United News of Bangladesh

Chapainawabganj, o7 Nov (UNB)--Two twin sisters drowned in a bucket of water at Masjid Para area of Sadar Upazila on Sunday morning.  The deceased  are Shaba and Sahara, 3 years old daughters of Emdadul Haque. Also Read: One drowns, another missing in boat capsize in Chandpur Victim’s father said they were playing in the bathroom with water. Suddenly both fell into a bucket full of water and fell sick. Later they were taken to Sadar Hospita where doctors declared them dead. Their bodies  were handed over to family, said officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station Mozaffar Hossain. Also Read: Medical student dies in quicksand of Jamuna River An unnatural death case  was filed in this regard, the OC added.      

Bagerhat, Nov 07 (UNB)-Police recovered the body of a madrasa student in Kochua upazila  of Bagherhat district on Sunday morning, two days after he had gone missing. The deceased was identified as Mehedi Hasan, 25, son of Monir Sheikh of Tengrakhali village and  a student of Madhobkathi  Madrasa in the localily.   Read: Valuables stolen from UNB Bagerhat Corr house Quoting family members, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Kochua  Police Station Iqbal Hossain said Mehedi went missing on Friday evening. Local people spotted the body in a ditch in a banana orchard of Tengrakhali village and informed police.   Several injury marks were found on the victim’s body. Read: Khaleda to return home from hospital this afternoon However, the reason behind the killing could not be known yet. On information, police recovered the body and sent it to Bagerhat Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy, the OC added.    

Two suspected criminals were killed in a reported gunfight with members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) at Mirtinga tea garden in Kamalganj upazila of Moulvibazar district early Sunday. The deceased were identified as Tofail Ahmed, 28 and Shaheed, 35 of Choitraghat. Read: Man ‘kills self’ after killing wife, daughter in Savar Tipped off, being tipped off that some criminals gathered in the area, a team of Rab-9 conducted a drive, said Basu Datta Chakma, commanding officer of Rab-9 Srimangal camp. At one stage, the criminals opened fire on the Rab men, forcing Rab to fire back that triggered a gunfight. Two criminals were caught in the line of fire and died on the spot while the others managed to flee the scene, he said. Read: Workers’ Party activist stabbed dead in Rajshahi Three members of the elite force were also injured in the incident. Both of them were accused in a murder case.     

Amid the ongoing nationwide transport strike against fuel price hike, launch owners in Bangladesh have suspended all their services on Saturday demanding that the launch fares be doubled. On Friday, Bangladesh Launch Owners Association held a meeting and sent a letter to the government for doubling fares from the current one, said vice president of Bangladesh Launch Owners’ Association Bodiuzzaman Badal. The letter, signed by association president Mahbubuddin Ahmed, said the government set the fares for launch passengers at Tk 1.70 per kilometer in 2014. Also read: Bus service to resume in parts of Chattogram as faction ends strike

Education Minister Dipu Moni on Saturday said students are expected to receive their new textbooks in time next year. “We’re cautious about errors in printing. Steps will be taken to fix errors if found after printing,” she said. The minister said this while talking to local reporters after attending the inauguration programme of Sadar Upazila Freedom Fighter Complex in Baburhat area of Chandpur. The Textbook Festival, marking the distribution of free textbooks among school and madrasa students, was not held on January 1 this year unlike previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic and students did not get textbooks in time due to delay in printing caused by the pandemic. Also read: Still unsure about dropped out students’ number: Dipu Moni The government launched the Textbook Festival in 2009 by distributing textbooks among students across the country as a gift for the New Year. School and college students in Bangladesh returned to their classrooms on September 11 after a prolonged closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The government had shut the educational institutions on March 17, 2020, after the country reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8, 2020 and later the closure was extended several times. Also read: Vaccination campaign for school children kicks off in Dhaka centres The pandemic-related school closures in the country affected about 38 million students though the government introduced TV-based learning programmes for them.

