United News of Bangladesh

This month only, the much-awaited tiger census will begin in the Sunderbans -- the world’s largest and only mangrove delta inhabited by the big cats. Along with tigers, the government will also enumerate deer and pigs in the delta under the 'Sundarbans Tiger Conservation Project’ estimated to cost the state exchequer a whopping Tk 35.93 crore. On March 23, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change gave its nod to the project with a three-year timeline. “The census will be conducted inside the tiger sanctuary in the Sunderbans as well as its periphery,” Abu Naser Mohsin, divisional forest area officer, told UNB. Also read: Tiger recovered from Sundarbans canal most likely died of natural causes

State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid laid the foundation stone of the country's first wind power plant project in Khurushkul, Cox's Bazar Thursday. "Renewable energy will play an important role in future power generation. The contribution of renewable energy in the energy mix of the country has been growing," he said while laying the foundation of the 60MW wind power plant in Cox's Bazar. Read: Bangladesh Army ensures regional peace, stability: Army Chief US-DK Green Energy (BD), a private firm, is setting up the country's first independent power producer (IPP) wind plant from which the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will buy electricity. The sponsor company will invest $116.51 million to develop the plant which will have 22 turbines, each having a generation capacity of three megawatts and a height of 120m. According to the BPDB, the plant will come into operation by December this year. The state minister said more wind power plants will be set up across different places of the country. Read: PM vows to uplift Bangladesh to a developed nation He said the project is a part of the government's development plan in Cox's Bazar including the Matarbari power plant, deep seaport and LPG terminal.

Another batch of 1,535 Rohingya refugees reached Bhasan Char in the 13th phase on Thursday. This took the total population of Rohingya refugees at Ashrayan Kendra in Bhasan Char to 29,116. The Rohingya men, women and children reached Bhasan Char by five naval ships in the noon, said Md Rafiqul Islam, Officer-in-Charge of Bhasan Char police station. The Rohingyas were taken to their respective clusters on arrival, he said. Read: PM vows to uplift Bangladesh to a developed nation Earlier on Wednesday the 27 buses left Ukhia Degree College campus with the Rohingya citizens and reached Patenga in Chattogram around 10 pm. Bangladesh is currently hosting over 1.1 million Rohingyas in camps in Cox’s Bazar and Bhasan Char. Most of them fled to this country since August 25, 2017, when the Myanmar military launched a brutal offensive targeting the Muslim ethnic minorities.

A first year student of higher secondary level of Phultala M.M. College in Khulna was stabbed dead by some unknown assailants on the college premises Thursday noon. The deceased was identified as Alif Hossain, son of Taher Tutl of Kasba village in Phultala upazila. Read: Man shot dead in Munshiganj clash “Some five or six miscreants swooped on Alif with sharp weapon and stabbed him indiscriminately. Later locals rescued him with severe injuries and took him to upazila health complex,” said Ilias Talukder, Officer-in-Charge of Phultala police station. Alif was transferred to Khulna Medical College Hospital where he died, said the OC. The killers are yet to be identfied but efforts are on to arrest them as soon as possible, he said.

Workers of a garment factory at Fatullah in Narayanganj blocked Dhaka-Narayanganj Link road on Thursday morning demanding payment of their dues. Around 300-400 workers of Rupashi Garments took to the streets near Shibu Market area around 10 am and put up barricade on the road, halting traffic movement. Read: Khulna oil tanker workers call off strike Rakibuzzaman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Fatullah Model Police Station, said the agitated workers vandalised some vehicles plying the road when police tried to send them back to their workplace from the road.   A chase and counter-chase took place between police and workers when some workers hurled brick bats towards police, he said. Meanwhile, around 15-20 workers were injured when police charged baton and opened fire and tear shells on the protesting workers to disperse them, alleged the workers. Read:RMG workers go on rampage in Gazipur; Bus torched However, traffic movement on the road returned to normal around 2pm as police brought the situation under control, said the OC.

