United News of Bangladesh

A case has been filed against 100 people over an attack on police personnel and vandalism of a police vehicle in Gopalganj; seven of them were sent to jail by a court. Of the accused, 40 have been named in the case, while 60 others remain unidentified. Sub-Inspector Md Fulmia of Gopalganj Sadar Police Station filed the case on Sunday afternoon. Police arrested seven people in connection with the incident. After initial interrogation, they were produced before a Gopalganj court, which ordered that they be sent to the district jail. Md Aminul Islam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Gopalganj Sadar Police Station, said members of the Jubo League and Chhatra League ( now facing ban on its aactivities) attacked police personnel in the Bedgram Kheyaghat area of Sadar upazila on Saturday. Three police officers were injured in the attack, and a police vehicle was vandalised, he added.

The bodies of a 15-year-old boy and his 14-year-old nephew were recovered from a pond in Amgaon village of Haripur upazila in Thakurgaon early Sunday. The victims were Umar Ali, 15, a seventh-grade student and son of Abdul Wahab Sarker, and his nephew Miraj, 14, son of Imran Ali. Both were residents of Amgaon village. Family members said Umar and Miraj left home on a bicycle on Saturday afternoon. When they did not return by evening, their relatives began searching for them. Later that night, locals found their bicycles near a large pond in the area and informed the Fire Service. Following the report, Fire Service personnel rushed to the spot and began searching. The bodies of the two teenagers were recovered in the early hours of Sunday. Although the exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear, it is suspected that the two may have slipped and fallen into the pond while riding the bicycle. Unable to swim, they may have drowned. Abdul Hakim Azad, officer-in-charge (OC) of Haripur Police Station, said the bodies were handed over to their families.

Three people were injured in a tiger attack after the animal reportedly crossed into Bangladesh from India near the Amjhol border in Hatibandha upazila of Lalmonirhat on Sunday evening. The injured were identified as Sharifa Begum, Afsar Hossain and Nazrul Islam, all residents of Amjhol village. Locals said Sharifa went to the Amjhol border area, under the jurisdiction of the Bonchouki Border Outpost (BOP) in Gotamari Union, on Sunday evening to look for a goat. After spotting the goat grazing, she approached it and was attacked by the tiger. Afsar and Nazrul were also injured when they tried to rescue her. The three were rescued and taken to a local hospital before being transferred to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment. Lieutenant Colonel Mehedi Imam, commander of the Lalmonirhat 15 BGB Battalion, said three villagers sustained injuries following a tiger attack. He said the Forest Department had been informed and security in the area had been strengthened.

An assistant teacher of a government primary school was beaten to death allegedly by a group of people on Sunday afternoon he intervened in a dispute among neighbours over land in Chirirbandar upazila of Dinajpur. The deceased was identified as Monoranjan Roy, assistant teacher of East Sukhdebpur Governemnt Primary School in Chirirbandar upazila and son of Ashim Chandra Roy of Sonapukur Majhipara in the upazila. Anwar Hossain, Additional Superintendent of Dinajpur Police, said an altercation ensued between Roman and his neighbour Asaduzzaman and his supporters over a disputed land at Naya Mollapara village in the upazila around 2 pm. At one stage, Monoranjan appeared there and tried to quell the situation. Later, Asaduzzaman along with his supporters beat up Monoranjan with tree branches and sticks leaving him dead on the spot, said a press release issued by district police media cell. Roman later informed the matter to police through the national emergency number 999. On information, police from Parbatipur Police Station rushed in and brought the situation under control. Police also detained Asaduzzaman, 32 in this connection. A tense situation has been prevailing in the area over the issue and surveillance by plainclothes intelligence officers was strengthened.

Police recovered the hanging body of a Comilla University student  from a rented flat at Fatullah in Narayanganj early Sunday. The deceased was identified as Farjana Islam, 25, a  student of the Pharmacy Department of the university and daughter of Rafiqul Islam of Bancharampur upazila in Brahmanbaria. Police recovered her body around 1:00am from a second-floor flat and sent it to Narayanganj General Hospital (Victoria Hospital) morgue for an autopsy. A suicide note was recovered from her bed, in which Farjana cited unbearable mental torture and taunts by her husband as the reason for ending her life, said Anwar Hossain, Fatullah Model Police Station Inspector (Investigation). Police detained her husband, Najmul Islam, 30, an employee of ACI Company and also a former student of the same department at Comilla University. The women’s elder brother, Ariful Islam, alleged that Farjana had been subjected to physical and mental abuse by Najmul since their marriage in 2023. Inspector Anwar said legal action is being taken.

The body of Bangladeshi national Sohel Rana, who died in Latvia after allegedly being tortured by human traffickers, returned home on Sunday. The remains of Sohel, 45, son of Abul Hashem, reached his home at Ramchandrapur village in Sadar upazila around 3:00pm, triggering an outpouring of grief among family members and relatives. Hundreds of villagers gathered at his home to pay their last respects. According to his father-in-law, Alfaz Uddin, Sohel was rescued by Latvian police from a forest near the Latvia-Belarus border on October 7 after being subjected to inhuman torture by a human trafficking gang that had promised to send him to Italy. He died the following day while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Latvia's Latgale region, Alfaz said. The family was informed of his death through a text message from Polish police on October 12, he added. On October 17, Sohel's wife, Jasmin Sultana, filed a case with a court accusing nine people in connection with the incident. The court subsequently directed the Officer-in-Charge of Jhenaidah Sadar Police Station to register the complaint as a first information report (FIR). Sohel's father, Abul Hashem, said his son's body was brought from Dhaka to their village home after completing the necessary legal procedures and administrative formalities. Local Union Parishad Chairman Enamul Haque Nilu said Sohel's namaz-e-janaza was held at the local Ramchandrapur School ground in the afternoon, after which he was buried at the family graveyard. Villagers demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the alleged human trafficking network responsible for the incident.

