Bagerhat
12 held following clashes over Prophet remarks in Bagerhat; 20 injured
At least 12 people have been held by the police after 20 were injured in a clash Monday when an angry mob tried to break into Chitalmari police station in Bagerhat demanding punishment for a college student who allegedly insulted the Prophet (PBUH).
According to Superintendent (SP) of Bagerhat police KM Ariful haque, a facebook post insulting Islam and the Prophet (PBUH) was shared a few days ago from the FB ID of Ronit Bala Rony, a Grade-XI student at the local Sher-e-Bangla College.
The police held the girl after noticing the post on the night of June 12. On Monday noon, a few hundred people gathered outside the Chitalmari police station and started to protest demanding proper punishment for the girl.
At one point, they attacked the police station and vandalized it along with vehicles parked outside.
“The situation turned extreme when the protesters tried to enter the police station. Police members had to fire 24 rounds of empty bullets to bring the situation under control. 20 people, including 12 police personnel, got injured during this time,” said Ariful.
“The police have so far arrested 12 people in this connection. Currently, they are being quizzed inside the police station. Process to lodge a case by the police is also underway,” added Ariful.
Also Read: Prophet remarks: Police halt Islami Andolan’s march towards Indian High Commission
Ariful mentioned that the college student claimed that she didn’t post the derogatory status. Rather, someone else opened a fake account with her name and posted it to spoil her.
“Police are investigating the claim,” Ariful added.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Chitalmari Syeda Faizunnesa said that she rushed to the police station after learning about the attack.
“There, they threw brickbats at me and vandalized my car,” Faizunnesa said.
Marufa Nasrin, a doctor at the Chitalmari Upazila Health Complex, said that a total of eight people of different age groups have received first-aid from the hospital.
Extra police personnel have been deployed at the police station to prevent any untoward incident.
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Bagerhat Hindu house attacked over altercation on India’s prophet comment issue
A Hindu house in Chitalmari upazila in Bagerhat came under attack from an infuriated Muslim mob on Sunday over an earlier altercation regarding derogatory remarks by India's ruling BJP leaders about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The house of Dipak Sarkar, 33, at Chingari village in the upazila was attacked around 2 pm by a group but no one was hurt as the residents managed to flee, said KM Ariful Haque, Superintendent of Bagerhat police to UNB.
The attackers later blocked a road in Kunia area but police took control of the situation by detaining Dipak Sarkar, he said.
Also read: India’s ‘prophetic' trouble getting bigger
Additional police have been deployed to keep the situation under control in the area, said SP Ariful Haque.
According to police, a week ago Dipak Sarkar got into an altercation with some local Muslims at a tea stall in the Kunia Bazar area over the Indian ruling political party spokesperson’s comment on the prophet.
The attacking group was returning from a human chain held at neighbouring district Gopalganj protesting the incident in India, said SP Ariful Haque.
Bimal Sarkar, a 70-year-old neighbour of Dipak, said :“Some hundreds of people attacked the house, vandalized it, and set fire to one part of it. The members of neighbouring Hindu families took shelter at their Muslim neighbour Anis Rahman’s house out of fear.”
Also read: Protest rallies held in Bangladesh to condemn remarks against Prophet
Lenin Mozumdar, Biva Rani and some other Hindu neighbours of Dipak said they are immensely frightened since the attack.
One of two missing cousins in Bagerhat river turns up dead
The body of an 8-year-old child was recovered Monday from the Daudkhali river in Rampal upazila of Bagerhat.
The deceased was identified as Ahad Ali, son of Md. Omar Ali of Pargobindpur Ashrayan Project.
Ahad along with his cousin Jannat had gone missing in the river on Sunday. A search operation was launched that failed to make any headway on the first day.
Members of the Fire Service and Navy recovered the child’s body on Monday evening during a joint operation.
Golam Sarwar, deputy assistant director of the Bagerhat Fire Service and Civil Defense, said divers from the Navy and Fire Service had been conducting rescue operations since the two children went missing on Sunday.
READ: Two killed in Bagerhat road crash
“We have recovered the body of Ahad from the river and hopefully the other body will be found soon,” he said, not holding out much hope of Jannat turning up alive.
Ahad Ali and Jannat went missing while playing on the bank of the Daudkhali river adjacent to the Pargobindpur Ashrayan shelter project in the upazila.
Bagerhat: Man jailed until death for raping woman & killing two grandchildren
A Bagerhat tribunal on Monday sentenced a man to life imprisonment unto death in a case filed for violating a woman and killing her two grandchildren in 2014.
Bagerhat Woman and child Repression Prevention Tribunal Judge Md Nure Alam handed the punishment to Bachchu Mridha, 58.
The tribunal also ordered the convict to pay a fine Tk 20,000 to the rape survivor.
Also read: Rape at police station: fugitive police inspector sent to jail on surrender
The tribunal acquitted an accused of the case identified as Khokon Khan as allegations brought against him could not be proved.
