile, Coast Guard members and firefighters continued their search operation in the Sugandha river for the fifth day in a row.

Kabirul Islam Siddiki has been elected as the new president of the executive committee of Faridpur Press Club. In the election held on Monday, a total of 69 votes were cast for the winning president candidate. Besides, Mahabubul Islam Piklu was elected the general secretary of the committee getting 46 votes. Of the 18 posts candidates contested for 13 while five others were elected uncontested.   Sheikh Foyez Ahmed, Sanjib Das and Sazzad Hossain Rony are the three elected as vice presidents.