LOGGING of both mature and immature trees from the government land by some influential people has been going on at different places under Alfadanga upazila in Faridpur to the detriment of the environment.
   Some of the UP chairmen and members, wood traders and contractors and village leaders are involved in felling trees from the roadsides, flood protection embankments and other state owned land at the upazila. They are felling trees either for making furniture or for selling them to earn money.
   The local administration turned a blind eye to the destruction of various species of trees, local sources said.
   The forest department of the district has taken up a social forestry programme for planting saplings at the sides of roads, railway tracts, embankments and on the government land. The UP chairmen and members were involved to make the programme a success. But the cooperation of the representatives of the local bodies was found lacking at most places, forest department sources said.
   Instead of making the social forestry programme a success, the local leaders at many places across the upazila were found guilty of felling mature and tender trees from the government land for their personal benefits, the sources alleged.

A MAN was killed and about 50 others were injured in a bloody clash between two groups of people at village Sarfarajpur under Chowgachha upazila in Jessore on Monday night.
   The deceased is Hasibul Haque, 30, of the same village.
   The police said the clash ensued between the supporters of two groups one led by Hazrat Ali and another by Tota when they exchanged hot words at a village arbitration arranged to settle a conflict over eating a duck.
   Later, both the groups equipped with lethal weapons attacked each other that caused the injuries on both sides at about 9:00pm.
   Of the injured, two were admitted to Jessore General Hospital in critical condition and later Hasibul died on way to Dhaka.
   A post-mortem examination of the deceased was performed at the General Hospital on Tuesday.
   All other injured were admitted to Chowgachha Upazila Health Complex.
   Nurul Haque, brother of Hasibul, filed a murder case with the police. But none was arrested in this regard. A tense situation was prevailing in the area.

THREE persons including a housewife were killed in three districts on Tuesday and Monday.
   New Age Jamalpur correspondent reports that a man allegedly killed his wife for dowry at village Ramchandrapur under Madarganj upazila in Jamalpur on Tuesday morning.
   The police said Ruhul Amin of the village married Manjura Khatun, 22, about four months ago. After their marriage, Ruhul used to torture his wife for realising dowry in various ways.
   As she refused to bring money from her parents he tortured her severely. Later she died at about 3:00am.
   Police recovered the body and sent it to the Jamalpur General Hospital morgue for a post-mortem examination. A case was registered with the Madarganj police station in this connection. But the police failed to arrest the alleged killer.
   In Jessore, according to a BDNews report, one restaurant worker was found dead in Jessore on Monday night, the police said on Tuesday.
   The deceased is Jamal Hossain, 28, of village Birampur under sadar upazila.
   According to local people, Jamal returned to his house at about 8:00pm on Monday after finishing his works at the restaurant, Bhairab Hotel, at Doratana in the Jessore town. He went outside at about 9:00pm.
   But local fishermen found his body under the hyacinth of the River Bhairab at about 10:00pm. On information, the police recovered the body and sent it to hospital morgue.
   The cause of his death could not be known immediately.
   Meanwhile, a BSS report from Rajbari adds: The police recovered the body of a young girl from a canal near Mohon Shaha Bridge at village Indranarayanpur under sadar upazila on Monday evening.
   Police sources said the body bore several marks of injuries.
   A case was filed with the sadar police in this connection and the body was sent to the Rajbari Sadar Hospital morgue.
   The reason behind her killing could not be ascertained immediately.
   In another incident, according to a UNB report, unidentified assailants shot a local BNP leader at Khankhanapur under Goalanda upazila in the district, injuring him critically on Monday afternoon.
   The injured, Sayedur Rahman Hena, 42, Goalanda upazila BNP president and a businessman, was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Metropolitan Hospital.
   Police and local sources said Sayedur was going to Khankhanapur for his business purpose riding on a motorbike and when he reached near a bridge in the Khankhanapur area the armed men sprayed pellets on him.
   First, he was taken to a local hospital and later shifted to Faridpur Medical College Hospital at about 9:00pm.
   As his condition deteriorated further, he was shifted to Dhaka Metropolitan Hospital.

FIVE persons were killed and 10 others injured in separate road accidents in Sirajganj, Tangail and Kurigram on Tuesday.
   New Age Sirajganj correspondent reports that three persons were killed and 10 injured in the Mulibari area on the western side of the Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge under Shahzadpur upazila in Sirajganj on Tuesday morning.
   The deceased are Iqbal, 28, Akber, 32, and Monwar, 35, of Hali Shahar under sadar upazila in Chittagong.
   The accident took place while a Kusthia-bound bus from Dhaka of the Hanif Enterprise dashed a cattle-laden truck into a road side ditch killing two passengers on spot .Another person died on the way to hospital.
   The 10 injured passengers of the truck were admitted to Sirajganj Sadar Hospital.
   Our Tangail correspondent adds: A young girl was killed in a road accident on the Tangail Sakhipur road in the Basthail area under Sakhipur upazila in Tangail on Tuesday.
   The dead is Popy Akter, daughter of Tofazzal Hossain of village Mazidpur of Tangail. She was a student of Khalilur Rahman College.
   The Kurigram correspondent said one motorcycle rider was killed near the Chandiganj bridge of Durgapur union under Ulipur upazila in Kurigram on Tuesday morning.
   The dead is Billah Hossain, 38, of village Belka under Sundarganj upazila in Gaibandha.
   The accident occurred while a minibus coming from the opposite direction hit the motor cycle into a road side ditch.
   Severely injured Billah died on the way to Kurigram Sadar Hospital.
   The police seized the minibus. A case was filed.
   The bodies were sent to hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations. Separate cases were filed with the respective police stations.

THE Border Security Force of India on Tuesday shot dead one Bangladeshi near the Bhaigarh border in Dinajpur.
   The deceased is Ranjit Roy, 35, an inhabitant of the area.
   BDR sources said BSF members took Ranjit from near Bhaigarh border into the Indian territory and shot him dead at about 9:00am.
   Captain of the 15 rifles battalion of the BDR, Mansur Ali, said they were trying to hold a flag meeting and bring the body back.
   Earlier, on Monday night, members of the BSF shot at some Bangladeshi smugglers in the Daudpur border area under Birampur upazila in Dinajpur.
   In reply to BSF firing, the Bangladesh Rifles fired two rounds of bullets.
   Tension gripped the area after the incidents.

THE Bangladesh Rifles locked in a gunfight with a gang of smugglers along Bibierbazar border under Comilla sadar upazila on Tuesday.
   The fight erupted when a BDR patrol team challen- ged some armed smugglers, who were smuggling out soybean oil to India, at about 3:00am.
   The smugglers began shooting at the BDR men and the Bangladeshi border guards retaliated.
   Later, the BDR men recovered 510 litres of soybean oil from the scene. But no arrest was made as the smugglers managed to run away during the fight.