Drastic fall in fish output in Chalan Beel for poor rainfall

The two-day annual urs of great saint Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) will begin at his shrine in Sylhet today. Devotees in thousands from different areas of the country have already arrived in the city to join the religious event. The 690th annual event is scheduled to start with placing of gilaf (cover) on the grave of the saint in the early hours of today. The other programmes include Qurankhwani, fateha khwani, discussion, milad mahfil etc. It will end through Ankheri munajat (concluding prayers) and through distribution of alms after the Faz'r prayers tomorrow. A three-day fair has also been arranged in the shrine area.

Jhenidah police have arrested a cadre of the outfit Biplobi Communist Party (ML-Janajuddha) from village Hazidanga in Jhenidah Sadar upazila on Friday night. Police also recovered a pipe gun and a bullet from the possession of arrestee Uzzal, 34. Matiar Rahman, officer in-charge (OC) of Jhenidah police station said, acting on a tip-off, police raided a house and nabbed the outlaw. Uzzal was wanted in several cases, the OC said.

A court here on Thursday sentenced a young man to two years of imprisonment in a dowry case. Convict Arman, 30, son of Shawkat Ali of Dewbhog area in the town, was present on the dock when the judge pronounced the verdict. According to the prosecution, Arman married Jyostna Begum, daughter of Baset Prodhan of Gognagar in Sadar upazila on May 5, 2006. But after a few days, he started torturing her for bringing Tk 1 lakh as dowry from her parents. Later, Jyostna filed a case on August 20, the same year, against her husband. After examining the records and witnesses, Judge Mohammed Bazlur Rahman of Senior Judicial Magistrate court handed down the verdict.

Criminals killed a man and took away his motorbike near Kamdia bazaar in Gobindaganj upazila on Tuesday. Police said, a gang swooped on Abdul Quddus, 47, while he was returning home from the bazaar by a motorbike at dead of night and took away his bike after killing him on the spot. On information, police recovered the body on Wednesday morning and sent it to hospital morgue for autopsy. Police later recovered the motorcycle from nearby Khamarpara village but could not arrest anybody in connection with the incident.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) on Thursday recovered a touchstone statue of Hindu goddess Swaraswati from a passenger bus. Acting on a tip-off, a team of Rab-12 led by its deputy assistant director Hafiz Uddin raided a Dhaka-bound passenger bus coming from Pabna at the eastern end of Jamuna bridge and recovered the statue weighing about 2.5kg. The statue was found in a jute sack in an abandoned state. The touchstone statute is worth around Tk 2.5 crore, Rab officials said.

Five local leaders of opposition BNP, accused in a case, were granted bail for three months by the High Court Tuesday. A high court bench comprising justice AFM Abdur Rahman and justice Mohammad Imdadul Haque Azad granted the bail after the hearing in presence of the five leaders. They are pourashava and town BNP president Jahangir Alam, pourashava panel mayor and general secretary of town Jubo Dal Maksudul Alam Khondoker Khorshed, poura BNP organising secretary Hasan Ahmed, Sadar upazila Jubo Dal vice president Moazzem Hossain Monti and No 7 ward Jubo Dal leader Shakhawat Hossain Shova. Nurul Islam Sarder, who was defeated in last pourashava mayoral election on October 25 filed a case with Sadar police station accusing the five of ransacking office and attempting to murder.

Customs officials seized musk worth Tk 1 crore from the bag of a man on Wednesday evening. Customs sources said they found the musk while searching the bag of Tarek Hossain of Chittagong district. Tarek was returning from neighbouring India with a valid passport. A case was filed.

Locals caught red-handed two robbers along with firearms at Kaujani village on Thursday night. Police said, a gang of robbers entered Molla Bari house and tried to loot valuables at dead of night. As the inmates raised a hue and cry, locals rushed to the spot and caught two of the fleeing robbers - Rubel Sheikh, 22, of Uttar Char Paturia village and Majnu Molla, 30, of Tenapacha village. A shutter-gun, four bullets and a sharp knife were recovered from their possession.