DHAKA: A total of 15,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims will perform hajj this year under government management. State Minister for Religious Affairs Shahjahan Mia disclosed this in parliament in reply to a question of ABM Golam Mustafa MP.He said, “Preparations are being taken to make the total

CHITTAGONG: The suspects arrested on charges of disturbing CCC election atmosphere, clashes between the activists of Awami League and BNP and arson attacks were all sent to court Sunday. Police appealed for a seven-day remand for them. The court rejected the plea and sent them to jail.The

DHAKA: A special court spelt out charges against 40 of a horde of 668 suspected mutineers of 24 Rifles Battalion at the BDR headquarters Sunday, scaling up the phased trial of the border guards.The court adjourned the indictment hearing until 10:00am Monday.The Special Court-5, led by

NARAYANGANJ: Armed robbers swooped on the house of a businessman at Daulatpur village under Fatullah thana early Sunday and looted cash and kind worth about Tk 70 lakh.Witnesses said the armed bandits, numbering 8/10, stormed the house Saiful at about 3am and held the residents hostage at

SAVAR: Tension boiled up in Ashulia industrial area Sunday following recent labour unrest with many factories still remaining shut, posing threat to the country’s export-oriented readymade garment sector.The law-and-order situation was, however, brought under control after a daylong

RANGPUR: Bidi (tobacco) workers Sunday laid a siege to the Dhaka-Rangpur highway demanding withdrawal the excise duty on the tobacco product for smoking. “Traffic halted for two hours from 10:30am to 12:30pm on the road following the blockade,” witnesses said.   Thousands of Bidi

KUSHTIA: Police Sunday recovered the bruised body of an unidentified sexagenarian man from Farakpur graveyard in Bheramara upazila in the district.On information, Poradah GRP police rushed to the spot and recovered the body. Police said,” The man died as a train ran over him.” Later,

DHAKA: With a view to helping out hapless children in the country’s disaster-prone areas, two non-government organsisations initiated a scheme for providing them with education and mental supports.  Under a combined project, Plan Bangladesh and South Asian Partnership (SAP)-Bangladesh

DHAKA: A Dhaka court Sunday rejected bail appeal of Mahmudur Rahman, the detained acting editor of the recently closed Amar Desh, in a case filed against him for obstructing police from discharging their duties during the Bengali daily’s closure.Acting Judge Mohammad Ismail Hossain of

Panchagarh: Opposition Chief Whip Jainul Abdin Farroque Sunday secured bail in a defamation suit filed against him with a court in this northern-most district of the country.Chief Judicial Magistrate Md. Jafrul Hasan granted the bail when he stood in the dock at noon and prayed for bail

NATORE: At least 25 people, including former state minister Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu and a journalist, were injured when police charged baton on a protest procession of BNP in the district town Sunday.Nine BNP activists were also held from the scene as they pelted the law enforcers with

Satkhira: A BDR personnel was killed and another member of the border force injured in a road accident on hot chase against smugglers at Langoljhora in Kolaroa thana on Sunday morning.The deceased was identified as Saiful Islam, 48. Witnesses said BDR colleagues Saiful Islam and Abdur

CHUADANGA: At least seven local leaders and activists of BNP were injured as police charged baton to break their scheduled demonstration in the district Sunday under the opposition party’s nationwide programme. The BNP men brought out a protest procession from Mozzammal –Dudu group

DHAKA: The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has been denied pretext to launch their much-vaunted ‘oust-government movement’ threatened by top leaders of the party over anticipated manipulation of the Chittagong polls, political observers said.They said the election was so

DHAKA: A special court opened hearing on depositions for framing charges against 668 suspected mutineers of 24 Rifles Battalion at the BDR headquarters on Sunday morning.The Special Court-5, led by newly appointed Director-General of Bangladesh Rifles Maj Gen Rafiqul Islam, started the

DHAKA: Food Minister Abdur Razzak Sunday asserted that the country would not see Monga anymore during the rule of the incumbent government.“The proposed budget was formulated giving priority to addressing the seasonal vulnerability like Monga,” the minister said at a discussion as the

CHITTAGONG: Fair ballot is possible even under a political government if the Election Commission intends, said opposition BNP stalwart Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury MP, citing the just-held Chittagong City Corporation election as a glaring example.The powerful politician from the port city,

DHAKA: A fire broke out at a garment factory and two electronics shops in city’s Tejgaon industrial area on Saturday midnight, burning off huge valuables and commodities.Fire Brigade sources said the fire broke out at Hong Kong Fashion, housed on the 2nd floor of the three-storey

Narayanganj: Vexed by long-running gas shortages, people by the thousand blockaded the Dhaka-Narayanganj Highway on Sunday morning to demand uninterrupted gas supply in the district, an industrial heartland.Witnesses said thousands of agitated people took to street at about 8am and put up

CHITTAGONG: Three people, including two siblings, were electrocuted and two others sustained injuries in Baluchar area under Bayzid Bostami thana in the port city on Saturday night.  The deceased were identified as Mithun Mohajan, 25, a student of Chittagong Government College, his