United News of Bangladesh

A fire broke out at a shopping complex at Chawkbazar in Old Dhaka on Monday afternoon. The fire erupted at a shop on the fifth floor of Manjur Khan Plaza near the AC Masjid in Chhoto Katra around 5:02pm, said Talha Bin Jashim, an official at the Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters. On information, ten firefighting units rushed to the spot and were working to bring the blaze under control, he said.

A group of protesters under the banner of ‘Anti-Autocracy General People’ staged demonstration outside the Uttara residence of Jatiya Party(JaPa) Chairman GM Quader on Monday demanding his immediate arrest . The protesters staged a sit-in on the road in front of the house around 11am and chanted various slogans. They could not enter the residence but vandalised its windowpanes before leaving the scene ahead of the police’s arrival, said witnesses. Officer-in-Charge of Uttara West Police Station Khalid Mansur said police went to the spot after receiving information about the demonstration but found no protesters there. They found the windowpanes of the house broken, he added. The protesters accused GM Quader of betraying those killed in the July Uprising and maintaining secret contacts with ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina who is currently in India. A banner carried during the procession featured a portrait of GM Quader depicted as being in prison. It read: “Betraying the blood of July martyrs and communicating with fascist killer Hasina; we demand GM Quader’s arrest” and “There will be no place for fascism in this land.” The protesters also said Jatiya Party had helped politically legitimise the Awami League government by participating in the last three national elections. They said no ally of what they described as fascism should be allowed political rehabilitation in the “new Bangladesh”. The protesters called on the government to bring GM Quader to justice without delay.

Auto-rickshaw drivers blocked a road in the capital’s Basila area for around one and a half hours on Sunday morning, disrupting traffic and causing suffering for commuters. The drivers staged the blockade from 9:30am to 11am, demanding the reopening of a U-turn for auto-rickshaw movement and an end to dumping activities. Following police intervention and discussions with traffic officials, the drivers left the road and normal traffic movement resumed. Deputy Commissioner of Tejgaon Traffic Division Tania Sultana told reporters that the drivers blocked the road in the morning and were persuaded to withdraw following discussions. She said several U-turns have been closed due to frequent traffic congestion in Basila Char Matha area, causing problems for auto-rickshaw drivers. The U-turns would be reopened from Sunday, she added. She said the leaders of the auto-rickshaw drivers were instructed to use feeder roads instead of the main road. They agreed to follow the instructions and left the road, she added. The drivers said they staged the protest in response to a warning by the road transport and bridges minister that auto-rickshaw operation in Dhaka city would be stopped within three days. Saddam, a resident of Basila, criticised the repeated road blockades by drivers, saying such actions were unacceptable.

