United News of Bangladesh

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Sunday recovered one kilogram of crystal meth from the Jele Para (fishers’ quarter) area near Naf River at Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar. According to a press release issued by BGB-2 Teknaf battalion, while patrolling at the banks of the Naf River near the sluice gate area, a patrol team saw two men crossing the Naf River with a plastic bag towards Bangladesh. When the BGB men challenged them, they jumped into the river and fled across the border into Myanmar, leaving the bag behind, inside which they found the drugs. BGB estimated the street value of the drugs to be worth Tk. 5.2 crore, the release added.

Cox’s Bazar Tourist Police made three more arrests early Sunday in connection with the gang rape of a married tourist in the country’s biggest tourism hub last week. However none of the three arrested today are among the prime accused in the case. The arrestees are Rezaul Karim Sahabuddin, 25, Mehedi Hasan, 21, and Mamunur Rashid, 28, all belonging in the district. Also read: Cox's Bazar gang rape: Accomplice hotel manager placed on remand The arrests were made during a drive in different places of the district in the early hours of Sunday, confirmed Additional DIG of Tourist Police of Chattogram Division Mohammad Moslemuddin. Police said the individuals arrested today were found to be involved in the crime indirectly during investigation. They are also hopeful that the arrestees can lead them to the prime accused - Ashiqul Islam Ashiq, Esrafil Huda Joy and Mehedi Hasan Babu – who are still absconding. According to the police, there are 17 cases against the prime accused Ashik, including for assaulting women, possessing drugs and illegal arms. There are also two cases against Esrafil Huda Joy, the DIG added. Also read: Housewife’s rape in Cox's Bazar; seven sued Earlier 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. So far, four people have been arrested in the case. On Friday, the court recorded the victim’s statement, said inspector Ruhul Amin, investigation officer in the case. On Thursday, 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.

A man was killed on Sunday as police fired bullets at a centre in Asannagar union in Thakurgaon to quell  a clash between supporters of two member candidates in UP polls. The killed was identified as Hamidur Rahman, 55, a resident of South Asannagar union. He died on the spot and his body was sent to Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital, police said. Read: UP elections Phase IV: AL leader, his daughter held over snatching ballots in Thakurgaon The rival supporters of the candidates contesting with ‘Tala’ and ‘Football’ symbols locked in a clash during counting of votes at the Dakkhin Asannagar Government Primary School center at 7 pm. Police opened fire to take control of the situation, said Jahangir Hossain Superintendent of District police. The situation at the polling centre is currently under control, said the SP.

A father-daughter duo accused of snatching ballot papers during Sunday's fourth phase voting in the Union Parishad elections were held from a polling centre in Akhanagar union in Thakurgaon Sadar upazila. Balloting at the Jhargaon Rahmania Dakhil Madrasa polling centre was far from smooth. At one stage, police fired bullets to try and take control of the situation. Though it was supposed to be in the air, a man ended up getting shot. Hossain Ali, 35, is being treated at Thakurgaon Sadar Hospital. The ballot-snatchers were identified as Kabul, 45, general secretary of the ward unit of AL, and his daughter Kamrun Nahar, 25, by Magistrate Md Rakibuzzaman, who was presiding over the centre. Rakibuzzaman said the situation was eventually brought under control by the law enforcers and administration, but voting had to be suspended for what he said was half an hour.

Eleven people, including a woman and a child, were shot and wounded during a clash between the supporters of two candidates of ongoing UP polls at Sonagazi upazila in Feni on Sunday. The wounded were identified as  child Asma Akhter, her mother Fatema Akhter, Mizan, Yusuf, Fakir, Shipon, Ismail, Siddique, Nabi, Mia Saheb and Raj. Witnesses said supporters of member candidate Omar Farooq Sajib opened fire when the supporters of another candidate blocked their way to get inside the centre of Charchandia Hossainiya Government Primary School at noon. Read: Hardware store staff killed by UP chairman & his men in Feni, 4 held Later, the injured were sent to Sonagazi Health Complex. Titu Ranjan Das, presiding officer of the centre, said no untoward incident occurred inside it. Additional Superintendent of Police Thoai Ampra Marma said the situation is under control now. Meanwhile, Sajedul Islam, acting officer-in-charge of Sonagazi Model Police Station, said police arrested 72 people on various charges during the election.