Freedom fighter Manik Pashari, a key witness in a crimes against humanity case against late Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, was buried at Chitolia village in Pirojpur Sadar upazila amid tight police security early Sunday. Police buried the body on the premises of his home around 2am. Earlier, when the body was brought on Pirojpur Sadar Upazila Parishad premises on Saturday noon the family members faced protests from local Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, activists and some local people, claimed his family members. The body was later taken to the police lines with police assistance. After a guard of honour around 5pm, police from Pirojpur Sadar Police Station kept the body under tight security. Around 1am, police took it to his home where the burial was completed an hour later in the presence of his wife, children and local residents. Abdur Razzak, assistant secretary of Pirojpur district Jamaat-e-Islami, said no leaders of the party or its affiliated organisations obstructed the burial. Jamaat leaders do not engage in the politics of corpses, he said, adding that they fully cooperated with police to complete the burial. Officer-in-Charge of Pirojpur Sadar Police Station Md Shariful Islam said the burial was completed under tight security. Additional police personnel have been deployed near the grave to prevent any untoward incident, he added. Earlier, Manik Pashari’s sister, Mosammat Rina Akter, said the family brought her brother’s body to Pirojpur for burial but faced difficulties when they could not proceed with the burial. Manik Pashari was a resident of Ward No. 7 in Chitolia village under Shankarpasha Union. After the mass uprising in July-August 2024, Pashari reportedly remained in hiding in Jashore and Gopalganj districts. Family members said the freedom fighter breathed his last around 10am on Saturday at his daughter’s father-in-law’s house in Tungipara area of Gopalganj. He had been staying there after remaining in hiding for a long period and had been ill for about two months. On February 8, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 sentenced Sayedee to death for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War. The verdict triggered clashes between police and Jamaat-e-Islami supporters, leaving at least 35 people dead and scores injured. On September 17, 2014, the Supreme Court, following an appeal by Sayedee, commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment. The convicted war criminal died on August 14, 2023 while undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) at the age of 83.

Bus services on the Kishoreganj-Dhaka route have been suspended indefinitely since Sunday morning following a dispute between transport owners in Kishoreganj and Dhaka, causing suffering for commuters. The Kishoreganj District Road Transport Owners’ Association announced the suspension, halting all private bus services on the route. Association leaders said the newly formed committee took an initiative to improve passenger services by replacing old buses with new ones after assuming responsibility. Following discussions, transport owners in Dhaka also agreed to the proposal. However, while Kishoreganj owners replaced their old buses with new ones, their Dhaka counterparts did not replace their outdated vehicles and instead added two more buses to the route, they said. Tensions mounted between the two factions over the issue, culminating in a sharp dispute on Saturday. Following the dispute, the Kishoreganj association suspended all private bus services on the Kishoreganj-Mohakhali route from Sunday morning. The suspension left passengers travelling between Kishoreganj and Dhaka facing considerable inconvenience.  

A Gazipur court on Sunday sent Moslem Ahmed, the vice-principal of Qari-ul-Quran International Madrasah at Tongi in Gazipur, to jail in a case filed over the alleged sexual harassment of a Class-I girl. Gazipur Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Omar Haider passed the order when police produced him before the court. The court also turned down his bail petition. The girl’s father filed the case under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, accusing the teacher of sexually abusing his daughter. According to the family, the alleged incident took place on the staircase on the ground floor of the madrasah on October 19. The girl reportedly did not want to attend the madrasah after the incident and later disclosed what happened to her parents when they asked her about it. On October 21, the girl’s relatives went to the madrasah and confronted the accused teacher, demanding an explanation. As the matter became known, local people gathered at the institution and physically assaulted the teacher, which went viral on Facebook. On receiving information, police rushed to the spot and brought the teacher to the police station. A case was filed under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. The magistrate of the tribunal also recorded the statement of the girl in the case on October 22.

Two individuals were killed in a mob beating over allegations of stealing an auto-rickshaw in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur early Sunday. The deceased were identified as Rezaul, also known as Kana, 42, of Bagdohora village under Nohali union, and Sadikul Islam, 32, of Kolkanda union, in the upazila. The incident occurred around 5:30am near the Teesta Large Irrigation Canal in the Giriyarpar area of Uttar Panapukur under Barabil union. Police recovered the bodies from the scene, said Md Abdus Sabur, officer-in-charge of Gangachara Model Police Station. Quoting local residents, he said Siddiqur Rahman Sohel, a resident of Bagpur Dakkhinpara in Barabil union, heard a noise coming from the shed where he kept his auto-rickshaw early in the morning. When he came out of his bedroom, he saw someone taking the vehicle away. At the time, worshippers were offering Fajr prayers at a nearby mosque. Hearing Sohel's cries, several worshippers came out and chased the suspected thieves. As they failed to catch them immediately, the locals were alerted using the mosque's loudspeaker, prompting more local residents to join the chase. The two men allegedly left the auto-rickshaw about half a kilometre from the house near the irrigation canal and tried to escape through a paddy field. Locals, however, surrounded them and beat them, leaving both dead at the scene. OC Sabur said police rushed to the scene after receiving the information and completed the inquest before taking the bodies to the police station. The bodies were later sent to Rangpur Medical College Hospital for autopsy, he said, adding that legal action was being taken over the incident.