Toufique Imrose Khalidi, editor-in-chief of bdnews24.com and a pioneer of digital journalism in Bangladesh, was laid to rest at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals’ Graveyard on Saturday. He was buried around 5pm following his namaz-e-janaza at Banani Old DOHS Playground at around 3:30pm. His body was brought to the venue at 2:30pm, where friends, relatives, colleagues, well-wishers and people from different walks of life gathered to pay their last respects. Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan described Khalidi’s death as “unbelievable”, saying he still found it difficult to believe that Khalidi was no longer alive. Recalling their relationship, Moyeen Khan said they first met through bdnews24.com, and their professional connection later developed into a friendship. Highlighting Khalidi’s contribution to journalism in Bangladesh, Moyeen Khan described him as a pioneer who helped introduce a new way of delivering news through the internet, moving beyond traditional print media. He said bdnews24.com had reached households across the country under Khalidi’s leadership. “Khalidi did not limit himself to disseminating news. “His analyses of Bangladesh’s social, political and economic landscape will also be regarded as significant contributions,” Moyeen Khan said. Speaking briefly before the namaz-e-janaza, The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam described Toufique Imrose Khalidi as a courageous and creative figure in the media world.Recalling his former colleague, Mahfuz Anam said, “I remember very clearly that he was with us 35 years ago. This young man was very energetic and talented.” He said many people had devoted their lives to journalism, but Khalidi had built and run an institution like bdnews24.com. “I have always believed that a journalist who builds an institution and runs it on ethical foundations makes a special contribution,” he said. “Toufique established journalism-centred values, freedom and ethics at his organisation. “The framework bdnews24.com has built is, I personally believe, Toufique’s extraordinary contribution to our media landscape.” Toufique Imrose Khalidi passed away at a hospital in London on October 2 at the age of 59 following brain haemorrhage. Born on June 14, 1967, Khalidi earned his master's degree in English Literature from Dhaka University before embarking on a career in journalism in 1989 with The Sunday Express. Over a career spanning more than three decades, he held key positions across national and international media. He worked at the BBC World Service in London from February 2000 to June 2005. Prior to that, he served at The Daily Star as Joint News Editor and Weekend Edition News Editor (1998-2000), Business Editor (1997-1998), and Diplomatic Correspondent (1991-1993), as well as Assistant Editor and Senior Correspondent at The Financial Express. In the first half of 2005, Toufique Imrose Khalidi associated with bdnews24.com, pioneering Bangladesh's first internet-based 24/7 news service. He received fellowships from the Journalists in Europe Foundation in Paris and the Japan Foreign Press Centre. In 2014, he was named one of the “14 leading digital media innovators” across Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and West Asia at the South-to-South Media Dialogue in South Africa. Toufique Imrose Khalidi chaired a UNESCO World Press Freedom Day event in 2016, attended the 2009 UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen as an observer, participated in the Global Media Forum in Bonn (2010, 2016, 2017, 2019), and spoke as a panelist at Harvard University’s "Bangladesh Rising" conference in 2018. He also played a vital role in national policy formulation, serving on national committees for online media policy (2012, 2015), the news agency policy committee (2008), and the national task force for Dhaka river protection (2007). In December 2017, the Bangladesh government conferred a special award on him on National ICT Day.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight BG436 from Cox’s Bazar to Dhaka has landed safely at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 3:10pm following a delay caused by operational and technical problems. All passengers and crew members arrived safely without any problems, said the national flag carrier on Saturday afternoon. The airline apologised to passengers for the inconvenience caused by the delay and reaffirmed its commitment to passenger safety and operational standards.

Police detained three suspects in connection with a crude bomb explosion near the entrance to Agargaon Bypass Road, opposite the boundary wall of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), early Saturday. Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Tejgaon Division Ibne Mizan told UNB that police collected and analysed CCTV footage following the incident. Police are analysing additional footage to identify those involved in the explosion, he said. One crude bomb blasted between 1:10am and 1:15am on Saturday, when two youths riding a motorcycle from the Jahangir Gate direction towards the Prime Minister’s Office hurled two crude bombs at the entrance to Agargaon Bypass Road. On information, a Bomb Disposal Unit reached the spot and defused the unexploded crude bomb. Police filed a case under the Explosive Substances Act with Tejgaon Police Station over the incident.

A devastating fire broke out at a garment waste (jhut) warehouse in the Jamgora Tetultala area of Ashulia in Savar on Friday night, rapidly spreading to destroy four neighboring warehouses and an adjacent house. No casualties have been reported so far, fire service officials said. According to locals, the fire originated around 10:00pm at a jhut warehouse co-owned by Alauddin and Babul Miah. As the flames quickly intensified and spread panic across the neighborhood, locals alerted the fire service. Initially, two firefighting units from the Jirabo Fire Service rushed to the spot. However, before their arrival, the blaze engulfed four neighboring jhut warehouses and an adjacent residential house, damaging all six structures. Later, around 11:30pm, two additional units from the DEPZ Fire Service joined the operation. Shahabuddin, Jirabo Fire Service Senior Station Officer, said the fire spread rapidly due to a large quantity of highly flammable materials stored inside the warehouses. He added that while the exact origin of the fire could not be immediately confirmed, firefighters are working continuously to bring the blaze under control.

