Naogaon
Idol of Hindu deity recovered in Naogaon
A 40kg touchstone idol of Hindu deity Vishnu, worth over Tk 20 crore, has been recovered in Naogaon, police said on Tuesday.
Two men have been detained for allegedly smuggling the idol into Bangladesh -- Helal Uddin, 60, a resident of Modhuil village, and Altaf Hossain, a 50-year-old resident of Akbarpur village.
Read:3 touchstone idols recovered in Thakurgaon
Acting on a tip off, police raided the house of Kausar Ali in the Lodipur (south) area of the district's Khelna union on Monday night and recovered the stolen idol, said Md Mozammel Haque Kazi, officer-in-charge of Dhamraihat police station.
"The kingpins of the smuggling gang -- Kausar Ali, 30, and his wife Sumi Khatun, 28 -- however, managed to flee.
A case has been filed against the detainees and the absconding accused at Dhamraihat police station under the Special Power Act, said OC Mozammel.
BGB personnel shoots self with service gun in Naogaon, dies
A Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel allegedly ended his life by shooting himself with his service weapon at a camp in Sapahar border in Naogaon early on Thursday.
Tanvir, 26, hailed from Narail district and was posted at the BGB camp in Sundarail.
Read: Appellate Division upholds freedom fighters’ allowances to 196 BGB men
Other BGB members at the camp rushed a severely injured Tanvir to Sapahar Upazila Health Complex around 7am.
However, he succumbed to his injuries on the way to another hospital from the health complex where he received primary care, Tarekur Rahman Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Sapahar Police Station, said
In fact, he was declared dead on arrival by doctors at the same health complex only, said Dr Ruhul Amin, upazila health and family planning officer.
Read: 2 BGB men killed in Rajshahi road crash
OC Tarekur said an unnatural death case was filed in this regard. The body was sent to the Naogaon Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy under the supervision of BGB.
Meanwhile, Naogaon BGB-16 Commander Lt Col Asaduzzaman said that Tanvir probably took the extreme step over some family issues. "A probe is on."
Furniture factory in Naogaon catches fire
A furniture factory and its showroom in the Kathaltoli area of Naogaon caught fire on Friday noon.
According to the local fire service office, the fire at ‘Samrat Furniture’ occurred around 1:30pm.
Five firefighting units brought the blaze under control at about 3pm after an hour of efforts, said Md Shafiqul Islam, senior in-charge of Naogaon Fire Service.
READ: Probe body formed over Bogura factory fire
The officer suspected that electric short-circuits might cause the fire. No casualty was reported.
Asked about the extent of damage caused by the fire, he said it is yet to be assessed.
READ: Fire spreads panic in CCU patients at Barishal hospital; 1 dies of heart attack
However, the factory owner claimed that goods worth Tk 1 crore were gutted.
Youth Handball: Panchagarh emerge champions beating Naogoan
Panchagarh clinched the Walton 2nd National Youth U-17 Girls' Handball title, beating Naogaon 27-15 in the final at the Shaheed (Capt) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium Sunday.
The winners dominated the first half 13-8. Merry and Sanjida scored six goals each for the champions. Suborna and Sumi pulled back five goals each for the runners-up.
Sanjida of Panchagarh was named the best player of the tournament.
Read: BGB clinches National Men’s Handball crown for 9th time in a row
Earlier in the day, Jamalpur beat Dhaka 17-15 in the third-place decider.
Principal Hamida Ali, renowned sports organiser and former vice-president of the Bangladesh Handball Federation, was the chief guest in the day's final and distributed the trophies.
Two die in Naogaon road crash
Two youths were killed in a head-on collision between a bike and a pickup van on the Naogaon-Rajshahi highway near Sreerampur in Manda upazila on Thursday morning, police said.
The deceased were identified as van driver Shamim Ahmed (24), son of Abdus Salam of Shahmukhdum of Rajshahi, and 28-year-old biker Sanarul Islam, son of Tayej Uddin of Sabail village in Narail.
Read:CMCH doctor dies from road crash injuries
Police said the accident occurred around 9am when the van coming from Rajshahi crashed into the bike on the highway near Sreerampur. The impact of the crash was such that the van driver and the biker died on the spot.
Shahinur Rahman, officer-in-charge of the Manda police station, said the bodies of the deceased were sent to Naogaon Sadar Hospital for post-mortem.
Naogaon: Woman's body found, daughter-in-law detained
The body of an elderly woman was found in her son's house in Parnurulabad village of Naogaon's Manda upazila on Monday night.
The deceased was identified as Aklima Begum (60). Police suspect she was killed and have detained her daughter-in-law for questioning.
However, Laili Begum, the daughter-in-law of the deceased, said, "My husband is a microbus driver in Dhaka. My mother-in-law used to live with my brother-in-law. I brought her to our house on Thursday."
Read: Fire in power substation triggers outage in Naogaon
"She was alone in the house for few days as I had gone to visit my parents. When I returned home on Monday, I found the door locked from the outside. Later with the help of neighbours, I broke open the door only to find the body lying in a pool of blood," she said.
