Separated again 68 years after

Mrinal Chandra Barman, left, and others at Indian enclave Dashiarchhara in Phulbari of Kurigram. They want to become Indian nationals. Photo: Zahed Khan

Bogra Sangbad Desk : It is nothing compared to the greatest migration in history when people moved like ants to cross borders into Bengal and Punjab. There will be no violence and death stalking them at every footstep. And yet there will be many similarities.

Second time in the history of this sub-continent, a mass migration, however small may be the number – 979 to be exact and only one way from this side to India– will take place anytime soon once the enclaves will no longer exist from midnight today.

Monetary policy rates remain unchanged

Bogra Sangbad Desk : The central bank today announced its monetary policy for the first half of the current fiscal year, keeping policy rates unchanged.

The repo and reverse repo rates remain at 7.25 percent and 5.25 percent respectively as they were in the previous monetary policy. 

The monetary programme for the new financial year is designed to contain credit growth within limits consistent with real sector output growth, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman, while announcing the policy for July-December period.  

“[But] BB will have no hesitation in considering easing of the repo and reverse repo policy interest rates to appropriate extent immediately as headline point-to-point and core CPI inflation assume clear downward edging  turn,” he said at a programme at his office.

The Lost Panorama

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Many major cities in the world boast a flowing river by its side. And it is the river that greatly contributes to the beauty or development of these cities. London has the Thames. New York has the Hudson River. Paris is blessed with the Seine. Dhaka, too, has a river it owes a lot to: the Buriganga.

Along the Buriganga, Dhaka once grew to become one of the most flourishing cities. The view from the river would have portrayed that, if we simply cared about its frontline, which features grand palaces, mosques and so on. Instead, we abuse the river and with it, we also abuse its banks.

Bangladesh to set up fund for sustainable production of hilsa || Govt hopes to see increased production in next seasons

Bogra Sangbad Desk : The government is going to set up “Hilsa Development Trust Fund” for sustainable production of hilsa in the country. 

Fisheries and Livestock Minister Sayedul Haque said this at a press conference held at the Matshya Bhaban conference room marking the start of National Fisheries Week yesterday.

The minister, however, did not give any details regarding the trust fund for the national fish of the country.

"The production of the Hilsa has now reached 3.85 lakh tonnes which is worth Tk 17,000 crore. Necessary programmes will be taken to raise the production of the Hilsa further,” the minister said.

9.4m migrants send back $15b || Women migrant workers rising centering UAE

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A total of 9.4 million Bangladeshi migrants are toiling in various parts of the globe and sending their hard-earned money back home.

The fruits of their hard-work are paying off as an incredible $15.31 billion in remittance was received in fiscal 2015 - the highest in the country’s history.

Although total migration has declined by 30% in 2014 compared to 2012, the number of Bangladeshi female migrants has been on the rise despite global economic slump.

One country which stands out in terms of employment of female workers is UAE. According to BMET statistics of June 2015, UAE is the home to 27% of total female migrants of Bangladesh.

Apple fake factory 'caught in China'

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A factory which had made up to 41,000 fake Apple iPhones has been caught in China leading to nine arrests.

The operation reportedly involved "hundreds" of workers repackaging second hand smartphone parts as new iPhones for export, with the counterfeit phones produced worth 120m yuan ($19m).

The factory was discovered on 14 May but was revealed on social media by Beijing's public security bureau on Sunday, according to reports.

The operation was set up in January.

Abdul Kalam: People's president, extraordinary Indian

Dr Kalam was one of the most popular Indian presidents. Photo: AFP

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen (APJ) Abdul Kalam, India's 11th president, who collapsed and died aged 83, on Monday evening while doing what he loved - addressing students - was an extraordinary Indian.

Born in humble circumstances in a Muslim family in rural Tamil Nadu, a young boy who sold newspapers as a boy to help his family make ends meet rose to the highest office in the land. And he did so not through the conventional route of a political career but through the dint of hard work as a scientist in government service.

RISKY BILLBOARDS || Safety totally unwatched || DCCs' jobs restricted to occasional drives only

All over the city, hundreds of similar billboards present a high risk of collapse as their entire weight is supported by a single pole.

