Pabna
15 hurt as violence vitiates Pabna's pre-poll environment
As many as 15 people were injured, five of them with bullet wounds, when supporters of two rival candidates for the upcoming Hatkhali Union Parishad election allegedly clashed in Barbhagia village of Pabna Thursday night.
Police, however, claimed on Friday that it was actually a clash between two families in the village under Sujanagar upazila over an unapproved love affair.
Those who sustained bullet injuries have been identified as Azhar Ali Molla, 65, Azgar Ali Molla, 60, Khairul Islam, 40, Rehena Khatun, 35, and Jubayer Hossain. Four of them have been shifted to Pabna General Hospital from the upazila health complex.
Also read: Chattogram: Two killed in clash over boundary wall dispute
Firoz Ahmed Khan, the organisational secretary of the upazila Krishak League, an associate outfit of the Awami League, told UNB that the members of the ruling party had been attacking rival candidates for the UP election since October 26, the last day of withdrawing nominations.
Firoz is contesting the UP election for the chairman's post as an independent, while Abdur Rauf is the ruling party candidate.
"Around 8.30pm on Thursday, a gang of miscreants owing allegiance to Abdur, went on a vandalism spree in Barbhagia village, attacking residents and damaging houses as well as the election office in Nuruddin Bazar. Some of the miscreants fired at my supporters," Firoz claimed.
Also read: 1 killed, 4 injured in clash over a road accident in Sunamganj
Abdur, however, refuted the allegations, claiming it was a clash between the Bishwash and Molla community in the village over a love affair. "Firoz is trying to exploit the situation,” he said.
Officer-in-charge of Sujanagar police station Mizanur Rahman also said it was not a UP poll-related violence, "but rather a love affair related clash between two groups owing allegiance to Firoz".
“Currently the situation is under control. A heavy police force has been deployed in the village," he said. "We will initiate legal action, post-filing of a complaint."
Train hits truck stranded on tracks in Pabna
An inter-city train bound for Rajshahi hit a truck stranded on the railway tracks at the Mahendrapur level crossing in Pabna Sadar upazila in the early hours of Thursday, officials said.
Fortunately, no casualties were reported.
Read: Dhaka-Chattogram rail services hit as freight train derails in Gazipur
The accident occurred around 5am within minutes of the iron rods-laden truck getting stranded on the Pabna-Rajshahi track after crashing into the island of the crossing. The truck driver fortunately managed to get off the vehicle moments before the collision.
Western Railway Pakshi Divisional Transport Officer (DTO) Anwar Hossain said that rail communication on the Pabna-Rajshahi route was suspended for nearly three hours because of the accident.
Read:Derailment: Rail communication between Khulna and rest of the country suspended
Road communication was also suspended on the busy Pabna-Dhaka highway for about three hours, officials said.
"Train communication resumed only after the damaged engine of the ill-fated train was replaced with one brought from the Ishwardi locomotive factory, the DTO said.
95 local arms recovered from AL leader’s house
Police have recovered a huge cache of local handmade spear-like sharp weapons from the house of an Awami League (AL) leader in Pabna's Faridpur upazila.
On a secret tip-off, police raided the house of Helal Talukder, former legal affairs secretary of upazila AL on Monday afternoon.
During the raid 95 local weapons made with steel pipes were recovered from his Ratanpur village house in Pungali Union of the upazila.
However, police could not arrest Helal and his companions as they managed to escape.
Faridpur Police officer-in-charge (OC) Masud Rana said a team of police raided the house on the basis of information that Helal had a large quantity of weapons in his house.
READ: 999 call: TCB goods recovered from AL leader’s house
Sensing the presence of police, Helal Talukder and his associates fled by boat, he added
A case was being filed in this regard and police were running operations to arrest them, OC Masud further said.
Faridpur AL general secretary Ali Ashraful Kabir said, “Helal Talukder is the former legal affairs secretary of Upazila Awami League. I have heard about the recovery of weapons from his house.”
READ: Anti-graft body approves charges against AL leader Enu and three others
A decision about him will be taken after discussing it at the party meeting, he said.