Tension prevailed in Sadar upazila's Fakirhandi area on Thursday after a 28-year-old man was allegedly shot dead in a clash between two rival groups. The deceased was identified as Jewel Fakir, a fuchka vendor and son of Hafiz Uddin Fakir.  He was also involved in transporting potatoes during potato harvesting season. Read: 8 held over clash at Benapole port, trade resumes Additional Superintendent of Police Sumon Deb said two groups at Fakirkandi village-one led by Harun and another by Mantu- had been at loggerheads over controlling the business of transporting potatoes. As a sequel to the enmity, a clash broke out between the supporters of the two groups around 4:15 am. At one stage, the supporters of Mantu also beat up Jewel, a supporter of Harun group, mercilessly and opened fire on him, leaving him dead. Read: 25 injured in clash between factions at AL conference in Rajshahi On information, police recovered the body and  arrested Nannu Haji  in this connection. Additional police force have been deployed in the area to avert further trouble. A tense situation is prevailing in the area following the clash.

Police Thursday fished out the bodies of a man and his five-year-old daughter from the Jhinai river in Sarishabari upazila of Jamalpur. The deceased were identified as Abdul Aziz, 35, and his daughter Jannat, both residents of Boysing village in the upazila. Read: Schoolboy’s throat-slit body found in Tangail Locals spotted the bodies in the river near the Kristapur area around 10am and alerted cops, said Mir Rakibul Hoque, the officer-in-charge of Sarishabari police station. The duo had been missing since Tuesday following a family feud, said the local residents. Police suspect the two were killed. "However, the exact cause of the deaths will be determined only after post-mortem," said the OC. Read: Carpenter’s decapitated body found in Chattogram The bodies were sent to Jamalpur Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy. Police, meanwhile, detained four people, including three women, for questioning, he said. “Besides, the process is underway to file a case in this regard.”

Two sales executives died while another sustained injuries after a speeding courier firm van allegedly crashed into their bike in Khulna city on Wednesday night. The deceased were identified as Md Alauddin Sheikh, 30, and Md Arzu Al Chayan, 28. A critically injured Md Hamidur Rahman, 28, is currently being treated at a city hospital. Read: Three die in Dinajpur road crash Police said the three sales executives of a mobile phone manufacturer in Khulna were returning home from work when the van hit their bike from behind at high speed around 11pm. Md Kamal Hossain Khan, officer-in-charge of Khalishpur police station, said the three fell off the bike in the impact and sustained serious head injuries. All of them were rushed to Khulna Medical College and Hospital, where Alauddin was declared dead on arrival. Chayan succumbed to his injuries a little later. Read:2 killed in Chattogram road accidents "Both the vehicles have been seized. But, the van driver managed to flee leaving the vehicle behind,” said the OC. "Efforts are on to nab him."

Three youths returning home died after a speeding vehicle hit their bike from behind in the district's Nawabganj upazila on Wednesday night, police said. The deceased were identified as Rimon Islam, 22, son of Rabiul Islam, Sabbir Hossain, 23, son of Zahidul Islam and Kibria, 30, son of Yeasin Ali, all residents of Nababganj upazila. Read: 2 killed in Chattogram road accidents The accident occurred around 11pm when the three youths were returning home. "The vehicle crashed into their bike from behind at high speed in the Kachdah Alam Bazar area," said Ferdous Wahid, inspector at Nawabganj Police Station. The impact of the crash was such that the three fell off and dead on the spot, he said. "Efforts are on to identify and nab the errant driver."

A Bhola court on Thursday sentenced two people to death and another to life term in prison over a double murder case in Sadar upazila of the district. The condemned convicts are- Mamun and Firoz. The lifer is- Mamun's son Sharif. Bhola District and Sessions Judge Md Mohsinul Haque handed down the verdict. The court also fined Sharif Tk 10,000, in default, to serve 6 months behind the bar. Besides, Mamun's wife Rehana Begum and another son Arif were acquitted. According to the case, Mamun and his associate Firoz hacked his brother Masum to death in front of their house in the upazila following a land dispute on May 13 in 2018. Masum's brother-in-law Zahid was also hacked and seriously injured when he went to save Masum. Later, Zahid was rushed to Bhola Sadar Hospital where doctors declared him dead. READ: Shahjahanpur double murder: Prime accused put on 7-day police remand In this regard, a case was filed against five people at Bhola Sadar police station. Meanwhile, Mamun and Firoz, the two main accused in the case, went into hiding. The other three accused, Mamun's wife Rehana Begum and two sons Sharif and Arif were arrested.  After evading the law for a long time, police arrested Mamun from Pabna district. However, Firoz is still on the run.