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Several thousand risky billboards and signposts set up legally and illegally across the capital pose a constant death threat to the city dwellers, in the absence of an effective oversight by the city authorities to ensure public safety.

Only 100 tigers found in Sundarbans

A rescued tigress swims in the Sundarikati river after being released by forestry officials at Sunderbans in February 2008. AFP Photo/Deshakalyan Chowdhury

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Bangladesh has only about 100 tigers living in the world's largest mangrove forest, far fewer of the endangered animals than previously thought, following a recent survey, a top forestry official said Monday.

Floating vegetable farm in Bangladesh || Lalmonirhat farmers cultivate on abandoned water bodies

A farmer harvests from his floating vegetables bed in Kutripar village of Aditmari upazila, Lalmonirhat. Photo: Star

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Vegetable cultivation on floating beds prepared on abandoned water bodies has been a boon to several hundred landless farmers of around 25 villages in Lalmonirhat.

More than 400 farmers in the Lalmonirhat Sadar, Aditmari and Hatibandha upazilas are profiting from the unique farming in the Teesta and Dharla river basin areas.

40,000 marooned as floods hit different districts in Bangladesh || Floods engulf vast areas in Bandarban, Cox's Bazar, Feni as rivers swell

People wade through knee-deep water on Bandarban-Chittagong link road. Photo: Star

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Rain and onrush of water from upstream caused the flooding to worsen in the hilly district of Bandarban, and Feni and Cox's Bazar yesterday.

This is the second time floods have affected these places this year.

Around 40,000 people in Bandarban were marooned and road communications between the district and other parts of the country remained snapped for the second consecutive day yesterday, reports our correspondent there citing local public representatives. 

Catman of West Bengal (video)

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Inspired by the show on Discovery channel ‘Man vs Wild’, Rajkumar Biswas of West Bengal changed his eating habits to things that are raw and bizarre.

The youth from Basirhat area of North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal relishes on insects, lizards and other animals that are far from being included in a ‘normal diet’.

Rajkumar, the son of a local barber, quit school in order to help his father with the shop. Despite working hard, he was an avid television freak and managed to have a peek during his breaks, particularly watching the Discovery Channel, his favourite.

Stop further distribution of Brazil wheat: SC

Bogra Sangbad Desk : The apex court today ordered a stop on further distribution of the wheat imported from Brazil in the backdrop of questions regarding its quality.

The remaining wheat will not be distributed to any organisation or department until further order of the Supreme Court.

Furthermore, the four-member Appellate Division bench extended a stay on a High Court verdict that ordered government to take back Brazil wheat from an organisation if it is willing to return it.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, came up with the order during a hearing on a petition moved by the government seeking a stay on the High Court order.

Mob murder or planned killing? || Victim's family claims of manpower tout's plot; imam held over 'use of mike to incite people'

Family of Monir who was branded as a robber and beaten dead by some people in Comilla. Photo: TV Grab

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Confusion reigns over the lynching of Monir as a “robber” in Comilla 11 days ago with the family members alleging it was a planned murder.

Monir's father Moslem Uddin Sarkar, a former officer of agriculture extension department, claimed his son had fallen victim to a travel agent's trap.

adict Moslem's claim, according to police.

World's largest flower blooms in Tokyo park

The rare bloom is on display at the Jindai botanical gardens in Tokyo.

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A giant flower, said to be one of the world's oldest and largest species, has bloomed at a Tokyo park for the first time in five years, it's reported.

The 2-metre-high (6.5 feet) Titan arum rarely flowers and is notoriously difficult to propagate. The Jindai botanical gardens in the city of Chofu have extended their opening hours especially to allow hundreds of visitors to see the flower, which only blooms for one or two days, Japan's Kyodo News Service reports.

Buy your own boat for as low as Tk 3,000 (video)

Bogra Sangbad Desk : One can get nearly anything from the supershops nowadays, but to get a boat and maybe spend the next holidays on rivers can still prove farfetched – until now.

Stretched across a small piece of land at the banks of Brahmaputra lies the place of a 200-year-old haat that has one other specialty besides having a history through the British era.

