Jamalganj assistant commissioner (land) Arifur Rahman transferred to Sylhet Divisional Commissioner's office

Another Child Dies with Measles Symptoms at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Total Deaths Reach 84

Another child has died with measles symptoms in the past 24 hours at Mymensingh Medical College (MMCH) Hospital. With this, the number of children who have died with measles and measles symptoms at the hospital has reached 84.

Md Mainuddin Khan, the hospital's assistant director (administration), confirmed the information on Monday morning (October 26).

He said the child who died was a resident of Mymensingh Sadar upazila. The child was 9 months old. Alongside measles symptoms, the child was also suffering from pneumonia.

According to the hospital authorities, 39 more children were newly admitted in the past 24 hours. In the same period, 58 children recovered and returned home.

From March 17 to date, a total of 5,501 children have received treatment at the hospital with measles symptoms. Of them, 5,300 children have recovered and returned home. At present, 117 children remain under treatment.

Doctors say that in the context of the measles infection spreading, there is a shortfall in building adequate immunity among children. Many children under treatment at the hospital have not been vaccinated or have not yet reached the age for vaccination. The risk is higher for children suffering from malnutrition, the doctors said.

Mother Allegedly Hacked to Death with a Boti in Feni's Daganbhuiyan, Daughter Detained

An elderly mother named Setara Begum (65) has been killed by sharp boti blows allegedly by her daughter Ranu Akter in Daganbhuiyan upazila of Feni.

The incident took place on Sunday night (October 25) at the house of Hossain Mia at Bara Bari in Deulia village of Purba Chandrapur Union of the upazila. The deceased Setara Begum was the wife of Hossain Mia of that village and the accused Ranu Akter is their daughter.

On receiving the news, after long efforts, police recovered the deceased's body at around 10:30 pm and detained the accused daughter Ranu Akter (42).

Police and local sources said Ranu Akter had started behaving incoherently over the past few days. Recently she also beat her husband. After that incident, family members brought her to her father's house a few days ago for treatment and were continuing various treatments including mental health treatment. On Sunday night, Ranu suddenly confined the others in the house to one room and repeatedly hacked her mother Setara Begum with a sharp boti, killing her on the spot. Ranu then ran from one room to another holding the boti and kept the door locked from inside.

On receiving the news, a team from Daganbhuiyan police station quickly reached the scene. After trying for a long time, police broke the iron door of the house, entered, recovered the body and sent it to the morgue of Feni 250-bed General Hospital for autopsy. The accused daughter Ranu was detained from the scene.

Local residents and relatives said Ranu Akter had been mentally ill from before. She suffered a stroke a few days ago. Because of her mental illness, her husband left her at her father's house. She was scheduled to be sent to Pabna Mental Hospital within the next few days for treatment.

Muhammad Faizul Azim, officer-in-charge (OC) of Daganbhuiyan police station, said on receiving the news police, with the help of local people, broke the house door, recovered the woman's body and sent it to the morgue. There are marks of hack wounds at various places on the deceased's body. A woman has been detained with the boti on allegations of involvement in the incident. Although local people say she is mentally unstable, police are examining the matter seriously and legal action is under process, he said.

Escalator Shut on New Market Footbridge Built for Nearly Tk 10 Crore, Hawkers' Shops Narrow the Walkway

The footbridge built by Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) at New Market in the capital to ensure safe crossing for pedestrians has now become a cause of suffering instead of comfortable movement.

With the escalator of the bridge, built at a cost of nearly Tk 10 crore — more than Tk 9 crore 77 lakh 62 thousand — shut, elderly people, women and children in particular are suffering in going up and down. In addition, hawkers have set up shops occupying the bridge's walkway and entrances, narrowing the space for pedestrians to move.

With such a condition of this important infrastructure within eight months of its inauguration, questions have been raised about its maintenance, supervision and management.

Visiting the New Market footbridge on the spot on Sunday (October 25), the escalator was found shut, forcing pedestrians to use the ordinary stairs. Hawkers' shops on the walkway and entrances have narrowed the passage.

The escalator was one of the main attractions of the footbridge built at the junction of Dhaka New Super Market and Gausia Market on Mirpur Road in front of New Market. It was included considering pedestrians who have difficulty using ordinary stairs, alongside safe crossing of the busy road. A huge number of shoppers, students and ordinary people move through the New Market area every day.

In this situation, some try to cross the road directly without using the footbridge. Pedestrians fear this may further increase the risk of accidents on the busy Mirpur Road.

