Himu's Window

Monday, July 27, 2009   Over two hundred members of the indigenous community yesterday began a two-day long march across 55 kilometres from Porsha upazila to Naogaon town yesterday to protest attacks on indigenous families. The march was organised under the banner of Jatiya Adibashi Parishad (JAP) after a gang led by Nur Hosssain Master of Soraigachhi attacked the houses of some 74 families including 54 indigenous families at Katirpur on June 12. They torched, damaged and looted the houses and also randomly beat up indigenous men, women and children during the attack. Since the attack, some 300 members of the affected families have been left without homes, and the local administration has not come forward to help them, the protesters allege. On the first day yesterday, the protesters walked some 30 kilometres from Soraigachhi in Porsha to Mohadevpur upazila sadar. They will be joined by 300 more people this morning as they begin the march to Naogaon town. At Naogao

Tuesday, July 28, 2009   A three-storey building subsided by a few inches in the city's Ambagan area early yesterday, creating panic among the local people. Locals said they heard a big sound at about 3:00am and later found around 1,200 square feet area affected by the subsidence in the morning. They said cracks developed also in the nearby buildings after the subsidence. The subsidence might have been occurred due to excessive use of underground water in the area or sudden rainfall after prolonged draught, said Abdus Sobhan, a councillor of Rajshahi City Corporation, quoting the experts of Public Works Department. "I felt a sudden jerk after a big sound. I thought it was a quake," said Anwarul Iqbal, a resident of the three-storey building owned by Abul Hossain. He said a drain and land close to the building subsided by one and a half feet. Dwellers of a one-storey building came out of their residence in panic when they heard the sound in the night. I

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 Two top underground operatives of Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-Red Flag) were killed in a 'gunfight' with law enforcers in Atrai upazila of Naogaon early yesterday. The dead were identified as Abdus Salam alias Topu, 40, Naogaon regional chief of the outlawed party, and Jahangir alias Jalal, 38, its military affairs commander for greater Rajshahi region. A Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) personnel and a policeman were taken to hospital after they sustained injuries during the gunfight at Sadupur village at about 1:30am, said a Rab press release. After the gunfight, the law enforcers recovered an Indian-made automatic pistol, a shooter gun, two bullets, seven cartridges, PBCP leaflets, a mobile phone set and two torches from the scene. A joint team of Rab and police rushed to the area following a tip-off that the PBCP operatives were holding a secret meeting at Mohadighi Sadupur in Atrai upazila to commit crimes on the occasion of the

Wednesday, August 12, 2009   A Rajshahi court yesterday denied bail to 31 BDR members arrested in a sedition case filed against hem in connection with the mutiny at the BDR sector headquarters. District and Sessions Judge AR Masud also sent them to jail custody. The BDR members were brought to the court amid tight security and their lawyers submitted the bail prayers, said Public Prosecutor (PP) M Ibrahim Hossain. Earlier, the PP also submitted a prayer to the court for granting the law enforcement agencies more time for further investigation into the sedition case. The court fixed September 7 as the date for hearing on the prayer. Ramjan Ali, officer-in-charge of Boalia Police Station, lodged the sedition case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's court on May 17 and the law enforcing agencies arrested a total of 93 BDR members from Rajshahi BDR sector headquarters and 37 BDR battalion the next day. The CMM court sent the case to the district and session judge&