Tangail
2 killed, 3 injured in Tangail highway crash
Two men were killed and three others injured when their auto-rickshaw crashed into a truck parked along the Tangail-Mymensingh highway in Ghatail upazila of Tangail early on Tuesday.
The deceased were identified as Shahjahan Ali, 65, from Kashtala village, and Nepal Chandra Saha, 62, from the Hamidpur Saha Para area, said Azharul Islam, officer-in-charge of Ghatail police station.
Read: Narail road accidents claim two lives
All the victims were occupants of the auto-rickshaw. The injured -- auto driver Ratan, 23, and passengers, Maruf, 20, and Tahira, 4 -- are being treated at the upazila health complex, he said.
The accident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday near the Najunbagh area of the upazila when the victims were returning from a wedding at Andipur village in Ghatail sadar union, said OC Azharul.
The bodies have been handed over to the families following legal procedures, he said.
Robbery & rape in Tangail moving bus: Mastermind among 10 held
Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) have detained ten more people, including the ‘mastermind’ of the robbery incident after hijacking a Chattogram-bound bus in Tangail when a woman commuter was raped.
The detainees were identified as mastermind Ratan Hossain, 21, Md Alauddin, 24, Sohag Mondol, 20, Khandakar Md Hasmat Ali alias Dipu, 23, Md Babu Hossain alias Julhas, 21, Md Jibon, 21, Md Abdul Mannan, 22, Md Nayeem Sarkar, 19, Russell Talukdar, 32, and Md Aslam Talukdar alias Raihan.
The Rab members detained the 10 after conducting drives in Dhaka, Gazipur and Sirajganj on Sunday, Commander Khandaker Al Moin, director of the Legal and Media Wing of the Rab headquarters, said while briefing reporters on Monday.
Rab also seized 20 mobile phone sets, two silver bangles, 14 SIM (subscriber identity module) cards and a sharp weapon used in robbery from their possession.
During primary interrogation, it was known that mastermind Ratan served jail for one and a half years for robbing a bus of ‘Savar Paribahan’ along with Jibon, who was a helper of a bus, in 2018. After being released from jail on bail in 2020, Ratan snatched an auto-rickshaw and again jailed for another year.
Read: Robbers loot commuters & rape woman on Ctg-bound bus
After being released on bail, he and his gang committed robberies on the highways in Savar, Gazipur or Sirajganj areas.
During the robbery in Tangail, Jibon was engaged in looting the goods of the passengers.
Legal steps will be taken against the detainees, the official added.
On August 3, the spine-chilling crime occurred in Raktipara area of Tangail's Madhupur upazila.
When the bus took the busy Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the Natiapara area, the seven robbers whiffed out guns, hijacked the vehicle, and drove it towards Madhupur upazila.
Posing as passengers, the seven boarded the bus in two groups in a span of 10 minutes around 11pm after it resumed its onward journey following a stopover at a hotel in Sirajganj district.
Twenty-four people, including 22 passengers and two staffers, were on board the bus of ‘Eagle Paribahan’ at the time.
On a desolate stretch, the armed gang robbed the twenty-four people, including 22 passengers of cash, jewellery and mobile phones.
They then blindfolded the passengers and raped the woman commuter on board.
The passengers' ordeal continued for over three hours till the seven criminals forced them to get off the bus and drove the heavy vehicle towards Raktipara's Jam-e-Mosque, where they abandoned it and fled with the booty, police said.
An FIR was lodged in connection with the robbery and rape.
On Thursday, Raza Mia, 32, was arrested from the Deula area of Tangail district town, said police. Raza is a driver of ‘Jhatika Service’ bus in Tangail and lived in a rented house in Tangail new bus terminal area.
During interrogation, Raza told cops that he was the one who drove the bus while others held the passengers and staff hostage at gunpoint, said Sarkar Md Kaisar, superintendent of Tangail Police.
Pineapple Capital abuzz in peak season
Pineapple growers of Madhupur in Tangail are now busy bringing the fruits to the market as they have a good yield this year.