In monsoon, this Kaikkertek in Sonargaon of Narayanganj plays host to a market of small boats that one can get in as low amount as Tk 3,000.

Nepal quake: To live on after the disaster (video) || China Daily Asia

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Three months since Nepal was rocked by a devastating earthquake, life is returning to normal for some. But thousands of Nepalis still have no home and a means to make a living. China Daily met with one family struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Source : The Daily Star

BRUTAL KILLING OF RAJON || Probe finds negligence of police in arresting killers of Sylhet boy

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A police probe committee has found negligence of law enforcers in arresting the killers of 13-year-old Samiul Alam Rajon, and political influence in letting one perpetrator flee the country.

Based on the committee report, the Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) closed an officer-in-charge and suspended two sub-inspectors of Jalalabad Police Station yesterday.

Rahmat Ullah, additional deputy commissioner of the SMP, confirmed to The Daily Star that the action was taken against OC (investigation) Alamgir Hossain and sub-inspectors Aminul Islam and Zakir Hossain.

Earlier on July 14, SI Aminul Islam was withdrawn allegedly for cutting a deal with accused Kamrul Islam and helping him flee to Saudi Arabia after the killing.

"Police failed to arrest Rajon's murderers due to their negligence and there was a political interference to save them," SMP Additional Commissioner SM Rokun Uddin, who headed the probe body, told this correspondent yesterday.

A father's struggle || Cheated by manpower brokers, Sirajganj farmer toils in Malaysia

Bogra Sangbad Desk : In the midst of a busy Eid shopping day in the bustling island city of Penang, Musa Sheikh, 53, was selling tabiz, amulets thought to bring good luck and protect people from diseases. This is how he tries to earn a few extra ringgits in Malaysia.

“People here don't care for tabiz. Only some Bangladeshis buy them once in a while. Whatever I get is my income,” said Musa, who looks much older than his age.

His tabiz for good luck does not seem to help him much. He does not have a valid work permit in Malaysia. Even if he had one, employers would be unlikely to hire him for work given his age and weak physique. He stays without any work for almost half a month. In his spare time, he sells his good luck tabiz.

HUMAN TRAFFICKING LINK || Thai general, 71 others indicted

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Thai prosecutors have indicted 72 people, including politicians and an army general, over the trafficking of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Arrest warrants have been issued for more than 30 others, the attorney general's office said yesterday.

The investigation follows the discovery of mass graves, believed to contain the bodies of refugees, in jungle camps near the Thai-Malaysian border in May.

Many migrants endured arduous sea journeys before arriving in Thailand.

Boat of dreams

Children exiting a boat school at a Baniachong haor in Habiganj. Photo: Star

Bogra Sangbad Desk : “Bhai re [Brother], I could not attend school. And now, I have to toil from dawn to dusk to eke out a living. Even at night, I go to bed with my head full of worries. No, I don't want my son to grow up to be someone like me. I want him to be educated and become an officer ... a big service holder.”

This is how 40-year-old day labourer Idris Mia was describing his dream for his son to this correspondent, sitting on the roof of a boat in Batiparar Beel, a wetland at Kagapasha village in Habiganj district's Baniachong.

Thailand indicts 72 people over human trafficking

Migrants were taken to shelters after being rescued from the sea. Photo: Reuters

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Thai prosecutors have indicted 72 people, including politicians and an army general, over the trafficking of migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Arrest warrants have been issued for more than 30 others, the attorney general's office said.

The investigation follows the discovery of mass graves, believed to contain the bodies of refugees, in jungle camps near the Thai-Malaysian border in May.

Many migrants endured arduous sea journeys before arriving in Thailand.

Rajon killing: Probe finds cops' negligence, political influence

Another suspect in Rajon killing case has been arrested on Wednesday.

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A police probe body, formed to investigate the killing of Samiul Alam Rajon, found negligence of law enforcers in arresting the killers and political influence in letting the perpetrators flee.

“Police failed to arrest Rajon’s murderers due to their negligence and there was a political interference to save them,” said SM Rokon Uddin, additional commissioner of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP) and also head of the probe body.