Khalid Saifullah, a private service holder who came from Uttara in the capital to shop in the New Market area, said the footbridge was built for people's safe crossing, but with the escalator shut they are forced to use the stairs, which is quite difficult especially for the elderly, with many having to stop midway to rest while climbing. If people do not get the benefit of a structure built at a cost of crores of taka, he said, a question remains over the worth of that spending.

Hosne Ara Begum, a housewife who came from the Jatrabari area to shop at New Market, said extra caution is always needed when crossing the road with children. If the footbridge escalator were running, going up and down with children would have been much easier, but with it shut they are forced to use the stairs and the suffering grows when carrying bags. The authorities should start the escalator quickly and arrange regular supervision, she said.

Md Obaidur Rahman, an elderly citizen who came to use the footbridge to go from New Super Market to Gausia Market, said he is aged and cannot walk as before. The bridge's stairs are very high; climbing step by step leaves him breathless and he sometimes has to stop to rest. He also feels afraid while coming down, because a slip could cause a major accident, he said.

Farzana Islam Laizu, a parent who came to the New Market area with her child, said there is no safe way to cross the road with children other than using the footbridge, but because the stairs are very high, going up and down with small children is quite difficult. If the escalator were running, crossing with children would have been easy, she said.

There are allegations of involvement of some local political leaders in setting up shops on the footpath. Many allege they take money from hawkers and allow them to sit again after eviction. Because shops have been set up on the bridge's walkway, walking holding children's hands, safe movement of the elderly, or pedestrians from both directions moving together has become difficult.

Dr Muhammad Ariful Islam, president of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) and a planner, said a huge number of people move every day in a busy area like New Market. If proper use of infrastructure built for pedestrians at such an important place cannot be ensured, it will be difficult to build Dhaka city as pedestrian-friendly. The escalator should be made operational quickly and a normal movement environment ensured on and around the bridge, he said, adding that a detailed assessment is needed to identify where new footbridges are required in the capital.

Temperature Drops to 16.1 Degrees in Panchagarh as Fog and Cold Wind Bring a Winter Feel

In Panchagarh, known as the daughter of the Himalayas, the temperature is gradually falling and the feeling of winter is growing. For the past few days the temperature had fluctuated between 17 and 20 degrees Celsius, but today it dropped into the 16s. The temperature fell by 0.9 degrees Celsius in a single day.

On Monday (October 26) at 9 am, the day's lowest temperature of 16.1 degrees Celsius was recorded at the Tentulia weather observation centre. The humidity in the air at the time was 90 percent.

Earlier, on Sunday at the same time, the day's lowest temperature was recorded at 17 degrees Celsius. The highest temperature that day was recorded at 31.9 degrees Celsius.

Local residents said the feeling of cold starts to increase after evening. In the early morning, fog together with a chilly wind makes the winter atmosphere clearer. However, when the sun rises during the day, the feeling of cold decreases.

Jitendranath Roy, the acting officer of the Tentulia weather observation centre, said the temperature has begun to fall gradually. The tendency for fog at night and in the early morning is also increasing. As the temperature stays comparatively higher during the day, it feels warm in the daytime and cold at night and in the early morning.

He also said the temperature may fall further in the coming days and the feeling of winter may increase.

Higher Training Costs for Older Workers Risks Plan to Tackle Youth Jobs Crisis, UK Employers Warn

Britain's largest employers have told the government that forcing businesses to pay more to train older workers risks damaging its goal to tackle the youth jobs crisis.

The Guardian understands ministers plan to overhaul Labour's apprenticeship funding scheme to increase the cost of training a worker over the age of 25 in England by 25 percent, to encourage firms to train young people instead. Drawn up before Wednesday's budget, the proposal, first reported last week, is expected to form part of the government response to Alan Milburn's review into why so many young people are unemployed.

The chancellor, John Healey, is widely tipped to announce measures to bolster opportunities for young people to help the 1 million 16- to 24-year-olds not in education, employment or training (Neet) across the country. However, business leaders urged the government to reconsider the plan to make training older workers more expensive.

Robert Halfon, a former Conservative skills minister who is now executive director of policy at the manufacturing lobby group Make UK, said: 'It will just mean opportunities are shifted around instead of creating new ones.' He added: 'We agree that getting young people back into employment and training is a moral and economic imperative. But making it more expensive for employers to train older workers isn't the answer.'

Calling on Healey to 'break the cycle' of cutting and reallocating the apprenticeship budget in England, Halfon said the system was already struggling to deliver what businesses and young people need.

Andy Burnham has placed youth jobs at the heart of his agenda, including sweeping changes to retool technical education and plans to reverse a 40 percent drop in youth apprenticeship starts over the past decade. With over-25s accounting for more than half of new apprenticeship enrolments, ministers have been clear they want to rebalance the system towards supporting more younger people.

