Chattogram
It is better to have loved and married, than surrendered to cancer
A 24-year-old dying cancer patient, who came to know that her disease is at an advanced stage recently at Chattogram Medical Centre, nevertheless married her boyfriend to fulfill her last wish.
The groom Mahmudul Hasan, 27, and bride Fahmida Kamal were in a relationship and set an example by completing the step of marriage instead of surrendering their love to cancer at a hospital recently, said Saifuddin Saki, former official of Chattogram City Corporation and also the grandfather of Fahmida.
The image of the bride and bridegroom, wearing traditional wedding dresses, went viral on social networking sites drawing the attention of the netizens.
READ: 5-litre can of soybean oil: The best gift a newly married couple could get
The bridegroom himself took the responsibility of his newly married wife and all medical expenses, drawing praise from different quarters.
Mahmudul, son of Azizul Haque of Chakaria in Cox’s Bazar district completed his MBA from North South University (NSU) while Fahmida obtained her BBA and MBA degrees from International Independent University (IIUB).
They met and fell in love during their university days.
In 2021, Fahmida was admitted to Dhaka Evercare Hospital and came to know that she has been suffering from cancer. Later, she went to India for treatment but the doctors informed her it was too late for them to do anything. She then returned home.
She has been undergoing treatment in Chattogram Medical Centre for the past two months, although there was no let up in the deterioration of her physical condition.
READ: School closure impact: over 3,000 girls married off in Bagerhat
During this period, Mahmudul asked for Fahmida;s hand in marriage from her family, and having crossed all obstacles they finally tied the knot on March 9, just like they had always wanted to.
And despite the tragic circumstances, they celebrated the occasion by cutting a cake and providing sweets at the hospital.
3 brothers to hang for killing uncle in Cox’s Bazar
A Chattogram court on Sunday sentenced three brothers to death in a case filed over abducting and then killing their uncle by slitting his throat in Chakaria upazila in Cox’s Bazar.
The court sentenced another brother to life imprisonment and acquitted one more accused from charges during the hearing.
Chattogram divisional Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Mozammel Haque passed the verdict during a hearing.
Also read: Drug trader sentenced to death in Gaibandha
The death row convicts are Abu Bakkar Siddique, Yunus Manik, and Ibrahim Mostafa Kaiyum, sons of Nurul Ajiz from Maganpara village in Badarkhali union of the upazila.
The lifer is their brother Md Sohayet.
The court also fined Tk 50,000 each to the death row convicts and Tk 10,000 to the lifer.
Except Abu Bakkar Siddique, all the others were sentenced in absentia, said Public Prosecutor of the court Ayub Khan.
On June 30, 2016, victim Nurul Huda, then president of the union faction of Awami League, was at a tea stall in Badarkhali Bazar and commented, “All the war criminals will get hanged one by one”.
Also read: Daughter, contract killer arrested for murder of mother in Gazipur
Abu Bakkar got into an argument with Huda over the comment, and abducted his uncle later assisted by other accused in an auto-rickshaw and killed him.
On July 2, 2016, a case was filed at Chakaria police station following a complaint by Nurul Huda’s son Mohammad Shahjahan.
7-yr-old boy found dead in Ctg orphanage
A seven-year-old madrasha student was found dead with his throat slit at an orphanage in Boalkhali upazila of Chattogram district on Saturday.
The deceased was identified as Iftekhar Malikul Mashfique, a student of Allama Hazrat Sheikh Asiar Rahman Farooque Orphanage and Madrasha located in the Charandwip area of the upazila.
READ: Fire in Ctg garment factory brought under control: Fire Service
MD Abdul, officer-in-charge of Boalkhali Police Station, said Mashfique’s body was found inside the orphanage around 9am. As the news spread, local residents gathered at the orphanage and demanded police action.
READ: 3 fined Tk 23 lakh for irregularities in scraping grounded ship in Ctg
"The body has been sent to the local hospital morgue for an autopsy. A probe is on," the OC said.
Fire in Ctg garment factory brought under control: Fire Service
A fire broke out at a garment factory in Chattogram’s Bandar area on Friday, said firefighters who took about two hours to tame the blaze.
No casualties were immediately reported from the fire that broke out at Saj Fashion located on the fifth floor of Hossain Complex at around 12:30 pm.
Eight units of fire service from Agrabad, Bandar EPZ and other stations of the city rushed to the site and controlled the blaze from outside.
READ: Private car catches fire in city
Liton Das, deputy assistant director of the fire service said, after trying for about two hours, the fire was somewhat brought under control.