SM Rokon Uddin along with two members of the investigation committee submitted the reports to the SMP Commissioner Kamrul Ahsan around 11:00pm last night, reports our Moulvibazar correspondent.

US to help Bangladesh to mitigate global warming

Bogra Sangbad Desk : The US expressed its firm willingness to stand beside Bangladesh for mitigation and adaptation of the adverse effect of the global warming on Thursday according to a press release from the Embassy of Bangladesh, Washington DC.

Bangladesh Ambassador to the United States Mohammad Ziauddin met Congressman Alan Lowenthal (D-CA) at the Capitol Hill on July 23 when they discussed, among others, adverse impacts of climate change on Bangladesh.

The Bangladesh Ambassador in the meeting said that climate change, a fact of life of the people of Bangladesh, is hardly of their own making. Bangladesh being one of the least emitters of CO2 (with only 0.3 metric ton per capita emission) is the most vulnerable to the adverse impact of the changing climate. 

Indo-Bangla officials discuss land issue

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Enclave dwellers have to sell land before migrating to India. Enclave people who opted for relocating to India will have to sell their properties in Bangladesh territory on their own beforehand.

The decision came at a meeting of the Bangladesh-India joint boundary working committee to implement the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA).

The two-day meeting opened yesterday at a city hotel to discuss various issues regarding exchange of enclaves between the two countries.

A total of 979 dwellers in Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh territory have expressed willingness to move to India. But the question arose how their property-related problems would be resolved, officials said.

Abductors on the prowl

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Rights bodies find law enforcers' link to many incidents; law enforcers blame criminals in guise of police in most cases.

On the morning of July 12, all the hustle and bustle of the busy Eid market at the capital's Science Laboratory intersection came to a standstill, at least for a few minutes. Five armed men jumped out of a white microbus and forced two men into the vehicle. It was around 10:30.

The flower of a single day

Bogra Sangbad Desk : As the summer sets in, I keep a watchful eye on the Padauk rows in the capital's High Court and Hare Road areas lest I should miss a treat.

They, of course, have not betrayed the flower-lovers over the past few decades. Quite a few trees were in flower this year, a little sporadically though. This is typical of Padauk.

The flowers stay for a day only but blossom in different trees on different days. If one is lucky enough, he might see flowers in a couple of trees close together.

Earth-like planet among new Kepler telescope haul

Earth-like planet Kepler-452b orbits at a very similar distance from its star, although its radius is 60% larger. Photo taken from BBC

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A haul of planets from Nasa's Kepler telescope includes a world sharing many characteristics with Earth.

Kepler-452b orbits at a very similar distance from its star, although its radius is 60% larger.

Its sun is of similar size and brightness to our own, but much older.

Such worlds are of interest to astronomers because they might be small and cool enough to host liquid water on their surface - and might therefore be hospitable to life.

Zuckerberg moves closer to become world's richest person

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has moved a step closer to becoming the richest person in the world.

Zuckerberg is now on the ninth place in Bloomberg's Billionaire list as of July 22.

The 31-year-old has a fortune worth $42.5 billion, a rise of $8 billion in the year so far.

He is followed by Swedish business magnate Ingvar Kamprad who is only $0.4 billion behind the Facebook founder.

Jaywalkers top railway deaths

Bogra Sangbad Desk : It was a morning like any other when Sabbir Hossain was going to take tuition at a coaching centre. With headphones tightly pressed in his ears, he was listening to his favorite music and casually walking on the rail-tracks.

As a train approached him from behind, locals at the scene started to shout out to warn him; sadly he could not hear and the train ran over the teenage boy.  

This unfortunately is a very common scenario in Bangladesh. The idea of strolling, sitting and setting up shops on rail tracks is not uncommon. 

Liberians 'pressured to sell land' for palm oil plantations

Communities in Liberia are being pressured to sign away their land to make way for palm oil plantations, according to a campaign group. AFP PHOTO / SIA KAMBOU

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Communities in Liberia are being pressured to sign away their land to make way for palm oil plantations, according to a campaign group.

Global Witness says Liberians have been beaten and arrested for refusing, and wants a government investigation.