Under the latest proposal, which is yet to be finalised, employers would be able to fund the full cost of an apprentice under the age of 25 using the money they contribute to the growth and skills levy — the 4 billion pounds a year tax used to fund the national apprenticeship system. However, for an older worker, they would face a 'co-investment rule' whereby levy funds would cover 75 percent of the costs, with the rest covered separately.

John Foster, the chief policy and campaigns officer at the CBI lobby group, said: 'We can't make skills a zero-sum game. While it is right to focus on supporting young people who are Neet into work, adult training also has a vital role to play in opening up entry-level opportunities and helping people adapt and update their skills mid-career, particularly as AI reshapes the workplace.'

Kate Shoesmith, the director of policy and insights at the British Chambers of Commerce, said that at a time when businesses are under pressure to improve productivity and drive growth, employers need greater flexibility and support to invest in skills at every stage of a person's career. The best way to encourage more youth apprenticeships, she said, is to make it easier and more affordable for firms to take on young people by reducing the wider costs of doing business, rather than creating new barriers to training.

A government spokesperson said: 'It's right that we focus on reversing the 40 percent decline in the number of young people starting an apprenticeship and give them the skills they need to succeed.' That is why the government has reformed the system backed by 3.3 billion pounds to deliver 50,000 additional apprenticeships for young people and support employers with a new hiring payment of 2,000 pounds for SMEs who take on a 16- to 24-year-old apprentice, the spokesperson said, adding that the Milburn Review is due in the autumn and the government will not pre-empt its findings.

Iran Warns Oil Could Pass $150 a Barrel If a New War Begins

Iran has warned that crude oil prices on the international market could pass 150 US dollars a barrel. Hojjatul Islam Musa Ahmadi, head of the Iranian parliament's energy commission, said such a jump would happen if a new war were launched against Tehran or if the global oil supply system were disrupted.

He expressed the concern in an interview with Iranian local media on Sunday. The matter was reported by Iran's Mehr News outlet.

Ahmadi noted that amid the existing tensions the international oil price has already crossed 117 dollars a barrel, while the United States' own strategic reserves are also falling significantly. If the energy crisis is prolonged, he said, countries dependent on oil imports, besides Washington, would fall into severe economic and domestic political crises.

He said fuel inflation would not stay confined to a particular sector; costs across transport and industrial production would rise abnormally and inflationary pressure would intensify in import-dependent states. The US government would face an extreme challenge in protecting its own consumers and keeping the oil market stable, he added.

Reiterating Iran's firm position on keeping prolonged pressure on the fuel market, the parliamentary leader claimed Tehran can maintain this control because of its geographical strategic advantage and its armed forces' defence capability. Referring to the ongoing energy crises in several European countries including France, Italy, Portugal and Albania, he warned that even the slightest disruption to oil supply would push the economic foundations of the United States and the whole European region into extreme disaster.

Hilsa Output in Manikganj's Padma Falls 46 Percent in Four Years as Mother Hilsa Fishing Continues Despite Ban

Hilsa production in the lower Padma in Manikganj has fallen by more than 46 percent in four years, while fishing of egg-bearing mother hilsa and open selling continue in the district's Padma and Jamuna rivers despite a 22-day breeding-season government ban running until October 29.

In the sanctuary areas of Harirampur, Daulatpur and Shibalaya upazilas, fishing is being carried out day and night using harmful current nets, according to an on-the-spot account.

From Daulatpur to Nayakandi in Shibalaya, hilsa is being sold openly before dawn and at night at riverside points including Alokdia, Char Shibalaya, Hemganj, Baghutia, Jafarganj, Dala Maluchi and Goalia. Traders buy the fish cheaply and take it by auto-rickshaw to Shibalaya and other parts of the district to sell at higher prices.

Saiful Islam, a fish seller in the Kalabagan area of Shibalaya, said seasonal fishers sell small hilsa for 400 to 500 taka and fish weighing 800 grams to 1 kilogram for 800 to 900 taka. Brought to other areas, the 1-kilogram fish sell for 1,400 to 1,500 taka per kilogram and the smaller ones for 700 to 800 taka.

According to the Department of Fisheries' Yearbook of Fisheries Statistics of Bangladesh, hilsa harvest in Manikganj's lower Padma fell by 46.33 percent, or 537 tonnes, in four years. Production was 1,159 tonnes in fiscal 2020-21, 1,117 tonnes in 2021-22, 1,122 tonnes in 2022-23, 1,090 tonnes in 2023-24 and dropped to 622 tonnes in 2024-25.