He said details about any possible casualty or damage would be known after firemen reach the fifth flood of the building where the fire originated.
The fire was controlled from outside and it was not known if anyone got trapped inside, he said.
He couldn’t ascertain the source of fire.
Though it was a public holiday on Friday, the garment factory was running with workers inside, locals claimed.
READ: 5 injured in Rampura godown fire
Also, the flood houses offices of banks and business establishments, according to people living in the neighbourhood.
The owners of the factory were not immediately available for comments.
CCC's shop leasing: 20 people acquitted from ACC case
A Chattogram court on Tuesday acquitted 20 people, including an Awami League leader, from a case filed by Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) for leasing Chattogram City Corporation’s (CCC) 23 shops without publishing tender in the newspaper in 1997.
Chattogram Divisional Special Judge Munshi Abdul Majid passed the order.
Those cleared of the case are- Md Jahedul Alam Chowdhury, Khorshed Alam Chowdhury, Bakhtiyar Uddin Khan, AM Mainul Haque and his wife Nazneen Sultana, Mubarak Ullah, Nezamul Haque, Hosne Ara Begum, Md Yunus, Sheikh Sarwardi, Ishtiaq Ahmad Chowdhury, Md Ershadul Haque, Hasina Bhuiyan, Nur Nahar Begum, Hasan Murad, Didarul Islam, Md Rezaul Karim Chowdhury, Golman Ara Begum, Anjuman Ara Begum Minu and Mahbub Mintu.
Earlier, former mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the main accused in the case, was absolved by the court due to his death.
READ: ACC to submit report after drive at BSTI
Advocate Sheikh Iftekhar Saimul Chowdhury, counsel for the defendants, said around 24 people were accused in this case. The ACC charge sheet recommended the acquittal of three persons during the main period. The ACC could not prove the allegations against the remaining 20 people before the court.
“And so, we plead to the court for the acquittal of all the accused in the supplementary charge sheet,” he added.
According to ACC, the 23 shops built by Chattogram City Corporation at Muradpur in the city were allotted between January and December in 1997. The then ACC inspector Shamsul Alam filed a case against 24 people at the Kotwali Police Station on October 13 in 2002, alleging lease of the shops without publishing tender in the newspaper and verification.
Later, another ACC inspector Md Mobinul Islam also submitted a memorandum of evidence (ME) to the court.
According to the ME, Mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury did not publish any tender in the newspaper regarding the shop lease. The then mayor provided a written allotment order fixing the price and monthly rent of his shop.
Later, another inspector Jahangir Alam reviewed the ME of the two previous investigating officers and submitted a charge sheet in the court on February 9 in 2006.
Following the writ petition of Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the High Court stayed the proceedings of the case on 22 February of the same year.
READ: Fired ACC officer submits application for withdrawal of termination order
On December 6 in 2012, the High Court lifted the ban on the proceedings of the case by dismissing the rule relating to the writ petition. Then the trial of the case began.
On January 16 in 2019, the court directed further investigation into the case. According to the instructions of the ACC head office of the court, Fakhrul Islam, assistant director of ACC’s Chattogram integrated district office-1, submitted the charge sheet after investigating the case.
Defeated UP candidate arrested over killing of rival’s brother:Rab
A man, who lost a recent UP election, has been arrested in connection with the murder of the brother of the victorious candidate in Chattogram.
Suspect Ajgar Ali, 45, was arrested from Sadarghat Thana area in the port city on Sunday night by Rab, said Rab-7 in a press briefing on Monday.
READ: 2 arrested for stabbing dead man during mugging in city
According to Rab, Ajgar was defeated by Tyeb, current member of Bagabil-3 union in Rajanagar UP election held on November, 28, last year.
Angered by the defeat he allegedly attacked UP member Tyeb several times.
On last February 2 Ajgar allegedly sent some men to attack Tyeb’s brother Yousuf Ali near Bogar Bil bazar as he was returning home.
READ: Man arrested for raping minor sister-in-law in Thakurgaon
Severely injured in the attack Yousuf fought for life at ICU for ten days.
Later, a murder case was filed accusing Ajgar and some 12 more at Rangunia police station following a complaint lodged by Yousuf’s wife.
1st ODI: Imperious Afif, Mehidy guide Tigers to surprise victory vs Afghanistan
With six wickets down under the 50-run mark, Bangladesh successfully chased down a target of 216 against Afghanistan riding on an outstanding partnership of Afif Hossain and Mehidy Hasan Miraz on Wednesday in Chattogram.