INHUMAN || 2 children tortured over trifling matter

Nasim, 9, and Yasin, 8, tied and chained to a tree for removing a fence blocking a road at Joynagar of Shyamnagar in Satkhira on July 16. This photo was published in Patradoot, a local newspaper, yesterday. Photo: Collected

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Their scantily lungi-clad young bodies bear the hallmark of unimaginable cruelty.

The two minors were tied to a tree, their bodies coiled with ropes. And as if that were not enough, their tormentor tied their hands separately with ropes and their feet with iron shackles.

One of oldest 'Quran scripts' found in UK

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A Quran manuscript has been carbon dated to close to the time of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH), making it one of the oldest in the world, a British university said yesterday.

The two leaves of parchment, filled with "surprisingly legible" text from Islam's holy book, have been dated to around the early seventh century, the University of Birmingham said.

Water not safe for urban people

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Fifty-five percent of urban households surveyed across the country use water that contains risky levels of hazardous bacteria E. coli at source, according to the findings of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

Though Bangladesh has set a parameter that no E. coli should be found in a 100-millilitre sample of drinking water, the bacteria has been found from 1 to more than 100 colony forming units (cfu) per 100-ml sample of water, says the BBS. 

155 trafficking victims brought back from Myanmar

Border Guard Bangladesh members near the Myanmar border in Coxs Bazar ahead of BGB flag meeting to repatriate 155 Bangladeshi nationals on July 22, 2015. Photo: TV grab

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A total of 155 Bangladeshi trafficking victims who were rescued by Myanmar from the sea were repatriated home today.

Myanmar’s immigration department and Border Guard Police (BGP) handed over them to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) this afternoon.

India court to frame charge against Nur Hossain Aug 24

Nur Hossain. Star file photo.

Bogra Sangbad Desk : An Indian court today sets August 24 to frame charges against Nur Hossain, prime accused in the sensational Narayanganj seven-murder case, for  trespassing into the country.

Charges against Nur are yet to be framed in India although over one year has passed since his arrest for trespassing into the country following the murders.

A Barasat court fixed the date after Nur was presented before the court.

The court also issued arrest warrant against one of Nur's associates, Khan Sumon, who did not appear in the hearing today and also the last two hearings, said Anup Ghosh, Sumon’s lawyer.

'Archie' cartoonist Tom Moore dies aged 86 in El Paso, Texas

In this July 15, 2014 photo, Tom Moore, the "Archie" cartoonist, poses for a photo in El Paso, Texas. Moore, who brought to life the escapades of a freckled-face, red-haired character, has died Monday, July 20, 2015, in Texas. He was 86. Photo taken from AP/ The El Paso Times

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Tom Moore, the "Archie" cartoonist who brought to life the escapades of a freckled-face, red-haired character, has died in Texas. He was 86.

Moore, who began drawing cartoons while in the US Navy during the Korean War, died early Monday morning while in hospice care in his hometown of El Paso, his son Lito Bujanda-Moore told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He said his father was diagnosed with throat cancer within the past week and chose not to undergo treatment.

Communal violence in India up 24pc in first 5 months of 2015

A man leans on his stick as he participates in a protest to demand justice for victims of the 1984 massacre of Sikhs in New Delhi on October 31, 2014. — AP file photo

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Communal violence in India has registered a jump with incidents rising by 24 per cent and related deaths too up by 65 per cent in the first five months of 2015 as compared to the corresponding period of last year, when the UPA government was in the

Posing with endangered River Dolphin

In a mindless act of disregard to endangered Gangetic River Dolphin, Facebook user Tapos Debnath has posted photos in which he poses with a dead dolphin calf. Photo taken from his Facebook page.

Bogra Sangbad Desk : In a mindless act of disregard to endangered Gangetic River Dolphin, a Facebook user has posted photos in which he poses with a dead dolphin calf.

When the act was condemned by a few, Tapos Debnath who appeared to boastfully show off the dolphin, later claimed it was not him who caught the dolphin, he simply posed with it. 

INDIA'S RIVER-LINKING PROJECT || Concern over major rivers of Bangladesh

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Bangladeshi river experts and environmentalists expressed concern over India's fresh move to implement the controversial river linking project that will connect trans-boundary rivers and divert water to southern Indian states.