According to the prosecution, Bachchu along with his associates barged into the house of Farhad Mridha on September 11, 2014 and violated the woman when she was sleeping with her two grandchildren—Mirajul and Riajul.
When the two children woke up they started screaming.
Later, Bachchu and his associates killed them and dumped their bodies in a water body adjacent to the house.
They also beat the woman up and left her presuming her to be dead.
Also read: Triple murder in Kushtia: 3 sentenced to jail unto death
Lokman Hossain lodged a complaint with Morrelganj Police against five people and police later registered an FIR in this connection the following day.
On July 10, 2015, police submitted charge sheet against two people
One killed, 2 injured over Bagerhat land feud
A 35-year-old man was killed and his two cousins were injured in an attack over a land feud in Bagerhat’s Mollahat upazila, police said on Friday.
The deceased was identified as Kamal Mollah, a resident of East Dariala village in Mollahat upazila.
Somen Das, officer-in-charge of Mollahat police station, said that the sons of Sultan Mollah had a long-running dispute with their neighbour Kamal over the boundary wall of their house.
Also read: Rohingya mason killed in Ukhia camp
On Thursday afternoon, they had an argument with Kamal over the dispute. "The argument turned violent when the duo attacked Kamal with sharp weapons. When his two cousins tried to save him, they were attacked too," the OC said.
Locals rushed the three to Mollahat Upazila Health Complex where Kamal was declared dead on arrival.
Also read: Man killed ‘by nephew’ over land dispute in Jashore
"A woman has been detained for questioning in connection with the attack. A case will also filed against the accused," the OC said.
Crocodile rescued at Bagerhat shrimp enclosure freed in the Sundarbans
Forest officials rescued a crocodile from a shrimp enclosure at Bururdanaga village in Mongla upazila of Bagerhat district on Tuesday. The 5-feet long crocodile is suspected to be seven years old and it came to the enclosure through crossing canals and rivers in the area, said Azad Kabir, in-charge of Karamjal Wild Animal Breeding Centre.
Also read:Rescued crocodile released back in Sundarban river
Akram Ali, an owner of the shrimp enclosure, informed the forest officials after finding the crocodile in his farm. Later, a team of forest officials rescued it and released it in the Sundarbans. So far, 206 crocodiles have been released in the canals and rivers of the Sundarbans and there are 92 crocodiles in the Karamjal breeding centre.
Also read:Rescued crocodile released back into the wild in Sundarbans
10-feet long python rescued from Bagerhat village
A 10-feet long python was rescued from a vegetable field in Sarankhola upazila of Bagerhat district on Saturday.
The python weighing 12 Kg was rescued from the field in sluice gate area adjacent to Gabtala Bazar in the upazila.
The python got trapped in a net set around the field of a local trader named Delwar Hossain, said Md Sadik Mahmud, station officer of Sarankhola range of Sundarbans East Forest Department.
After being informed, members of Wild Team, a wild life conservation organization, rescued the python and it was released in Sarankhola range area of the forest later, he said.
The python might have crossed the Baleswar River and entered the locality in search of food, said the forest department officer.
28-year-old govt staff stabbed to death in Bagerhat
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.
Two traders fined Tk 1.5 lakh for soyabean oil hoarding in Bagerhat
Two local traders were fined a total of Tk 1.5 lakh for hoarding soybean oil so as to sell the same at inflated prices at NagerBazar in the district town.
Two mobile courts, led by two executive magistrates, Mohammad Mozaherul Haque and Rohan Sarkar, carried out separate drives and imposed a fine of Tk one lakh on Sridham Saha and Tk 50,000 on Shankar Pal for attempting to create an artificial crisis of soybean oil by hoarding the same.
Read:FBCCI urges govt to lift VAT on edible oil import
A litre of bottled soybean oil is currently available at Tk 168 in Bangladesh.
In January, the Bangladesh Vegetable Oil Refiners and Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (BVORVMA) proposed to the Commerce Ministry to increase the maximum retail price of edible oil by Tk 8 to Tk 168 per litre.
The prices of daily essential commodities have already gone up in Bangladesh. Besides, the soaring price of edible oil is intensifying the woes of the lower middle-income group.
Three bikers killed in Bagerhat road crash
Three young men returning home from a local village fair were killed when their speeding bike crashed into an electric pole in Bagerhat district late on Wednesday night.
The deceased were identified as Bayezid Hossain, 22, son of Jahangir Hossain, Zakaria, 20, son of Kuddus of Mongla municipality area, and Sakib, 20, son of Asad of Morelganj upazila of the district.
Read:2 killed in separate city road accidents
The accident occurred around 11.45pm when the bike they were riding went out of control and rammed the pole at high speed on Moukhali Bridge in Mongla upazila of the district, said Bikash Chandra, officer-in-charge of Mongla Police Station.
The crash left the three seriously injured, he said, adding that they died on their way to Mongla upazila health complex.