With an imperious partnership of unbeaten 174, Afif and Mehidy guided Bangladesh to a 4-wicket victory in the first match of the three-match series— one of their finest victories in the format.
Afif and Mehidy set a record of the highest seventh-wicket stand for Bangladesh in ODIs. They surpassed the previous record of 127 by Imrul Kayes and Mohammad Saifuddin.
READ: Bangladesh restrict Afghanistan to 215 in 1st ODI
Along the way, Afif remained unbeaten for 93 off 115 with 11 fours and one six while Mehidy for 81 off 120 balls with 9 fours.
It was Afghan young pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi who put immense pressure on Bangladesh taking four wickets early. Bangladesh lost five wickets in just 28 runs, and four of those wickets were taken by Farooqi who was playing only the second match of his career.
The other two wickets that Bangladesh lost were taken by Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan— two of the strongest weapons of this Afghanistan setup.
When Afghan players were overjoyed with the prospect of a big victory, Afif and Mehidy paired up and put up a resistance that was never broken.
During the early overs of the partnership, both Afif and Mehidy were steady. They played the balls with extra care so that they wouldn't push the team into further trouble.
Afghanistan bowlers tried so many things to break the stand, but their efforts went in vain.
Earlier, the tourists have won the toss and opted to bat first. They failed to have a good start as the opener Rahmanullah Gurbaz fell to Mustafizur Rahman early for seven of 14 balls.
However, in the middle overs, Afghanistan batters were firm. Najibullah Zadran hit 67 before being dismissed late in the innings.
Rahmat Shah was the second-best batter for Afghanistan in the innings scoring 34.
READ: Tamim aims to play 'good cricket' in ODIs vs Afghanistan
Afghanistan scored 63, their best stand in the innings, in the fifth-wicket stand shared by Mohammad Nabi and Najibullah Zadran.
However, they failed to do well in the last 10 overs when they added only 47 runs losing the last five wickets, and eventually, they ended up on 215 all out in 49.1 overs.
For Bangladesh, left-arm pacer Mustafizur was the best bowler taking three wickets conceding 35 runs while two other pacers— Taskin Ahmed and Shoriful Islam— bagged two wickets each along with Shakib Al Hasan. Mahmudullah Riyad bowled one over and took a wicket too.
In this match, Bangladesh fielded Yasir Ali Rabbi— the debutant from Chattogram. Before getting his ODI cap, Yasir played three Tests. He also played 77 List-A matches and scored 1878 runs with two centuries and 11 half-centuries. He, however, failed to justify his place in the first chance as he suffered a duck and put the team into trouble.
It was Bangladesh’s first ODI in eight months. The Tigers played their last ODI before this series in July 2021 in Zimbabwe.
The remaining matches of this series will take place on February 25 and 28 at the same venue.
Death row convict arrested in Ctg
Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) has arrested a death row convict in a murder and robbery case who had been on the run in disguise of different places for six years.The arrestee was identified as Md Ishak, 27, son of Md Kamal Hossain of Chattogram's Hathazari who was sentenced to death along with 3 others in 2021 for killing a woman after rape in March 2016.
Read: Death row convict on the run for 20 yrs arrested in CtgBesides, there are three other fugitives who were sentenced to death in this case.They are: Md. Yasin, Md. Abu Tayyab Prakash Rana ,24, and Md. Mansur, 25.The accused was arrested from Sultanpur area of Raozan in Chattogram early hours on Monday, said Nurul Absar, senior assistant director (Media) of Rab-7 of Chattogram.
8 hurt in BCL infighting in Ctg over offering flowers at Shaheed Minar
Eight people were injured as two rival groups of Bangladesh Chhatro League (BCL) clashed at Chattogram Government Haji Muhammad Mohsin College over placing flowers at Shaheed Minar on Monday, marking International Mother Language Day.
Witnesses said that two groups of BCL - followers of general secretary of Nagar Awami League and former city mayor AJM Nasir Uddin and followers of Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel - got involved in a clash at a stage over who would offer flowers first at the Shaheed Minar at the college premises around 12pm, leaving eight injured.
Read: 10 BNP activists remanded over clash with police at Naya Paltan
The injured were sent to Chattogram Medical College and Hospital (CMCH).
On information, police rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control, said Ferdous Jahan, officer-in-charge (OC) of Chawkbazar police station.