The project, if implemented, will diminish the water flow in Bangladesh's rivers like the Teesta, Jamuna and the Padma and affect the country's environment and economy, they say.

India villagers behead woman for 'witchcraft'

Police say villagers blamed a woman for their illnesses. Photo: BBC

Bogra Sangbad Desk : An elderly Indian woman accused of practising witchcraft has been stripped naked and beheaded by villagers in the state of Assam, police say.

They said that 63-year-old Purni Orang had been blamed for illness in the tribal settlement.

Seven people, including two women, have been arrested over her killing.

Police in Assam say nearly 90 people, mostly women, have been beheaded, burnt alive or stabbed to death after such accusations over the last six years.

Bangladeshi physicist leads discovery of massless particle with promise for next-gen electronics

Bogra Sangbad Desk : A Bangladeshi physicist of Princeton University led an international team to the discovery of an elusive massless particle theorised 85 years ago.

The particle could give rise to faster and more efficient electronics because of its unusual ability to behave as matter and antimatter inside a crystal, quoting a new research a report was published on the university website.

Only 979 want to leave for India

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Rest of inhabitants in Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh to stay; none coming from Bangladesh enclaves inside India.

No dweller of the 51 enclaves in Indian territory wants to come to Bangladesh while just 979 residents of the 111 enclaves inside Bangladesh are willing to go to India, say officials.    

Lalmonirhat Deputy Commissioner Habibur Rahman, who led a five-member Bangladesh delegation at a meeting with the Indian side yesterday, confirmed it to The Daily Star.

According to the 2011 census, 14,215 people live in the 51 Bangladeshi enclaves in India while 37,369 people live in the 111 Indian enclaves inside Bangladesh.

A different experience

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Like many other offices, Eid holidays left an impact on three public hospitals in the capital, but the scene of the burn institute at Dhaka Medical College Hospital was a little different.

Not only two plastic surgeons were found on duty, an assistant professor, who was on leave, also visited his patients to see how they were doing.

Doctors Pradip Chandra Das and Gobinda Das were about to complete a 36-hour roster duty when Assistant Prof Nashir Uddin showed up with his wife and children.

Why Bangladesh’s media has to peddle blood, death

A child shares his outrage on the death of a 13-year-old boy, Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Rajon, who was tortured by brutes in Kumargaon Bus Stand area of Sylhet on July 8 accusing him of being a thief, during a protest organised by “Biswa Bangalee Morjada Andolon” in front of Bangladesh National Museum in the capital.

Bogra Sangbad Desk : When the video of a 13-year-old child labourer being brutally beaten to death went viral in Bangladesh last week, every major television station in the country aired bits of it. Every local news website hosted it. The newspapers published screenshots showing the boy's screaming, contorted face. In contrast, international outlets neither publicised the video nor showed the boy's face clearly, citing standards of good journalism. Al-Jazeera compressed the boy's photo to a mere 250x139 pixels tucked into a sidebar, while The Independent completely blurred out his face.

102 boat migrants found by Myanmar navy

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Myanmar's navy has discovered over a hundred migrants stranded for weeks on a southern island, state media said Tuesday, in the wake of a regional boat crisis earlier this year.

The group of 102 men were picked up by Myanmar's navy off the coast of the country's southernmost Tanintharyi region, according to a report by the Global New Light of Myanmar.

"Some said they were forcibly taken from their country, while others reported having been enticed by human traffickers to work in Malaysia," said the report, which said all of those found had come from Bangladesh.

Kamrul admits beating Rajon

Bogra Sangbad Desk : Expatriate Bangladeshi Kamrul Islam, who appears to be the main culprit responsible for beating dead 13-year-old Rajon, confessed to his role in the killing.

Mobile phone footage from Jeddah, where he was captured by the Bangladeshi community, shows him saying that he beat up the kid. He however claimed that the boy was still alive when he left the spot.

The man, who fled Bangladesh immediately after the killing, also told a reporter of private TV television channel ntv that he used a plastic stick.

This is how Rajon killer Kamrul was held (video)

Bogra Sangbad News Desk : Videos surfaced on social media showing Bangladeshi community in Jeddah of Saudi Arabia catching Kamrul Islam – the man who beat the life out of 13-year-old Rajon.