Environmentalist Nazrul Islam said submerged chars in the river, siltation reducing navigability, changes in water flow and salinity, waste pollution, loud mechanical boats and the use of current nets and 'China duari' traps to kill jatka and mother hilsa are behind the crisis. Many registered fishers in the district, finding no fish, have been forced to sell their boats and nets and take up rickshaw pulling or farm work, he added.

Manikganj District Fisheries Officer Sheikh Monirul Islam Monir said they face limitations because of a lack of adequate support and speedboats and a shortage of coordinated measures. As the vast river area cannot be covered at once, when the administration raids one place, unscrupulous fishers start fishing in another place.

It has been alleged that while professional fishers are spending hard days without going to the river at this time, at least three thousand seasonal fishers in the char areas are involved in illegal fishing.

Seasonal fishers Faruk Hossain, Barek Sheikh and Amjad Hossain of Goalia said they keep track of mobile court drives through their own sources; when a drive begins they move away after getting a phone call and return to the river once the administration leaves. On days when fish sell less, they rent deep freezers in riverside houses to store the fish and sell it in the market after the ban ends, and they buy extra current nets in advance to evade drives.

Fishers who go to the river also said only about 10 out of 100 fishers have registered 'fisher cards', so they do not receive government support, and they are forced to fish to earn a living.

Shibalaya Upazila Fisheries Officer Sathi Rani Niyogi said 354 kilograms of hilsa and 4.7 million metres of current net, with an estimated value of five crore taka, were seized in 64 drives to protect mother hilsa, and 37 fishers were jailed or fined.

Serbia's Vucic Concedes Snap Election Defeat to Student-Led List After Highest Turnout in 30 Years

Serbia's longtime leader Aleksandar Vucic has conceded defeat in snap parliamentary elections to a student-led movement that led protests against him for almost two years.

Sunday's elections saw voter turnout reach its highest level in more than 30 years, and after a heated race Vucic conceded defeat to the Student List.

'It is clear that we have lost these elections,' the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) told supporters, after a sample of votes showed his electoral list was expected to win 105 seats in Serbia's 250-member parliament, compared with 135 to 140 for the Student List.

The student movement emerged after 16 people were killed when a train station canopy collapsed in the city of Novi Sad on November 1, 2024.

The youth-led protests grew into a broader wave of social unrest and evolved into the Student List political platform, which promised to tackle corruption, depoliticise public institutions and restore citizens' rights.

During the election campaign the movement was led by Ilija Srdanovic, a professor at the Faculty of Medicine in Novi Sad. Vucic referred to the demonstrators, who included university professors, doctors and workers, as 'blockaders' and accused them of seeking to destabilise Serbia.

Born in Belgrade in 1970, Vucic entered politics in 1993. He and Tomislav Nikolic founded the SNS in 2008 after a split in the Serbian Radical Party, and the new party sought to move closer to mainstream European politics.

Vucic served as first deputy prime minister from 2012 to 2014 before becoming prime minister in 2014. Three years later he became president of Serbia and won re-election in 2022, with a term due to run until 2027.

Under pressure from the student-led protests, he resigned in September and called early elections. Although the Serbian presidency is constitutionally limited, Vucic retained a dominant influence over his party and state policy.

Serbian journalist Safeta Bisevac told Al Jazeera that Vucic made many promises and fulfilled few, while establishing almost complete control over the state apparatus. Political scientist Dusko Radosavljevic said the students simply gave a voice to the justified anger of citizens.

Economically, unemployment in Serbia dropped from 26 percent to 8 to 9 percent under Vucic, nominal gross domestic product nearly tripled to about 90 billion euros, and annual foreign direct investment rose from about 800 million euros in 2012 to a record 5.2 billion euros in 2024, according to official data cited by Reuters. Rising wages, however, have not necessarily translated into a proportional improvement in living standards, and the rising cost of living and public debt remain part of the debate.

China's Political Elite Begin Four-Day Plenum on Communist Party Discipline in Beijing

China's political leaders and elites began a four-day meeting on Monday to discuss ways to strengthen discipline within the ruling Communist Party.

The gathering, known as the fifth plenum, is being watched closely for clues as to the country's direction and future leadership.

The closed-door meeting comes roughly a year before President Xi Jinping is widely expected to secure a fourth five-year term as party leader, and ahead of expected personnel changes to key leadership bodies.

Roughly 300 members of the Communist Party's Central Committee are attending the meeting.