DGHS closes 11 private Covid testing booths in Rooppur due to irregularities
Citing unequal competition and irregularities among the 11 approved private Covid-19 testing booths in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project area in Pabna, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) announced them closed on Tuesday.
The 11 private organizations were mainly collecting samples of officials, workers of different organizations of the project and some general people of the district for testing of Covid-19.
The organizations were granted permission by a private organization named DNA Solution Ltd and by the Pabna Civil Surgeon office to conduct sample tests in the project area on certain conditions.
On July 18, the DGHS Director Dr Md Farid Hossain Mia sent a letter to the Pabna Civil Surgeon that said some of the organizations permitted by Dhaka based DNA solution and the Civil Surgeon Office are collecting samples from the area and taking them to test in Dhaka’s RT-PCR lab.
Read: DGHS to private labs: Suspend sample collection booths outside hospitals
Permission provided by private organizations for collecting samples has been banned by the DGHS as it is creating a competition among the organizations and resulting in many irregularities, the letter said.
Now these private organizations are facing a crisis as they have large dues owing from the organizations under the Rooppur project for Covid testing with them. Many samples the organizations collected through the 11 booths were also not tested.
Md Abdullah Khan, Director of one of the 11 private organizations called Famous Specialized Hospital, said that they were the first organization who got approval and they had been collecting samples for Covid-19 tests maintaining quality and rules.
“We never did any irregularity or rule breaking as our work was being monitored by the officials of the health department," he said.
Read: SAF launches Covid-19 testing booth for frontline doctors
If the DGHS provided them some time before issuing the orders they wouldn’t face such a big loss, he added.
Meanwhile, district’s Civil Surgeon Monisor Chowdhury said none of the 11 banned organizations have their own labs to test the samples for Covid-19. They were taking the samples to Dhaka for testing which drew questions over the quality and results of the tests, and there was an environment of unhealthy competition of sample testing among them, he added.
The Civil Surgeon said only those who have their own RT-PCR lab in the area would be allowed to do the work of collecting samplesfrom now on, but none of the 11 prohibited organizations did.
4 children drown in Kishoreganj and Pabna
Four children drowned in different places of Kishoreganj and Pabna on Monday.
Two children drowned in a pond near their house while playing in Gundhar union of Kishoreganj’s Karimganj upazila at noon.
The deceased were identified as Ayesha Akhter, 10, daughter of Abul Kashem of the Dakkhin Astoka Nurer Vita village and Asha Moni (9), daughter of Kamal Miah of the same village.
Meanwhile, another two children drowned in Manoharpur village of Pabna’s Maligachha union while playing near a pond at around 2 pm Monday.
READ: 2 cousins drown in Ghaghot River in Rangpur
The deceased were identified as Jewel Rana, 13, son of Abul Hossain and and Jehad Hossain, 13, son of Ziaur Rahman of the same village.
Local UP member Ekram Hossain said both of them were playing in the pond. Suddenly one of them fell in the water while the other drowned while trying to save him.
Drowning in Bangladesh
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children under five in Bangladesh. According to Bangladesh Health and Injury Survey(BHIS), in Bangladesh nearly 17,000 children drown annually, an average of around 46 each day.
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’.
READ: 2 children drown in Naogaon pond
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.
Rape epidemic: 2 held over gang-rape of Pabna woman
Police arrested two youths Sunday for "gang-raping" a homemaker in Pabna's Chatmohar upazila.
The arrestees were identified as Atikur Rahman, 26, and Abdul Halim, 30.
Sajib Shahrin, assistant superintendent of Chatmohar circle police, said: "The accused grabbed the homemaker, forced her into the nearby garden and raped her as she went outside at 8pm. They fled the scene as the woman's husband rushed to spot hearing her scream."
As the victim's husband filed a case over in the incident in the morning, police carried out a raid to nab Atikur and Abdul, Sajib said.
Also read: Housewife ‘gang-raped’ in Patuakhali
The victim was sent to the hospital for a medical test, he added.
Bangladesh's rape epidemic
Bangladesh is facing a 'rape epidemic' despite recent government approval of the death penalty for the crime - not that evidence ever suggested it would have the desired effect.
