United News of Bangladesh

Three children were killed on Saturday in a landslide in Kulaura upazila of Moulvibazar district. The deceased were Sumon Mia,13, son of Taslim Mia, Kabir Ahmed,10, son of Abdul Karim, and Nahid Ahmed,12, son of Abus Salam from Islamnagar village in ward-3 of Bhatera union in the upazila, said Syed Najrul Islam, Bhatera UP chairman. READ: Death toll in India landslides rises to 46 A chunk of mud from a Ghagrachara hill fell on the children around 1 pm at Bhatera rubber forest area when they got into a hole after seeing a bird’s nest, said a local named Shahed Mia. Locals rescued them after spotting a hand of one child in the debris, he said. They were immediately taken to upazila health complex where doctors announced them dead. Sanjay Chakraborty, Officer-in-Charge of Kulaura police station, said they visited the spot after being informed by locals.

Another indigenous farmer who attempted suicide along with his cousin brother allegedly for not getting irrigation water for their land died  on Friday a day after his brother’s death. The deceased was Rabi Marandi, 32, a Santal community member of  Nimghatu village in the upazila. Earlier on Thursday afternoon, Rabi with his brother Abhinath Marandi, 30, took poison in front of Shakhawat Hossain , driver of a deep tube well operated under Barind Multipurpose Development Authority (BMDA). They took the decision out of anger as Shakhawat was not giving them a serial number for a long time to get irrigation water supplied to their field in Iswarpur while their seedlings were drying out, alleged the family. Also read: Farmer, pregnant wife stabbed ‘by Jubo League leader’ in Narail Abhinath Marandi died around 9 pm after reaching home on Thursday while Rabi died at 8pm on Friday while undergoing  treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH), said Brigadier General Shamim Yazdani, director of RMCH. Both the brothers died for swallowing poison, he told UNB on Saturday. Meanwhile on Friday night, Abhinath’s wife Rozina Hemrom lodged a complaint against Shakhawat for provoking suicide at Godagari police station, said Kamrul Islam, Officer-in-Charge of Godagari police station. Also read: Unsold surplus production, post-harvest losses for potato farmers amount to Tk25-35 billion OC Kamrul said Shakhawat has remained absconding since filing of the complaint. Meanwhile on Thursday, Shakhawat denied the allegation of not giving water supply to Rabi and Abhinath’s field when the UNB correspondent contacted him.

A Jubo League activist was killed while another injured in an alleged attack by their rivals on Friday night in the old Kasba Kanthaltala area of Jashore town. The deceased was identified as Rumman, 28, son of Liakot Patwari of the Talikhola Madrasa area. The injured, Arif Hossain Shakil, 28, son of Babu driver, belongs to the same area. Locals said Rumman had been at loggerheads with some members of the same outfit over establishing supremacy in the area. Read: 28-year-old govt staff stabbed to death in Bagerhat As a sequel to their long rivalry, some eight to 10 men attacked Rumman and his accomplice Shakil around 11.15pm on Friday, leaving them critically injured. Later, they were rushed to Jashore General Hospital, where doctors declared Rumman dead on arrival. Shakil is being treated at the same hospital. Tajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station said that "efforts are on to nab the assailants".

Hundreds of buses, cars and trucks have remained stranded at Paturia Ghat since Thursday night due to the onrush of homebound people ahead of a two-day vacation from Friday. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) sources said over 700 vehicles including private vehicles, passenger buses, and trucks remained stranded at Paturia Ghat, causing immense suffering to people. Read: Ferry services resume on Paturia-Daulatdia route after 4 hours Abdus Salam, assistant general manager (AGM) of BIWTC Aricha regional office, said Paturia ferry terminal area has witnessed a heavy rush of vehicles heading southwest since Friday morning. Vehicles have to wait for hours for ferries to cross the river. Nineteen small and large ferries were operating to ease the traffic, he added. Vehicles carrying passengers and emergency goods are getting priority to get on board. The regular cargo trucks will have to wait a bit longer, he said. Read: Ferry capsizes at Paturia dock A large number of people are heading home because of two holidays, including the Independence Day on March 26.

A fire broke out at a food processing factory at Kashimpur area of Feni town on Friday noon. The fire started around 2pm at Star Line Food and Beverage factory near Feni-Noakhali regional road, said Purna Chandra Mutsuddi, deputy assistant director of Feni Fire Service and Civil Defence. On information, 15 units of firefighters from Feni and Noakhali rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control after four hours, he added. The origin of the fire could not be known yet. No casualties were reported so far, said the official.

