THE police and Coast Guard members, in separate drives, arrested six persons and seized 100 sacks of government rice and 83 sacks of fertiliser in Chandpur on Tuesday.
   Tipped off, the Faridganj police waylaid a tractor at village Kaunia and arrested four persons in possession of 100 sacks of rice when they were going to sell the rice to a rice trader in Lakshmipur at about 9:00pm.
   The rice was allocated for repairing three damaged roads at Char Dukhia union under Faridganj upazila under Food for Works Programme, the police said.
   In another drive, Coast Guard members seized 83 sacks of fertiliser in the district headquarters on Tuesday.
   The coast guards arrested two rickshaw-pullers along with nine sacks of urea when they were shifting those from Raghunathpur Bazar.
   As per their confessional statements, the team along with an official of the Department of Agricultural Extension conducted a drive at a godown at No-5 ghat in the district headquarters and seized 74 sacks of fertiliser. They also sealed off the godown.

A GANG of pirates looted valuables worth about Tk 50 lakh from 11 trawlers in the Bay of Bengal, about 150 kilometres off Patharghata upazila headquarters in Barguna, from Tuesday morning to Wednesday afternoon.
   Quoting owners of victimised trawlers, president of the Barguna District Trawler Owners Association Golam Mustafa Chowdhury said a gang of pirates numbering 40, boarding on four trawlers and equipped with sharp weapons, attacked the fishing trawlers and looted valuables worth about Tk 50 lakh and injured 17 fishermen.
   The criminal also threw eight fishermen and crew into the sea. They were Khitis, 35, Sushil, 40, Ananda, 32, Jagadis, 28, Pulin, 35, Sekandar, 50, Zahangir, 40, and Kader, 45. They remained missing till Thursday afternoon.
   Golam Mustafa Chowdhury said they had sent two trawlers to the sea to rescue the missing persons.
   The looted trawlers are FB Julhas owned by Mohammad Julhas, FB Bhai Bhai owned by Sunil Bahaddar, FB Mozaher owned by Zahid Bahaddar, FB Abdullah and FB Muhibullah owned by Bhola Bahaddar, FB Masum owned by Md Masum, FB Monir owned by Monir Hossain, FB Kashem owned by Md Arafat, FB Asha owned by Md Alamgir, FB Alam owned by Md Alam and FB Elahi owned by Abdul Jabbar.
   Of the injured, Satish Das Majhi, 40, Abdul Malek, 37, Kala Sona, 32, Nurul Amin, 30, Makhon, 31, Siddik, 26, Zakir, 29, Kabir, 30, Bhola Das, 55, and Manindra, 45, were admitted to Al-Sefa Medical Centre at Dublarchar while Palash, 40, Sudhir, 38, and Manindra, 45, were sent to Chittagong for better treatment.
   Coast Guard members were yet to launch any drive against the criminals till Thursday evening.

A RAJSHAHI court on Wednesday sentenced a man to death for killing a girl after rape in 1999. Another court in Chuadanga sentenced eight persons to life-term imprisonment for killing.
   In Rajshahi, according to a UNB report, the court found Shukkur Ali of Mohisalbari under Godagari upazila guilty.
   The prosecution said Shukkur had raped and killed Fancy, minor daughter of one Aminul Haq, of the village on June 15, 1999. Her body was recovered from a field on the following day. Later, the police arrested Shukkur Ali after Aminul Haq had filed a case against him.
   The Chuadanga correspondent of New Age reports that a district court sentenced eight persons on the same day to life-term imprisonment in Sontu murder case.
   The convicts are Shahidul Islam, Shamsul Islam, Baksha, Jhuntu, Mousur, Kalu, Usman, Choklet and Momin of village Koyradanga under Alamdanga upazila of the district.
   The court also fined them Tk 10,000 each, in default, to suffer six months more in jail.
   According to the prosecution, one Sontu of the village was killed when a clash took place between two groups of the villagers over the ownership of a piece of land on May 4, 2003.
   A case was filed and the Alamdanga police submitted charge sheet on August 29 in that year.
   After examining documents and 23 witnesses, additional district and sessions judge Motahar Hossain delivered the verdict.
   The Jhenaidah correspondent adds: A district court on the same day sentenced a drug peddler to life term imprisonment. The court also fined the convict, Atiur Rahman, Tk 5,000.

A SUSPECTED robber was killed and four others, including a UP chairman, were arrested in connection with a robbery at Kashiani upazila in Gopalganj on Tuesday.
   The police said a gang of robbers numbering nine boarded on a Narail-bound bus which was coming from Dhaka and took control of the bus and looted valuables worth about Tk 3 lakh holding the passengers and driver hostage at gun-point.
   Local people caught two of the robbers while fleeing with the booties. They handed over the robbers to the police after a thrashing.
   They were admitted to Kashiani Upazila Health Complex where Idiar Sheikh died in the afternoon.
   According to the confessional statement of the arrestee, the police arrested three persons on charge of involving in the robbery.
   The arrested are Aiyub, 42, of village Jhutigram under Alfadanga upazila in Faridpur and Mintu, 28 of village Nanikhir under Muksudpur upazila in Gopalganj, and Mujibur Rahman, a union parishad chairman under Muksudpur.
   A case was registered with the police.

THE Nilphamari district administration has formed a three-member inquiry committee to investigate the diversion of Teesta Irrigation Project’s water by unfair means by some staff of the Bangladesh Water Development Board of Nilphamari for more than one decade.
   The inquiry committee was formed on Sunday at an emergency meeting at the deputy commissioner’s conference room with the DC, Khondokar Mokhlesur Rahman, in the chair.
   The officials said the committee had been formed in the wake of recent stealing of transformers , fertiliser, diesel, electricity supply in the aim of ensure smooth cultivation of Irri-boro paddy.