Earlier last month, a police headquarters report said 26,695 rape cases had been filed across the country in the last five years.
Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) data shows that 1,018 children were raped last year alone, but only 683 police cases were filed. Also, 116 victims were 6 years old or below.
Also read: Bangladesh introduces death penalty for rape
Overall, 1,627 rape cases were reported last year and 53 of the victims were killed by the perpetrators while 14 took their own lives, the data showed.
However, ASK's data was likely just the tip of the iceberg, according to aid agencies, who report that most women are too afraid to report rape.
In October 2020, the country was rocked by protests after a woman was attacked and raped in Noakhali.
Also read: Police HQ: 26,695 rape cases filed in 5 yrs, with notable jump since 2019
In November last year, Bangladesh introduced the death penalty for rape, following days of protests against sexual violence against women in several cities across Bangladesh.
But human rights organisations say the move will not solve the country's rape crisis, as victims of sex assault are often stigmatised in society.
1 killed in Sathia AL infighting
A man was killed and 11 others were injured in a clash between two factions of Awami League over the formation of a ward-level committee in Pabna on Thursday.
Police identified the deceased as Alhaz Sheikh, 35.
Locals said two factions of the ruling party, led by Sharbesh Sheikh and Moslem Master, were at loggerheads over the formation of committee at ward number 9 of Gourigram Union in Santhia upazila.
Also read: AL infighting leaves 2 injured in Bogura on Bangabandhu's birth centenary
Sheikh was elected president of the ward, prompting Master’s supporters to attack Sheikh’s men.
They fought with sticks and sharp weapons. Several people, including Alhaz, were injured during the clash.
Locals took them to the Upazila Health Complex where the doctor declared Alhaz dead. Five others, who had been severely injured, were admitted to the hospital.
Also read: 1 killed in clash over dominance at Santhia; 10 injured
Pabna Additional Superintendent of Police Masud Alam told UNB that the situation is under control.
Several people, including Master, have been detained, he said.
1 killed in clash over dominance at Santhia; 10 injured
A person was killed and 10 others got injured in a clash between two rival parties over establishing dominance in Shanthia at Pabna. Five of them were admitted in hospital with severe injuries.
The deceased was identified as Najir Uddin, 35.
Locals said, the incident happened around 1pm on Thursday at Dayarampur village of Dhopadaho union.
There was a long-running rivalry between Dhopadaho Union Chatra League president Enamul Kabir Shashi and Tajmul Hossain Member over establishing dominance in the area, informed local sources.
Also read: AL factional clashes keep flaring: 1 killed in Sirajganj
Recently a member of Shashi’s group was beaten by Tajmul group members.
As he returned from hospital on Thursday unrest increased in the area and chase-counter chase began between the two parties.
At one point some members along with deceased Najir of Shashi group took shelter in Shashi’s house. As Tajmul group attacked president Shashi’s house around noon and vandalized it, the altercation took a severe turn.
Also read: 1 dead, at least 5 shot in Noakhali as Quader Mirza’s supporters, rival AL activists clash
At least 10 sustained severe injuries along with Tajmul member and Najir. Rescued, the injured were rushed to Upazila health complex where doctor announced Najir dead.
Among the injured, Shumon Hossain, Nasir Uddin, Ilbaj Pramanik, Raja Hossain, Jolekha khatun and Tajmul Member were admitted in hospital.
Santhia police station’s Officer-in-Charge Asif Mohammad Siddikul Islam, police reached the scene and took control of the situation immediately after being informed.
Also read: Over 50 injured in Faridpur AL factional clash
Drive is being conducted to arrest those involved in the clash and killing, he said.
The body of the deceased was sent to Pabna General Hospital for an autopsy, said police.
4 including cousins killed in road crashes
At least four people, including two cousins, were killed in separate road accidents in Dinajpur and Pabna on Friday.
2 hacked to death in Pabna, Khulna
A local leader of the outlawed Sarbahara party in Faridpur upazila, Pabna and a youth in Rupsha, Khulna were hacked to death on Saturday.