Charges have been pressed against six members of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) over kidnapping a man to demand ransom money. Chattogram Senior Judicial magistrate Najmun Nahar accepted the charge sheet submitted by police on Sunday and granted bail to the six accused until the trial in the case begins on January 26, said Inspector Humayun Kabir of Chattogram district police. Earlier on December 4, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), submitted the charge sheet against the six accused. Also read: 3 cops suspended as Rohingya man flees police custody in Ctg The accused are, Constable Morshed Billah, bodyguard of CMP commissioner, Constable Md Masud, bodyguard of CMP Deputy Commissioner (Detective branch), Constable Shakil Khan and Eskandor deployed at Dampara Reserve Force Office, Constable Monirul Islam, computer operator of Assitant police Commissiner’s Karnaphuli office, Constable Abdul Nabi from Detective Branch (North). According to the case, on February 3 midnight, eight youths on four motorcycles abducted a man named Abdul Mannan from Purbo Bairag village under Anwara police station. Thecyouths identified themselves as police and one of them was wearing a jacket with DB (Detective Branch) written on it. They took Mannan to the Bhellapara area in Patia and demanded Tk 10 lakh to acquit him from the many cases filed against his name at the police station. Also read: Mob surrounds police station in Rangpur accusing cops of beating a person to death Mannan was released later after he paid them Tk 1,80,000. Mannan heard the name of Morshed from their conversation and filed a case in this regard on February 7 at Anwara police station. Finding proof of those accused constables being involved in the incident CMP authority filed a departmental case after suspending them.

As rescuers continued search for the missing or dead from the launch fire in Sugandha River on the third day Sunday the authorities could not determine the exact number of people still unaccounted for. Until filing the report at 6 pm no new bodies were recovered from the river nor any missing passenger found as anxious families kept waiting for their loved ones at Municipal Mini Park and on the bank of the river. The Jhalakathi unit of the Red Crescent Society has collected a list of 51 people missing from the information provided by their family members, said Imran, a volunteer from the organization to UNB. Also read: Fire likely from engine room caused launch tragedy: Probe committee Meanwhile, the police control room set up at the launch terminal reported getting information of 47 missing passengers so far, said Md Salauddin, Sub-Inspector of Jhalakathi Sadar police station. The divers from local fire service and Coast Guard resumed the search operation on Sunday morning and it was suspended for the day in the evening, said Khalulur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station in Jhalakathi district. Meanwhile probe bodies formed by the Ministry of Shipping, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the district administration continued their investigation on Friday’s tragedy on MV Avijan-10 on its journey from Dhaka to Barguna. While visiting the spot Baharul Amin, director of the Barishal BIWTA and head of six-member probe body said, “There was not enough arrangement in the launch to extinguish fire.” He said most of the launches on Dhaka-Barishal route are luxurious but don’t have enough safety measures in the engine rooms. “If the launch was immediately moved to the shore after the fire broke out most of the lives lost could have been saved but the navigator did not do it,: said Lieutenant Colonel Zillur Rahman, director of Jhalakathi Fire Service and Civil Defence. Also read: MV Avijan-10 owner, 24 others sued over Jhalakathi launch fire  Earlier, joint secretary of the shipping ministry Tofayel Hossain and convener of the seven-member probe body formed by the government said they suspect the fire originated in the engine room of the launch. He said, “We are investigating the Jhalakathi launch fire incident closely and we have visited the launch several times. Primarily, we suspect that the fire erupted from the engine room and then spread across it for other reasons.” Earlier, in the day, a case was filed with Barguna Chief Judicial Magistrate Court against the owner of MV Avijan-10 Hamjalal Sheikh and 24 others in connection with the deadly fire in the launch that left 41 people dead and many more injured and missing. The blaze broke out at 3am on Friday on the Barguna-bound launch carrying some 800 passengers from Dhaka and it engulfed the entire vessel within 10 minutes. The death toll from the fire incident climbed to 41 on Saturday night. Besides, over 70 people suffered injuries and many of them are undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

