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High prices of essentials and low wages have been forcing many landless and poor people to leave their village homes for towns and cities in search of their livelihood.
   Local sources said the recent boro harvest has failed to make any positive impact on the prices of food grains. Despite arrival of the newly harvested boro paddy in the markets, the prices of food grains have almost remained static at the pre-harvest level. The lowest quality of rice is now selling at Tk 16 per kilogram as against Tk 14 in 2004.
   The daily wage earners and the landless people are hard hit by the high prices of rice, paddy and other essentials.
   A daily labour earns maximum Tk 60 per day. With this amount it is an uphill task for him to maintain even a three-member family.
   Hard life at rural areas has compelled many wage earners and the landless people to make beeline towards urban areas in the country.
   Coming to towns and cities, the farm workers are earning their living either by pulling rickshaws, vans or by vending old clothes, tea and many other articles. Still many are working at the construction sites earning Tk 80 to 100 per day.
   Wahed Ali, an inhabitant of sadar upazila, said in the past his four sons used to work as farm labourers. But they had practically no work during the lean period. As a result, they and the members of their families had to endure much hardship including starvation, he added
   ‘Disgusted with the hardship of rural life, two of my sons had left their village home a few years ago. They are now working as masons in towns earning at least Tk 150 per day each. The two other sons have started poultry farming taking loans from the NGOs. They are also well off now’, said Wahed proudly.
   Many of the farm workers are now thinking of deserting their village homes for urban areas for a better living.

At least 30 people including four women were wounded in a clash between two rival groups for lodging complaint against rapists at village Betura under Chhatak upazila in Sunamganj on Saturday morning.
   Of the wounded, Rahim Ali, 36, Abdul Zalil, 25, Jothsna Begum, 35, Amirunnessa, 32, Hasina Begum, 30, Rokeya Begum, 30, Jafur Uddin, 18, Akkas Ali, 40, and Shahidullah, 22, were admitted in Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital in the afternoon. The rest of the wounded were admitted in Chhatak Health Complex and other clinics in the city, said sources.
   Locals said Hasina Begum, daughter of Akbar Ali of Betura lodged complaint alleging that five persons of the same village had raped her on Friday afternoon.
   In order to investigate the complaint, Sukumar Roy, an assistant sub-inspector visited the spot on Saturday morning. But soon after his return from the village, the five accused — Arshad Ali, Hushiar Ali, Monuhar Ali, Kala Miah and Siraj Miah — with their relatives swooped on Akbar’s house at about 11:00am.
   In retaliation, Hasina’s relatives came forward to encounter the assailants and locked in an hour long clash with lethal weapons.
   Acknowledging the matter Sukumar told New Age that he was at the spot in the evening to bring the situation under control.

Bamboo clusters are fast disappearing from all the nine upazilas of Kurigram mainly due to over exploitation of bamboos and lack of efforts for their planned growth.
   Bamboos are essential both for the construction of small huts and big buildings, fencing of houses and boundary walls as well as vegetable gardens.
   A huge number of bamboos are being cut from the clusters everyday without any efforts to replenish them.
   Villagers take little interest in the growth of bamboos in the clusters.
   Bamboos in Kurigram are sold to buyers across the country .
   The cost of bamboos has registered a sharp rise over the years because of their scarcity.
   A piece of bamboo now costs Tk 70 to Tk 80.
   It is apprehended that if cutting of bamboos continues at present rate, days are not far off when the district will be facing the crisis of this important construction material.

A gang of pirates attacked a fishing trawler at Char Samsuddin in the river Meghna under Manpura upazila in Bhola leaving three fishermen injured on Saturday.
   The injured are as Jahangir, 38, Abdul Aziz, 20, and Alamgir, 32.
   Sources said a band of pirates attacked the trawler while the fishermen were fishing early Saturday.
   Among the 12 fishermen of the trawler they hacked three and took away the trawler throwing them into the river. Some of the fishermen jumped into the river to escape the pirate attack.
   Later the pirates looted the trawler and fled away leaving the trawler near Char Samsuddin.
   The injured persons were admitted into Manpura Sadar Hospital.
   A case was filed.

The fifth death anniversary of Shamsur Rahman, a special correspondent of the Bangla daily Janakantha and stringer of the BBC Bangla Service, was observed in Jessore on Saturday.
   The Jessore Press Club, his family members, Journalists’ Union of Jessore and the Jessore Journalists’ Union organised separate programmes to mark the day.
   The programmes included placing wreath on his grave, wearing black badges, discussion meetings and prayer session.
   The press club president, Fakir Shaukat, presided over the discussion meeting organised by the club.
   Arefin Siddique, president of the Dhaka University Teachers’ Association, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Farazi Azmal Hossain, Saifur Rahman Saif, Saiful Islam Sazal, Mostafa Ruhul Kuddus, Tauhidur Rahman and BM Asad spoke among others.
   Mohidul Islam Montu and Sajed Rahman presided over the meetings organised by the two factions of journalists unions.
   The speakers demanded exemplary punishment for the killers of Shamsur and other journalists. They also demanded that names of certain should be deleted from the charge sheet of the case. These names include Fakir Shaukat, Mizanur Rahman Tota, Farazi Azmal Hossain, Nova Khandaker, Benjin Khan and Milon Rahman.