Four companies invest $50 million in BEPZA Economic Zone in Mirsharai
Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) has received four companies’ investment of USD $ 50 million to set up industries at BEPZA Economic Zone-Bangabadhu Sheik Mujib Shipla Nagar at Mirsharai in Chattogram.
BEPZA and four companies (1 local and 3 foreign) signed land lease agreements in this regard at BEPZA BEPZA Complex in the capital on Saturday.
The companies will invest $ 50 million in garments, garments accessories, camping equipment and shoe accessories industries which will create employment opportunities for 23,453 Bangladeshi nationals.
Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Dr. Ahmad Kaikaus was present in the signing ceremony as the chief guest.
Speaking on the occasion Kaikaus said BEPZA has a unique magnetic power to attract investment which ultimately contributes to the economic development of the country.
BEPZA is not only helping to integrate with the global economy but also upgrading the life standards of the people, he added.
He treated agreement signing as the beginning of a new era and hoped that more giant industries would come in the BEPZA Economic Zone.
BEPZA Executive Chairman Major General Abul Kalam Mohammad Ziaur Rahman, said BEPZA is now one of the most successful organizations in the country considering its experience, capabilities, expertise and professional excellence achieved during the journey of 40 years in serving the country's export-oriented industries.
Investors’ confidence has made BEPZA a brand in the global arena, he added.
Referring to the land lease agreement signing of BEPZA Economic Zone as a milestone in the growing success of BEPZA, he said that BEPZA will be successful in operating the Economic Zone.
Also read: Electric car plant in Mirsarai; huge investment planned
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a significant plan to establish 100 Economic Zones in the country aiming to take the country's industrial sector to the next level in light of the dream of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu, BEPZA Chairman said.
On behalf of BEPZA, Member (Investment Promotion) Ali Reza Mazid and Director of Univogue Garments Company Limited Jagath Priyantha, Chairman of Fengqun Composite Material Co. (BD) Ltd. HeZaiqun, Representative of Campex (BD) Limited Shahadat Musharraf Khan & Managing Director of TexTrim Labels (BD) Limited Abul kalam Sikder signed the agreements on behalf of their respective organizations.
The process of establishing industries in BEPZA Economic Zone at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar starts officially by signing these agreements.
Shaikh Yusuf Harun, Executive Chairman of Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), S M Khan, President of Bangladesh EPZs Investors' Association (BEPZIA), BEPZA Member (Engineering) Mohammad Faruque Alam, Member (Finance) Nafisa Banu, Executive Director (Administration) Md. Zakir Hossain Chowdhury, Executive Director (Public Relations) Nazma Binte Alamgir, Executive Director (Investment Promotion) Md. Tanvir Hossain, Executive Director (Enterprise Services) Md. Khorshid Alam, Project Director of BEPZA EZ Md. Hafizur Rahman and Executive Director (Security) Lt Col ASM Quamruzzaman, PBGM along with other senior officials of BEPZA, PMO and the investors of EPZs, among others, were present at the function.
Among the signatories, the Sri Lankan industry M/s Univogue Garments Company Limited will set up a garment industry with an investment of $ 36.49 million. The company will produce 32.14 million pieces of woven bottom and woven jacket annually where 17,896 Bangladeshi nationals will get employment opportunities.
M/s Fengqun Composite Material Co., (BD) Ltd., a fully foreign owned Chinese company will set up a shoe accessories industry with an investment of US$ 2.22 million. The company will annually produce 35,000 tons of shoe accessories (foam, foam PU insole, lamination goods, footwear items, etc.) and packaging items (cartoon, paperboard box, inner box, chipboard packaging, etc. The company will create employment opportunities for 360 Bangladeshi nationals.
M/s. Campex (BD) Limited, a USA-owned enterprise will set up a tent, tent accessories and outdoor garment manufacturing industry with an investment of US$ 10 million were 5,000 Bangladeshi nationals will get employment opportunities. The company will produce 5 million pieces of tents, backpacks, packing bags, movie screens, projectors, screen walls, lockers, sunscreens, balcony screens, seat covers, camping furniture, raincoats, jackets, etc. annually.
Bangladeshi company M/s. TexTrim Labels (BD) Limited will set up a garment accessories and paper converting industry with an investment of US$ 1.27 million which will create employment opportunities for 197 Bangladeshi nationals. The company will annually produce 11,717 tons of thermal sticker label, plotter marking paper, care label, master cartoon box, screen print, heat transfer and transfer label, tag, etc.
Also read: Mirsarai Economic Zone to create 3 million jobs: LGRD Minister