The fire that broke out at the MV Avijan-10 launch leaving scores of people dead, many injured and missing on Sugandha river in Jhalakathi district is suspected to have originated from its engine room, the head of a shipping ministry probe committee said on Sunday after preliminary findings. “We are investigating the Jhalakathi launch fire incident closely and we have visited the launch several times. Primarily, we suspect that the fire erupted from the engine room and then spread across it for other reasons,” said Tofayel Hossain, who is the joint secretary of the shipping ministry. Tofayel was talking to reporters after interviewing several eye witnesses of the tragedy at Barguna Circuit House. “The probe is still going on so we can’t provide any concrete information now. But we are trying our best to unearth the reason,” he said. So far, we failed to talk to any staff of the launch, he added. Earlier, in the day, a case was filed with Barguna Chief Judicial Magistrate Court against the owner of MV Avijan-10 Hamjalal Sheikh and 24 others in connection with the deadly fire in the launch that left 41 people dead and many more injured and missing. Advocate Nazmul Islam Nasir, chairman of Baliatoli union parisahd of Barguna district, filed the case with the court on Sunday. Barguna Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Mahbub Alam accepted the case and asked the police station concerned to take the complaint as a ‘First Information Report (FIR)’, said administrative official of the court Akhter Hossain. Meanwhile, the search drive in the Sugandha River was going on for the 3rd consecutive day on Sunday for tracing those who went missing following the massive fire on Friday. The divers from local fire service and Coast Guard resumed the search operation on Saturday morning and it is still continuing, said Khalulur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station in Jhalakathi district. “No new body was recovered from the river till the filing of this report around 11 am,” he said. Besides, the control room, set up by the local administration, listed the names of 25 missing people with information given by their relatives and family members. Earlier, the bodies of 23 people were buried in a mass graveyard following a namaz-e-janaza in Barguna on Saturday. The bodies were buried at Potkakhali mass graveyard in Sadar upazila around 12 pm. The blaze broke out at 3am on Friday on the Barguna-bound launch carrying some 800 passengers from Dhaka and it engulfed the entire vessel within 10 minutes. The death toll from the fire incident climbed to 41 on Saturday night. Besides, over 70 people suffered injuries and many of them are undergoing treatment at different hospitals.

A 50-year-old man was killed and 10 others injured in a clash between two factions of Awami League at Sablat village in Shalikha upazila of Magura district over establishing supremacy on Saturday. The deceased was identified as Shariful Islam, son of Ibrahim Hossain of the village. Siraj Uddin Mandal, AL Talkhori union unit president and newly elected chairman of Talkhori union parishad, and the defeated chairman candidate Advocate Shamsur Rahman had been at loggerheads over establishing supremacy. READ: 2 killed in Magura road crash On Saturday, the supporters of both groups locked into an altercation and at one stage, they attacked each other, leaving eleven people injured. The injured were taken to Jashore Sadar Hospital where doctors declared Shariful dead. A case was filed in this connection.

A motorcyclist was killed as a covered van hit his motorbike in Lohagara upazila on Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highway in Chattogram Saturday night. The deceased was identified as Md Zakaria, 55, son of Mozahar Miah of upazila’s Fakir Para in Chhoto Dhemshar. READ: Two motorcyclists killed in Manikganj road crash  Witnesses said Zakaria was coming to Lohagara on a motorcycle from Satkania. When he reached Padua area, a speeding covered van hit his vehicle in front of Padua Baro Aulia Dargah, leaving dead on the spot around 9:30 pm.   READ: Motorcyclist killed in Ctg road crash Dohazari Highway Police SI Babul Miah said he visited the spot.