HUNDREDS of people held demonstration on Saturday under the platform of Chilahati Land Port Implementation Committee for the re-opening of the Chilahati land port which was closed down in the wake of the Indo-Pak war in 1965.
   The demonstrators detained the Rajshahi-Nilphamari inter-city train ‘Titumir Express’ for an hour at the Chilahati Rail Station.
   They also formed a human chain and held a rally at the rail station.
   Chaired by Safikqul Alam Khokan, former Bhogdaburi UP chairman, the big rally was addressed, among others, by Abu Musa Mahmudul Haque, president, Chilahati Land Port Implementation Committee, and several leaders of the business community.
   Speakers at the rally demanded re-opening the Chilahati land port and restoration of rail communication between Chilahati of Bangladesh and Holdibari of India.
   They pointed out that re-opening of the Chilahati land port at Domar upazila would spur industrial growth in the northern region, increase investment at the Uttara Export Processing Zone and benefit at least 50 lakh people directly.
   Talking to New Age, several business people said Chilahati has excellent road and rail communication with different parts of the country. Re-opening of the this land port would enhance the volume trade with the seven sister states in India and also China, they noted.

ABOUT 70 houses were burnt in a fire at two unions between Saidpur and Nilphamari sadar upazilas early Saturday.
   The witnesses said the fire originated from the room of one Ashraf Ali of village Kuthi Para of Chapra Saranjami union under sadar upazila. The blaze soon engulfed the other houses of the union and neighbouring union of Kashiram Belpukur.
   Fifteen cattle, 50 goats, more than 200 domestic fowls, food grains, furniture worth Tk 50 lakh were gutted by the fire, said the house owners. Ten people were also injured as they tried to save them from the blaze.
   The Fire Brigade could not be informed as the area situated in a remote place in the district, said the locals.
   The cause of the fire could not be known immediately. Chairman of Kashiram Belpukur union parishad Azaharul Islam Lablu and chairman of Chapra Saranjami union Khalilur Rahman visited the spot.
   The fire made at least 30 families homeless, said the locals added.
   In Munshiganj, eight shops were burnt in fire at Srinagar and Sirajdikhan upazilas in Munshiganj on Saturday and Friday midnight.
   A fire that originated from an electric short circuit of a shop burned down four shops at Srinagar Bazar under Srinagar upazila on Saturday midnight.
   Local people and a Fire Brigade unite from Munshiganj reached the spot and extinguished the fire after two hours. The shop owners estimated the loss at Tk 8 lakh.
   Besides, another fire burned down four shops at Madhyapara Bazar under Sirajdikhan upazila on Friday.
   Fire Brigade personnel with the help of local people extinguished the fire after a one and a half-hour effort. The owners of the shops estimated the loss at Tk 6 lakh.

LANCE corporal Abdus Sattar, who died in a road crash in Cote d’Ivoire on Friday along with five other Bangladeshi members of the UN peace mission, had a premonition that he would not return home alive.
   Talking to waiting newsmen at his home at Dariapur under Chapainawabganj Municipality, Abdul Wahab, elder brother of Sattar, said at the time of his departure from home he (Satter) pleaded with his mother to after his wife and his
   only son. He told his mother that he was not sure whether he would ever be able return home. His premonition came true.
   Journalists witnessed a touching scene at the house of the deceased lance corporal. They saw his 68-year-old mother and his young wife overwhelmed with profound grief and sorrow.
   The news of the death of Sattar only one day after his departure from Dhaka came as a blot from the blue. Sattar’s death news came at a time when the members of his family were in the midst of joy of his going abroad. His premature death cast a shadow of gloom on his village home.
   Sattar, son of late Saidur Rahman, joined the Bangladesh Army in February, 1994. He was the fourth son of his parent’s six sons. He married two years ago. His only son is seven-month old. He came home to meet the members of his family before joining the UN peace mission in Cote d’Ivoire.

Two persons were found dead in two districts on Sunday.
   In Comilla, an unidentified young man was found dead at Shassongacha in the Comilla town on Sunday morning.
   The police said they found the body of the youth, aged about 25 years, at Shassongacha Dak Bangla roadside.
   The body was sent to the Comilla Medical Collage Hospital morgue. A UD case was filed.
   Meanwhile, in Cox’s Bazar, the police recovered the body of an unidentified youth, aged about 25, from Ukiah sea beach, a coast of the Bay of Bengal, in the morning.
   The police said they recovered the body which was without hands and legs. They suspected that pirates might cut his hands and legs before threw him into the sea.