An association of transport owners in Chattogram have decided to operate buses in the city from Sunday 6 am, defying the ongoing nationwide strike against fuel price hike. “We have decided to operate the bus services that are under association from Sunday," said Belayat Hossain, President of Chattogram Metropolitan Bus Owners’ Association. in a note to journalists Saturday evening. The peaceful strike was for decreasing fuel price or else increasing the transportation fares but some unidentified people are picketing on roads disguised as transport workers, he said. Also read: Transport strike disrupting goods delivery from Ctg port “With the assistance of some unwanted people they are obstructing movement of CNG, autorickshaw, personal vehicles and industrial vehicles to upset common people. This issue made us take up the decision of continuing the bus services," said the president. Earlier around 9am some transportation workers blocked the Tigerpass intersection in the city and obstructed autorickshaws and other vehicles from moving. Some victims complained they restricted public transportations and personal vehicles from moving. Around 11am police removed the workers from the road. Meanwhile, the nationwide transport strike has seriously disrupted the movement of inbound and outbound goods-laden vehicles of Chattogram Port, bringing goods delivery almost to a halt. Around 4,000 vehicles used to ply from off-docks 19 but now the number has come down to half, while that of vehicles carrying export goods from different factories to the port have also declined sharply, said Ruhul Amin Sikder, Secretary General of Bangladesh Inland Container Depots Association (BICDA). Also read: Day 2 of bus strike: Commuters' pain is auto drivers' gain A highly-placed source at Chattogram Container Terminal and New Mooring Terminal, said the delivery of imported goods from the port has declined to 5% in these two days. On Wednesday (Nov 3), the government raised the prices of diesel and kerosene to Tk 80 from Tk 65 at the retail level. The next day, convenor of Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van, Tank Lorry and Prime Movers Owners and Workers Coordination Council Md Rustom Ali announced their decision to go on indefinite strike, following an emergency meeting.

The nationwide transport strike, enforced by transporters against fuel price hike, is seriously disrupting the movement of inbound and outbound goods-laden vehicles of Chattogram port, bringing goods delivery almost to a halt. No vehicle has been seen entering the port for carrying the unloaded goods or leaving it since the early hours of Friday, said sources at the country’s largest port. The port authority, however, said loading and unloading of containers and goods from vessels are normal at the jetty. Bus, truck and van owners went on an indefinite strike from Friday in protest against fuel price hike. Also read: Strike to continue as transporters’ meeting with minister ends ‘inconclusively’ Port secretary Md Omar Faruque said, “All the activities inside the port are normal. If the strike continues for a longer period, it’ll affect its activities for sure.”

A wild elephant was electrocuted in Satkania upazila of Chattogram in the early hours of Saturday. Local people set the electric wire around their croplands to prevent wild elephants from destroying their crops and the 50-year-old elephant was electrocuted while searching for food, said Mamun Mia, range officer at Satkania Forest Department. Sub-inspector (SI) of  Satkania police station Ramzan said on information, officials of Forest Department and Upazila Livestock office visit the spot. Also read: Case against 12 for killing Asian elephant in Cox’s Bazar; 1 arrested Conflict between humans and elephants has become an important issue in the last two decades. These animals are increasingly coming into conflict with the people sharing their habitat due to poaching and the destruction of the forests in which they live. Also read: Man killed in elephant attack in Chattogram

Sylhet police have arrested a woman and detained her minor son, both Nepali nationals, for allegedly sneaking into Bangladesh. The woman has been identified as Joya Bahadur Kami (48). She and her son, Shan Bahadur (10), residents of Amchak Bhojpur in Nepal, were nabbed from the city's Ambarkhana area on Friday night. BM Ashrafullah Taher, additional deputy-commissioner of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP), said the mother-son duo illegally entered the country on November 3 through the Borochhara border in Tahirpur upazila of Sunamganj district, along with some Indian nationals, in search of jobs. Also read: Bodies of 2 Bangladeshis at Sylhet no man’s land recovered On Saturday, they were scheduled to cross over to neighbouring India through the Tamabil border. But they were nabbed by a team from the Kotwali police station on Friday night, after the cops got a tip-off. Legal steps will be taken against the woman for entering the country without valid documents, Ashrafullah said. Both the woman and her son are currently undergoing treatment at Sylhet Osmani Medical College and Hospital under police custody "as they suffered injuries during their journey". Also read: Student stabbed dead on college campus in Sylhet

Natore, Nov 6 (UNB) -- A 50-year-old local union parishad member was found dead in  a house in Mashpur of Natore's Lalpur upazila Saturday morning.  The deceased was identified as Motiur Rahman Moti, a member of ward no 5 of the upazila's Duaria union.  Fazlur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Lalpur police station, said Motiur's body was found on the premises of the house of Shahida Begum, a former UP member. Read: Physician found dead in Dhaka  On information, police recovered the body and sent it to the local hospital morgue for an autopsy. "The reason behind his death will be clear after the autopsy," the OC said.  Kiton Kumar Shaha, superintendent of Natore Police, visited the spot.  Read: DU student found dead at Dhaka hotel