Jalchhatra haat, biggest wholesale market in the upazila that is organized every Friday and Tuesday, remained abuzz with buyers and sellers from different parts of the district since every dawn.
Read: Sonargaon litchi growers expecting bumper yield
Tangail bus horror: Suspected robber remanded
A court here on Thursday placed one of the seven armed robbers who allegedly hijacked a Chattogram-bound bus in Tangail, looted commuters and raped a young woman, on a five-day police remand.
Senior Judicial Magistrate Badal Kumar Chanda passed the order after police sought a seven-day remand to interrogate gang member Raza Mia, said court inxpector Tanbir Ahmed.
Meanwhile ,Senior Judicial Majistrate Rumi Khatun recorded statement of the rape survivor under section 22 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act Thursday evening.
“In primary medical test of the girl evidence of rape was found," said Assistant Professor Dr Rehana Parvin, head of the three-member medical board formed by Tangail Sheikh Hasina Medical College Hospital in this regard.
Raza Mia, 32, was arrested from the Deula area of Tangail district town Thursday morning, said police.
During interrogation, Raza told cops that he was the one who drove the bus while others held the passengers and staff hostage at gunpoint, said Sarkar Md Kaisar, superintendent of Tangail Police.
Read: Robbers loot commuters & rape woman on Ctg-bound bus
The spine-chilling crime occurred in the Raktipara area of Tangail's Madhupur upazila, off the Dhaka-Tangail Highway, in the early hours of Wednesday when the bus was on its way to Chattogram from Kushtia.
Raza is a driver of ‘Jhatika Service’ bus in Tangail and lived in a rented house in Tangail new bus terminal area.
Posing as passengers, the seven boarded the bus in two groups in a span of 10 minutes around 11pm on Tuesday after it resumed its onward journey following a stopover at a hotel in Sirajganj district.
Twenty-four people, including 22 passengers and two staffers, were on board the bus of ‘Eagle Paribahan’ at the time.
Around 12am on Wednesday, when the bus took the busy Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the Natiapara area, the seven robbers whiffed out guns, hijacked the vehicle, and drove it towards Madhupur upazila.
On a desolate stretch, the armed gang robbed the twenty-four people, including 22 passengers of cash, jewellery and mobile phones.
They then blindfolded the passengers and raped the woman commuter on board.
The passengers' ordeal continued for over three hours till the seven criminals forced them to get off the bus and drove the heavy vehicle towards Raktipara's Jam-e-Mosque, where they abandoned it and fled with the booty, police said.
An FIR has been lodged in connection with the robbery and rape.
Robbers loot commuters & rape woman on Ctg-bound bus
Seven armed men posing as passengers allegedly hijacked a Chattogram-bound bus in Tangail, robbed commuters of cash and belongings, and raped a 25-year-old woman at gunpoint.
The spine-chilling crime occurred in the Raktipara area of Tangail's Madhupur upazila off the Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.
Sarkar Md Kaisar, superintendent of Tangail Police, said the bus of ‘Eagle Paribahan’, with 24 passengers on board, was on its way to Chattogram from Kushtia late on Tuesday night when the crime occurred.
Three of the seven robbers boarded the bus around 11pm on Tuesday after it resumed its journey following a stopover at a hotel in Sirajganj district. And some 5-10 minutes later, four more got into the bus, police said.
Read:Rape attempt on woman on moving bus: Driver, helper held
"Around 12am on Wednesday, when the bus took the busy Dhaka-Tangail Highway in the Natiapara area, the robbers whiffed out guns, hijacked the vehicle and forced the driver to drive towards Madhupur upazila," the SP said.
On a desolate stretch, the armed gang robbed the commuters of cash, jewellery and mobile phones. "The robbers then blindfolded the passengers and raped the woman commuter on board," the SP said.
The passengers' ordeal continued for over three hours till the seven criminals forced them to get off the bus and drove the heavy vehicle towards Raktipara's Jam-e-Mosque, where they abandoned it and fled with the booty, police said.