‘We don’t want tin (CI sheet) for mending our houses, or food, we want a final solution of river erosion and proper river training.’
   ‘Please don’t come to us with relief, save us from erosion,’ said Adel Mohammad Mamun one of the victims of the river erosion which has taken serious turn in two unions of Tongibari upazila of Munshiganj.
   The mighty river Padma has already eaten up 24 villages of Hasail-Banari union out of total 28 and a large portion of Panchgaon union has also been lost in the river creating threat to adjoining areas.
   People made a fervent appeal to the government to take immediate measures to save their lives and properties.
   Ousting from the own homesteads the ill-fated people of the two unions were shifted to nearby Kukdadi, Chitrakara, Panchgaon, Dashottar, Chakhatipara, Kaichmalda, Khalagaon and Mandra villages.
   Some people have taken refuge to their relatives’ houses in nearby villages while who have no such relative, are passing their days beneath the open sky. Incessant rain for the last few days multiplied their sufferings.
   Aklima, a victim of Garugaon village said they were getting food to live on and CI sheet to make new shelter beside the road. She said the erosion began in the beginning of June, but it took serious turn last week like the situation occurred in 1995.
   ‘We are now just at the mouth of the Padma,’ said secretary of the Panchgaon Union Parisad Kamal Uddin. Four villages — Beduail, Banarigram, Noadda and Nagarjoyar — were completely have gone underwater during the last 20 to 25 days, making around 20 thousand people completely helpless. More 45,000 people are now on the verge of the danger, he added.
   Secretary of Hasail Banari union Faruk Hawlader stressed the need for dredging the Bidgaon Char at the southwest side of Hasail union. Erosion might be checked to some extent by felling sandbag and boulders, he said. All new sandy land rising out of the bed of the river should dredge out every year to keep the river course in order, he added.
   The locals said unplanned extraction of sands from the riverbed by a section of unscrupulous traders is the main cause for erosion of the river.
   ‘My village has totally ruined, once I had many wealth, now I have nothing,’ wailed middle-aged Manwara Begum, who now resides in a makeshift house beside the road.
   ‘The river has taken away everything except my hands and legs,’ she said uttering an appeal: ‘Please let us live.’

The police arrested a young girl on charge of possessing illegal arms from the village Bachamara under Shibchar upazila on Thursday.
   Tipped-off, the police raided the house of one Abul Kalam and arrested Nasima Begum, 30, and recovered one shutter-gun and two rounds of bullet from her possession.
   A case was filed with the Shibchar police.

Robbers looted cash and valuables worth Tk 2 lakh from a house at the village Nishchintapur under Comilla sadar upazila on Friday night.
   The police said a group of robbers numbering 8 to 10 entered the house of one Mofij Miah, kept the inmates hostage and looted cash, gold ornaments, mobile phone sets and other valuables.

A truck turned turtle on the Rangpur-Bogra Highway and fell into a ditch at Batashow Durgapur in Mithapukur upazila early Saturday, killing its driver and another man on the spot.
   One of the deceased was Ayub, 40, driver of the truck, of Shatgram village in Bogra and the identity of other dead could not be known.
   The police and witnesses said the accident took place at about 6:30am when the Rangpur-bound truck overturned and plunged into a roadside ditch.
   Another unidentified man was injured in the mishap. He was admitted to Mithapukur Health Complex.

Four miscreants raped a 14-year old domestic help at Hatikhana of Saidpur in Nilphamari.
   The police rescued her from Saidpur Rail Station platform early Saturday.
   The victim said the mistress of the house beat her up over a trifling matter and ousted her from the house at about 11:30pm.
   Later the miscreants raped her taking advantage of her helplessness.
   The four miscreants managed to escape the scene.

A teenaged boy was stabbed to death at the village Zumapur under Basilpur upazila in Kishoreganj Wednesday night.
   The police said unknown assailants had stabbed the body identified as Masun, 16, when he was returning home at about 8:30pm.
   Hearing screaming, his father Israfil and others from nearby found him in a pool of blood. He was rushed to Zahurul Islam Medical College Hospital where he died.
   The victim’s father lodged a case.

Both the eyes of a young man were gouged out and his companion was beaten up by miscreants at Khanpur village in sadar upazila in Bagerhat Tuesday night.
   The victim was Tariqul, 22, of Banshtali village in Rampal upazila.
   Locals said when Tariqul along with co-villager Sikanader went to the village his rivals attacked and beat them indiscriminately.
   They at one stage gouged out both eyes of Tariqul and left the place leaving him in critical condition.
   They were admitted to Sadar Hospital where condition of Tariqul was stated to be critical.
   A case was filed with the local police in this connection.