Four people were killed and two injured in a collision between a pickup van and a CNG-run auto-rickshaw in Raipura upazila of Narsingdi early Friday. The deceased were identified as college student Qayyum Mia, 18, Ain Uddin, 35, Monir Hossain, 25, and Abdur Rauf, 62, of the upazila. Read: 3 die in Dhaka road crashes The accident occurred in front of an LPG filling station on Madanganj-Narshingdi-Raipura road in Amirganj around 8am. The auto-rickshaw from Raipura collided head-on with the van coming from the opposite direction, leaving four occupants of the auto-rickshaw dead on the spot and two others injured, said Azizur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Raipura Police Station. Read: Two killed in Meherpur road crash The injured were rushed to Narsingdi Sadar Hospital. Although the pickup van was seized, the driver managed to escape, the OC added.

A 28-year old government employee was stabbed to death by assailants in Mollahat upazila of Bagerhat on Thursday night, police said. The deceased was identified as Nayeem Khan, an assistant at the upazila social services office and a resident of Gangni village in the upazila. According to locals, Nayeem was playing ludo with three men at a shop near his house around 9pm when a woman called him on his mobile phone. Read:Farmer, pregnant wife stabbed ‘by Jubo League leader’ in Narail "He stepped out to take the video call, but soon we heard his screams. When we rushed to his rescue, we found him lying in a pool of blood near the shop," said one of the ludo players. Nayeem was rushed to a local clinic first and later taken to Khulna Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared him dead on arrival, said Somen Dash, officer-in-charge of Mollahat police station. “Efforts are on to indentify and nab the killer," he added.

A truck driver and his helper were killed in a head-on collision with a lorry on the Dinajpur-Gobindaganj regional highway in the district in the early hours of Friday, police said. The deceased driver was identified as KM Saiful Islam Badsha, 49, from Singra upazila in Natore, while his assistant could not be identified immediately, said Ashraful Islam, in-charge of Fulbari police station. Also read: 3 die in accident on Dhaka-Sylhet highway The driver of the lorry also suffered minor injuries in the accident, he said. The accident occurred around 3am near the Rajarampur Fakirpara area of the district's Fulbari upazila when the Panchagarh-bound truck carrying bricks crashed into the Naogaon-bound potato-laden lorry coming from the opposite direction at high speed. Truck driver Badsha and his assistant died on the spot in the impact, Ashraful said. "Both the vehicles have been seized." Also read: Couple killed in Nilphamari road accident

The Detective Branch (DB) of Rajshahi district police arrested a union parishad (UP) chairman in a case filed over a clash between two rival factions of the ruling Awami League in Rajshahi's Bagha upazila. The arrestee is Merajul Islam, chairman of Pakuria union and former general secretary of district Chhatra League. Sajjad Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Bagha Police Station, said DB arrested Merajul from Rajshahi city's Shiroil area on Thursday morning. Earlier on Monday, at least 25 people including police members were injured in the clash during the party’s tri-annual conference at Bagha upazila. The incident occurred around 11am at Shahdowla Government College premises in the upazila. According to witnesses, after the guests took their seats on the stage supporters of Akkas Ali, former municipal mayor and member of district AL started giving slogans chanting his name in front of the stage. After that, supporters of Shahriar Alam, president of upazila Awami League and state minister for foreign affairs and Akkas Ali locked in an armed clash leaving at least 25 people injured. Later, two cases were filed mentioning 82 people by name and 700 unnamed people in this regard on Monday night.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) Mayor Md Atiqul Islam warned that those found involved in the food adulteration during Ramadan will be brought to justice. The DNCC mayor said this at a workshop at Nagar Bhaban in the capital on Thursday. The workshop was jointly organized by the Bangladesh Safe Food Authority and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and Dhaka North City Corporation. "Not only hotels and restaurants, but also the safety of street food must be ensured. “DNCC will also work to ensure the quality of street food”, Atiq said. To ensure the quality of food, DNCC will carry out strict monitoring and mobile courts will be set up in all of its 10 areas to take legal action against food adulteration, he added. Atiq also said they have decided to provide 100 licenses of street food sellers where the third gender community and needy people will get priority. It is very important to change the mentality of the people to ensure safe food and to build a healthy nation, he added. Future generations cannot be destroyed by taking tainted food, he said. Besides, proper application of laws concerned, building awareness are also very important," said the mayor. Md. Qayyum Sarkar, Chairman of Bangladesh Safe Food Authority, Md. Selim Reza, CEO, DNCC and John Taylor, Chief Technical Advisor, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) were also present at the workshop.