“Detectives are investigating the crime and all the robbers will be arrested soon,” said SP Kaiser. "The woman is being treated at Tangail General Hospital, and her medical test is slated for Wednesday."
Tangail road crash leaves 2 dead
Drivers of a bus and a truck were killed and 10 people injured in a collision between the two vehicles on Dhaka-Bangabandhu Bridge Highway at Kalihati upazila in the district early Sunday, said police.
The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately.
Jilkad Hossain, sub inspector (SI) of Bangabandhu Bridge East Police Station, said the accident occured in the early hours of Sunday when the northern region-bound truck from Dhaka crashed into a of ‘Hanif Paribahan’ coming from the opposite direction in Soilla area, leaving the drivers dead on the spot.
Read: 4 killed, 15 injured in Tangail road crash
Meanwhile, another pickup van hit the damaged truck after its driver lost control over the steering; he said adding that a long tailback on the both sides of the busy highway was created due to the accident.
The injured were rushed to Tangail sadar hospital, the SI added.
Road crashes claim 26 lives in 9 districts
At least 26 people including eight members of three families were killed and 40 others injured in separate road accidents in 9 districts on Saturday, police said.
In Tangail, four people were killed and 15 others injured when a commuter bus crashed into a truck parked along the busy Dhaka-Tangail highway in Mirzapur upazila early in the morning.
The deceased were Alak Roy, 38, Binoy Roi, 40, of Pirganj upazila of Rangpur, Shakhawat Hossain, 36 of Madhupur upazila and Jakaria, 32 of Barishal.
Molla Tutul, officer-in-charge (OC) of Gorai Highway Police Station, said the accident occurred around 4:30am when the ‘Binimoy Paribahan’ bus hit the stationary sand-laden truck from behind in the Dulla Mansur area.
"The impact left three passengers dead on the spot and 16 others injured. The injured were rushed to a local hospital where one of them was declared dead on arrival," he said.
In another accident, three members of a family were killed after being hit by a bus at Pakulya on the same highway.
The deceased were Parvin Begum, 27, her son Sumon, 7 and daughter Sadia,10, hailing from Banshtoil village in Mirzapur upazila.
In Bogura, four people, including a father –son duo, were killed and another one injured when a truck hit a private car at Kalia Pukur in Kahalu upazila this morning.
The deceased were identified as Tanser Ali, 60, his son Tagar Ali, 35, Abdur Rahman, 35, son of Mafiz Uddin, and Sumon, 30, a private car driver.
Ambar Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Kahalu Police Station, said the accident occurred around 8am when the Naogaon-bound truck from Bogura hit the private car at Dargahat, leaving three people dead on the spot and two others injured.
The injured were taken to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College, where doctors declared Abdur Rahman dead on arrival.
In Mymensingh, three members of a family were killed as a truck knocked them down in court bhaban area of Trishal upazila on Dhaka-Mymensingh highway this afternoon.
The deceased were Jahangir Alam, 35, his eight-month pregnant wife Ratna Begum,26 and their two and a hald years old daughter Jannat Ara.
Ranta gave birth to a daughter when the accident occurred local people took the newborn to uapzila health complex and then to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital.
Locals said Jahangir went to Trishal upazila headquarter along with his wife Ratna and child for a medical test of his pregnant wife.
The Mymensingh-bound goods-laden truck knocked down the three while they were crossing the road around 2:30 pm, leaving the trio dead on the spot, said Officer-in-charge of Trishal police station Md Main Uddin.
The truck has been seized and a case will be filed, he said.
Also read: 4 killed, 15 injured in Tangail road crash
Tailback on Bangabandhu Bridge link road as people return to Dhaka
A long tailback formed on Bangabandhu Bridge east link road in Tangail Friday due to the additional number of Dhaka-bound vehicles and holidaymakers, who were returning to the capital and workplaces after a long vacation.
The crush of additional vehicle traffic towards Dhaka from northern districts caused the gridlock, triggering a 35km tailback stretching from Bangabandhu Bridge to Tangail's Karatia, Ataur Rahman, in-charge of Elenga Highway Police, said.