Police in a drive arrested a woman and her husband in connection with the killing of her younger brother over a property dispute in Shahjahanpur area of the capital. The arrestees were identified as Noor Afsana Nipa, 45, elder sister of the victim and her husband, Abdus Samad Sujon, 58. Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Motijheel Division) Mohammad Harun-or-Rashid on Thursday said after examining the CCTV footage police arrested Nipa from her house in  North Shahjahanpur while Sujon from Topkhana Road in the capital on Wednesday. Earlier on Wednesday, police recovered the body of Mohammad Fakrul Hasan Farhad, 44, with his throat slit at a house in North Shahjahanpur area of the capital. When briefing, Harun-or-Rashid said Farhad was murdered between around 6:30pm to 9:30pm on Wednesday. When Farhad’s wife returned home she found her dead around 9:30pm. During investigation police spotted a suspect wearing a red helmet moving around the area. A red helmet, a machete suspected to have been used in the murder and the clothes allegedly worn by the suspect at the time of the incident were recovered, said the DC. Farhad had been living in the house for a long time and had disputes with his elder sister and brother-in-law over the possession of the residence and payment of gas and water bills. He said the investigation had also found allegations that Farhad had previously been pressured and threatened to leave the house. According to the police, the house was originally owned by Farhad’s maternal grandfather and was later divided between his two sisters. Farhad subsequently sold two flats he owned in Khilgaon for financial needs and lived on the fifth floor of the house with his own funds. The preliminary investigation found the dispute over the property and Farhad’s residence there as the reason behind the murder, Harun said. He added that legal action would be taken after identifying everyone directly or indirectly involved in the killing.

Police in a drive arrested two people in a case filed over allegedly abetting a woman to commit suicide, from different parts of the country,  on Monday. The arrestees were identified as Minakshi Rani, 30 and Biki Babu alias Biki Hela. Deputy Commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Md Akhter Hossain, said after analysing the CCTV footage and with the help of technology, a team of police arrested Minakshi Rani from Mironjilla Harijon Polli in Bonghal area around 6:30 am. Police also arrested Biki Helal from Nabil Highway of Sirajganj district around 3:30 am. According to the case statement, Nisha Rani, 28, a friend of Minakkhi Rani went to the Dhakeshwari temple for puja on October 2. Nisha later introduced her ‘so-called' lover Biki Babu to Minakshi. From there they went to several places. At one stage, Minakshi and Biki became close, which irked Nisha. On that same day, Biki went to the house of Minakshi around 3:30 am in absence of her husband as he went to Cumilla for work purpose. As Nisha came to know the fact, she went to Minakshi’s house and found her and Biki in an intimate situation. Later, Nisha set herself on fire after pouring kerosene on her body. She was taken to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital where she succumbed to her injuries around 1:25 am on Monday. A case was filed in this connection.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has designated limited vending zones for hawkers and warned that those returning to unauthorised roads or footpaths will face confiscation of goods and legal action, Administrator Abdus Salam said on Monday. “Except Friday-Saturday, when we have designated some roads for holiday markets, no hawker will be allowed on any road,” he said while speaking to journalists after inspecting the area in front of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. He said the corporation had held several meetings with leaders of all major hawker organisations before finalising the arrangements. He said hawkers would also be allowed in some places where footpaths are sufficiently wide to leave adequate space for pedestrians, but stressed that the permission would not apply to all footpaths. “We have allowed some places where the footpaths are wide and there is space for people to walk. But we will not allow hawkers to use all footpaths,” he said. The DSCC administrator said the corporation wanted to improve Dhaka’s environment without depriving hawkers of their livelihoods, urging them to use only the designated spaces. “We don’t want to evict anyone,” he said. He said a Friday-Saturday holiday market had been arranged near Pirjangi Mazar, while hawkers had also been given space on the footpath opposite Ideal School on other days. He warned that hawkers who return to roads or unauthorised footpaths would face stricter enforcement. “If they do not refrain, there will be no alternative but to strictly enforce the law. Their goods will be confiscated and cases will be filed,” he said. The administrator also urged hawker leaders to honour their commitments, saying the corporation wanted to implement the arrangements through discussion rather than force. He said the move was part of the DSCC’s effort to make Dhaka green and clean while maintaining pedestrian movement and a better urban environment. The administrator also said the city corporation is currently conducting a 12 day-long survey on the Dengue situation and plan to launch a crash program on dengue prevention based on the survey results.