The ill-fated boy, Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Rajon, died of brain hemorrhage and his body bore around 64 injury marks, according to an autopsy report.

The video of the brutal assault on the minor boy was filmed by a laughing aide and later exposed to the social media – which sparked outrage throughout Bangladesh and abroad.

Exit points home-goers' concern

Bogra Sangbad News Desk : Highways look fairly good ahead of huge rush of vehicles for Eid holidaymaking. 

Though the highways connecting Dhaka with other major cities are in a relatively good shape, people going home for Eid may face severe traffic gridlock at the capital's exit points.

Narrow roads, haphazard roadside parking, unplanned stoppages, plying of rundown vehicles and poor traffic management may cause traffic mayhems at the exit points, making the journeys agonising at the very beginning.

Parts of some highways are still in a sorry state and the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is working to repair those. But the efforts may go in vain if it rains in the next few days.

How not to lose your smartphone

Bogra Sangbad News Desk : Even though you and your smartphone are inseparable, as angrily pointed out by your mother, you have the attention span of a teaspoon. If you're one of those clumsy people who are currently on their fourth phone and everyone, including you, is fed up with your losing skills, here are some useful tips to keep a closer eye on your beloved.

AVOID PURCHASING A SMARTPHONE TO BEGIN WITH.

Maybe it's for the better. You lose your phone, you cry, your parents console you in the worst way possible, you post morose statuses on Facebook, and find a little piece of yourself dying each time someone asks for your number. Maybe it's not meant to be. Maybe it's time to make do with the old Nokia 1112.

A solution to get rid of passive smoking

Bogra Sangbad News Desk : People, exposed to passive smoking, now can be free of danger using a new air-cleaning filter.

The filter can prevent all the harmful smoke substances in a room - where ten people are simultaneously smoking - in less than an hour, researchers say, reports Press Trust of India.

The filter is coated with a manganese oxide-based nano-catalyst, which can be used in a smoking room to reduce and purify major harmful substances of cigarette smoke, it adds.

In a 30 square meter smoking room, where 10 people are smoking simultaneously, the air cleaning equipment based on the newly-developed catalyst can purify over 80 per cent of the cigarette smoke within 30 minutes and 100 per cent of it within 1 hour.

Rajon murder accused held in Jeddah

Bogra Sangbad News Desk : Saudi police today detained one Bangladeshi expatriate in connection with the sensational killing of 13-year-old boy Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Rajon.

“Kamrul Islam was arrested today from Al Jamia’ah area on the basis of information given by Bangladeshi people living in the area,” Altaf Hossain, first secretary (Labour) at Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah, told The Daily Star over phone.

Kamrul came to Sylhet a month ago to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr.

Source : The Daily Star

64 injury marks found on Rajon's body: Autopsy

A Sylhet court places lone arrestee in a case filed in connection with the murder of 13-year-old Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Rajon on a 5-day remand. Photo: Collected

Bogra Sangbad News Desk : Autopsy report of 13-year-old Sheikh Md Samiul Alam Rajon, who was brutally tortured to death in Sylhet, says the victim died due to brain haemorrhage after sustaining head injuries.

“Rajon died of brain haemorrhage and around 64 injury marks were found in his body,” Akhtar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Jalalabad Police Station, said quoting the forensic report this afternoon.

Tasmina Islam, a doctor at Osmani Medical College and Hospital, performed the autopsy of the victim and handed the report to Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Jalalabad Police Station around 2:00pm, reports our Moulvibazar correspondent.

Writ filed with Indian SC over Felani verdict

Bogra Sangbad News Desk : Indian human rights body Amnesty India today filed a writ petition with the country’s Supreme Court, saying human rights were violated in Felani murder and confusion is created surrounding the trial process.

However, it is not confirmed yet whether the writ will be accepted.

Secretary of the organisation Sushanto Sarkar told The Daily Star over phone this evening, “We have sent the writ petition through poster service and e-mail to Chief Justice HL Dattur of the apex court. Within a few days, it will be confirmed whether the writ is accepted.”