Till the filing of this report at around 10:30pm hundreds of vehicles packed with passengers were seen moving very slowly, causing immense suffering to Dhaka-bound people.
Also, women and children were seen returning to the capital in trucks.
Contractors fail to deliver 30-metre bridge costing Tk 3.5-cr over Louhajong in Tangail
Almost 1 lakh people slated to benefit from building a small bridge costing the government in the range of Tk 3.5 crore, over the Louhajong River as it flows through Berdoma in Tangail, will have to wait longer, after the structure collapsed on Thursday.
There were no external factors at play: it had not opened to traffic yet (because it wasn't complete), and there was little water flowing in that part of the river. Yet the centre-shuttering of the bridge had given away overnight, and the structure had collapsed in on itself at the centre, 3.5 feet deep. It could only have been the result of faulty design or construction, or both.
Municipal engineers and contractors visited the site on Friday morning.
According to Tangail Municipality sources, construction companies Brix and Bridge Limited and the Nrimiti started working jointly on November 12, 2020. UNB was unable to find any reliable record of these companies on the internet.
More than Tk 3.5 crore was estimated as the construction cost of the 30-meter-long and 8-meter-wide bridge. That being said, it still fell below the threshold at which contracts for government projects must be awarded through public tender. Taking advantage of this, it is alleged that the contract was captured by the local MP, Sanwar Hossain of Tangail-5, and distributed to one of his followers.
He was essentially a local party activist, Amirul Islam, who seemed to have assumed the role of a go-between for the contracted firms and the local administration, which was the awarding body.
Many contracts of this size and scope are being handled like this by MPs or the local administrations, all over the country. While there are some stories of the method proving useful to getting new localised engineering and construction firms started out, or the break some new firm needed, often the end result for firms that are literally starting out and have never actually built bridges is what we see in Tangail with Brix and Bridge Limited and Nrimiti.
Solaiman Hasan, information and research secretary of the district Awami League, demanded the contractors stand trial for wasting government money. "Those who have never even seen bridges had come to build bridges! It was sad. Although there is not much water and current in the river, the bridge has collapsed in on itself," he remarked.
Apparently members of the public could tell the contractors were not doing their job properly during the construction while it was ongoing. They would even engage the contractors and try to point things out to them but they were always ready with the MP's name to have their way.
On the date it was supposed to be handed over, some 55% of the work was reported as complete.
Abul Kalam Azad, councilor of ward no.5, Tangail Municipality, said that the engineers and contractors of the municipality requested several times to complete the work but they did not give any importance.
"Now thousands of people will suffer due to the collapse of the bridge," he added.
Also read: Worker killed, 20 others hurt as bridge collapses in Rangamati
Amirul Islam, representative of the contractors, said they were both working from Dhaka. He spoke for them but also was keen to demonstrate he was not actually part of the company, and so to detach himself by playing the role of a mere middle-man.
"No work is implemented under my leadership," Amirul said.
A probe body will be formed to investigate the matter, said Tangail Municipality Engineer Shibbir Ahmed Azmi. He said that all concerned including the project director have been given notice after inspecting the site. Going forward, an investigation committee will be formed to unravel what exactly happened here, he added.
Man gets death sentence for killing wife over dowry in Tangail
A Tangail court on Monday has sentenced a man to death for killing his wife, demanding dowry.
Judge Khaleda Yasmin of the Tangail Women and Child Abuse Suppression Tribunal passed the order.
Special Public Prosecutor (PP) Ali Ahmed of Women and Child Abuse Suppression Tribunal, said that Riaz Uddin, 35, resident of Garobazar area of Tangail’s Ghatail upazila, brutally tortured his wife Liza Akter, 20, demanding a dowry of Tk 10,000, on August 10, 2009.
She was later admitted to a local hospital where she died on August 26 while undergoing treatment.
READ: 2 workers killed in Tangail mini landslide
Meanwhile on August 19 that year, Liza's brother Azahar Ali filed a case against Riaz.
On November 20, the police submitted a charge sheet to the court but Riaz was out on bail and has been on the run ever since.