Officer-in-charge (OC) of Manda Police Station Shahinur Rahman said the daughter-in-law of the deceased has been detained for questioning in connection with the death.
Probe committee formed over NESCO sub-station fire in Naogaon
The district administration formed a five-member probe committee Friday after the sudden fire at the Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited (NESCO) 33/11 thousand kV sub-station in Naogaon.
Deputy Commissioner (DC) Mohammad Harun ur Rashid formed the committee on Friday noon after inspecting the damaged 33/11 thousand kV sub-station.
Additional District Magistrate Razia Sultana was made convener of the probe committee which has been asked to submit an investigation report within the next three working days.
Read: Fire in power substation triggers outage in Naogaon
On Friday 7:30 am, seven breakers in the power control room caught fire with a sudden load noise resulting power supply cut off in Naogaon, Sadar upazila, Raninagar, some parts of Atrai upazila as well as Shantahar and Adamdighi areas of Bogura district.
On information, four units of Naogaon Fire Service brought the fire under control after trying for about an hour.
However, no casualties were reported.
Fire in power substation triggers outage in Naogaon
A major fire broke out at the Kathaltali power substation in the early hours of Friday, leading to an outage in Naogaon and Santahar municipal areas.
Officials said the fire originated in the control room of the substation around 5.30am. Three fire tenders were soon pressed into service but it took them nearly three hours to contain the blaze.
However, the substation fire has knocked out power to lakhs of homes in Naogaon and Santahar.
Also read: Govt fails to take power from Payra plant, counts huge losses in capacity payment
According to the Northern Electricity Supply Company Limited (NESCO) office in Naogaon, the fire started in six breakers of the control room. The officials present there had tried to douse the flames before the arrival of the fire tenders.
Executive engineer (sales and distribution) of NESCO, Monir Hossain, said, “The exact reason behind the fire is yet to be ascertained, but we suspect an electrical glitch. A probe has been ordered."
Also read: Fire breaks out at Savar warehouse, 20 injured
A team of senior officials, including the chief engineer of Rajshahi, has reached the substation to restore power supply to the affected areas at the earliest, he added.
Two youths killed in Naogaon road crash
Two youths were killed when a speeding truck hit their bike at Saraigachchi intersection in Porsha upazila of Naogaon district on Friday night.
The deceased were identified as Shahadat Hossain, 17, son of Abdur Rashid, and Shohagh Hossain, 22, son of Mamlat Ali of Sapahar upazila.
The accident occurred around 9 pm when the truck driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed the bike, killing the two riders on the spot, said Shafiul Azam, officer-in-charge of Porsha Police Station.
READ: Three killed in Thakurgaon road crash
On information, police took the bodies into custody and sent them to the local hospital morgue for post-mortem.
Road accidents in Bangladesh
Road accidents are common in Bangladesh and have been a major cause of deaths.
During the last Eid-ul-Fitr holiday rush, road accidents claimed 323 lives in just 15 days, according to Bangladesh Jatri Kalyan Shamiti, a human rights body.
Besides, 513 people, including 63 children, were killed and 598 injured in 409 road accidents across the country in March, the Road Safety Foundation said on April 5.
According to the NGO, 147 lives were lost in 138 two-wheeler accidents, which is 28.65% of the total deaths.
READ: 3 killed in Satkhira road crash
In a report released in February 2020, the World Bank pointed out that Bangladesh needs to invest an estimated $7.8 billion over the next decade to halve its road crash fatalities.
The report attributed the high death rate on Bangladesh’s roads to lack of investments in systemic, targeted, and sustained road safety programmes.
2 children drown in Naogaon pond
Two children drowned in a pond in Naogaon district town on Saturday.
The deceased were identified as Russel Hossain, 16, son of Shyamol Hossain and his step sister Shimu Khatun, 6, daughter of Shaon Uddin.
Read:Chattogram: Army cadet goes missing after 'drowning'
Rebeka Begum, mother of the two children, used to live with her second husband Shaon Uddin in Bangabaria Moholla of the district town.
Quoting Jotsna Begum, grandmother of the two children, police said Russel and Shimu went to a pond of Barind Multipurpose Development Authority , 500 yards off their house, during rain.
When the two children did not return home after a long period, the family members went to the pond and found shoes and towel near the bank of the pond.
Read:Two teenagers drown in Dinajpur
On information, a firefighting unit rushed in and recovered the bodies from the pond, said Nazrul Islam Jewel, officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station.
The bodies were then handed over to family on Saturday evening after completing all necessary formalities.
Drowning in Bangladesh
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under five in Bangladesh. Accoridng to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survery(BHIS), in Bangladesh nearly 17,000 children drown annually, an average of around 46 each day.
Read:Two toddlers drown in Laxmipur
A cross-governmental taskforce was established on drowning prevention – led by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, with representation from 12 departments. The task force is working to prepare a ‘National Drowning Reduction Strategy’.
According to the WHO’s latest estimates, drowning is the cause of 235,000 deaths every year. Many countries including Bangladesh report drowning as a leading cause of childhood mortality, particularly in children under-5.