A KURIGRAM court on Sunday sentenced a man to life-term imprisonment for raping a minor girl.
   District and sessions judge Bhabani Prashad Singh, also the judge of the Women and Children Repression (Prevention) Tribunal, handed down the verdict to Jahangir Alam, 19, of village Pathakpara under Rajarhat upazila.
   According to the prosecution, Jahangir raped the girl of the same village when she was returning home after watching TV in a neighbouring house on November 3, 2006.
   Father of the victim filed the case with the Rajarhat police on November 6, 2006.
   A UNB report from Naogaon adds: A district court on the same day sentenced three siblings to life-term imprisonment in a murder case.
   The court also fined the convicts, Mofizuddin, Khairul Islam and Makbul Hossain of village Madyachandpur under Dhamoirhat upazila, Tk 5,000 each, in default, to serve one month more in jail.
   The prosecution said the convicted picked up Habibur Rahman and his brother Firoz Hossain from their house and took to a nearby bamboo cluster on the night of June 8, 2002. They severely injured Habibur and Firoz and left the place. Habibur died in a hospital the following day.
   Ten persons, however, were acquitted from the charge as their guilt was not proved.

THE joint forces arrested a union parishad member on charge of misappropriating government allocated test relief wheat at village Bahadur Para of Mohishkhocha union under Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat on Sunday.
   The arrested was Moyna Begum, 35, member of Mohishkhocha union parishad.
   Tipped off, a team of the joint forces led by upazila nirbahi officer AYM Zia Uddin raided her residence and recovered 1.5 tonnes of wheat meant for rest relief.
   Upazila project implement officer Altaf Hossain said Moyna had taken the wheat on April 2 for repairing a road at village Bahadur Para of the union pledging she would complete the road and distributed the wheat among labours by April.
   ‘She did not repair the road and misappropriated the total amount of the food grain,’ he said adding that Moyna had also submitted a false master roll copy on April 14.
   Local people alleged that the woman UP member had been misappropriating government allocated relief and sharing it with local criminals for the last four years.
   She was handed over to the Aditmari police. A case was lodged against her.

THE 7th founding anniversary of Cox’s Bazar Sahitya Academy was observed in the district on Sunday with various programmes.
   A procession was brought out from the premises of the Cox’s Bazar municipality that paraded different roads in the town and ended at Cox’s Bazar Central Shaheed Minar.
   Professor Mostaque Ahmed, former principal of Ramu College, led the procession. A discussion was held at the shaheed minar with academy president Mohammad Nurul Islam in the chair while MA Matin, chief executive officer of Cox’s Bazar Zilla Parishad, was present as chief guest.
   Professor Mostaque Ahmed, Sohorab Hossen, regional director of Cox’s Bazar Betar Kendra, lawyer Sahanoaj Ahmed Zahangir and Abul Kalam Azad, professor of Cox’s Bazar Law College, was present in the function as special guests.
   Poet Mirza Manwar Hassan, chairman of the standing committee, Cox’s Bazar Sahitya academy, delivered the welcome speech.
   Poet Sultan Ahmed readout a massage condoling the recent death of writer and journalist Malek Sobhan who was also an executive member of the academy.
   After the discussion, recitations of poetry were held. A total of 40 poets took parts in the recitations.

A TEENAGED girl, who was sold at Daulatdia brothel in Rajbari, was rescued on Saturday.
   The 13-year-old girl, resident of village Satkar Betma under Patharghata upazila of Barguna, recently left her home following disagreement with her poor parents and came to a relative’s house at Nabinagar under Savar upazila in Dhaka.
   On Saturday, a neighbour, Sathi Parveen, took her to Daulatdia promising a good job. Later, she was sold to a woman who forced the girl to engage in flesh trade.
   Tipped off, local police rescued her and arrested Sathi.

THE police arrested two persons and recovered a shotgun and two knives from their possession at village Brahmanpara under Shibpur upazila in Narsingdi and Bharter Kandi under Narsingdi sadar upazila Sunday.
   In Brahmanpara, a gang of criminal numbering 15 led by one Shahjahan ransacked the furniture of the house of one Mujibur Rahman and looted valuables, cash and gold ornaments worth about Tk 1.50 lakh as earlier he refused to give them Tk 1 lakh as extortion.
   On information, the police went to the spot and arrested Shahjahan and recovered a shotgun while others managed to flee with the booties.
   In Bharter Kandi, a gang of armed persons numbering 20/22 led by one Mohammad Ali attacked the house of Zainal Abedin and ransacked furniture and others valuables over previous enmity.
   The police arrested Mohammad and recovered two knives from his possession. But others managed to flee.