While Xi has consolidated his grip on power, analysts say the plenum will give him another chance to align what officials do with what Beijing wants. Ruby Osman, a senior policy adviser at London's Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, told The Associated Press that the plenum is a chance to ensure the new generations rising through the ranks share Xi's assessment of the opportunities and risks China faces.

China's official Xinhua news agency reported that the committee will discuss a draft policy decision on advancing full and rigorous party self-governance during the plenum.

The push is meant to make cadres more disciplined, effective and less corrupt. Analysts say Xi is trying to maximise efficiency and loyalty among cadres by imposing more supervision and rules.

Neil Thomas, a senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said he expects demands for tighter scrutiny of public spending and major projects, more use of technology to uncover corruption and tougher consequences for officials who fail to deliver on Xi's priorities.

Because of Xi's extensive purges, this year's plenum is expected to have the lowest turnout since former leader Mao Zedong died in 1976. Eight of the Central Committee's seats are vacant, with another 15 members under investigation and at risk of being replaced.

Xi's anticorruption drive has also targeted the military, toppling five of the seven members of the Central Military Commission, the party's top armed forces body. The plenum could see new members appointed to the commission, and Xi might even restructure the party's control over the military.

The talks come as the world's second-largest economy struggles with persistently sluggish domestic spending and a protracted crisis in the crucial property sector, while turbulent political and economic ties with the United States are also weighing on China's leaders.

IGP Md Ali Hossain Fakir Launches Police Tree-Planting Drive at Police Headquarters

Inspector General of Police Md Ali Hossain Fakir formally launched a Bangladesh Police tree-planting programme on Monday morning by planting a sapling in the courtyard of the Police Headquarters at Fulbaria in the capital.

The programme has been taken up by the police as part of a special national initiative announced by the prime minister to plant 250 million trees across the country over the next five years, organisers said.

Senior officials of the Police Headquarters were present at the inaugural event, and the planting at the headquarters courtyard marked the start of the force-wide drive.

Under the programme, saplings will be planted in a planned way in empty spaces at every administrative unit of the police, regional police barracks, residential areas and office premises across the country.

Fruit, timber, medicinal and ornamental saplings of different varieties have been selected for planting, according to the organisers.

They said the main aim of the initiative is to consolidate the natural balance of the environment and increase the national forest resource, contributing to implementation of the prime minister's declared programme.

The activity is also being carried out to encourage members of the police as well as the general public to join greening and tree-planting efforts nationwide, they said.

72 incidents of child sexual abuse in madrasas in nine months, 109 students victimised: JMBF data

Parents send their children to madrasas hoping they will grow up in religious discipline and a safe environment, but sexual abuse and rape of boys there have taken an alarming form. According to the human rights organisation Justice Makers Bangladesh in France (JMBF), in 72 such incidents in the country's madrasas in the first nine months of the year, at least 109 students were sexually abused.

Data collected by JMBF say that from January to September, at least 131 incidents of rape and attempted rape of boys were recorded across the country, with a total of 171 victims. Of them, 161 children were raped and 10 were victims of attempted rape. A large share of these incidents took place on madrasa premises.

The report said legal steps have been taken in these incidents, but because of a lack of guidance and weak protection, bringing the offenders to justice cannot be ensured.

The hanging body of 10-year-old student Abdullah, recovered last May from a madrasa in Banshree in the capital, was cited in the report as an example of this crisis. After Abdullah's mother filed a case over sexual abuse and abetment of suicide, a senior student of the madrasa was arrested, but no visible progress has been made in the trial proceedings, the report said.

According to legal experts, the complexity of collecting proper evidence in cases of abuse of boys is one of the reasons offenders get away. Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Ishrat Hasan said that after such an allegation is raised, there is no specific SOP or clear outline for completing a child's physical examination, collecting and preserving samples, and preparing forensic test results. As a result, flaws remain in presenting sensitive evidence such as medical and DNA tests in court, creating a major obstacle to ensuring exemplary punishment for the accused.

The report also said many incidents are suppressed for fear of social disgrace, because of which victimised children remain deprived of necessary treatment and mental rehabilitation.

Rights activists have demanded preventive steps rather than remaining limited to provisions for punishment to overcome this situation. Human rights activist Advocate Fawzia Karim said awareness about 'good touch' and 'bad touch' must be raised among children in every educational institution, including madrasas. She also stressed raising awareness among parents and teachers and arranging professional counselling in every institution, so that children can report their complaints without hesitation.

At the same time, experts have advised increasing internal accountability in every educational institution and strictly implementing child protection policies.

Allegation of seizing 15 shops of a Jhenaidah market over unpaid extortion, case filed and Section 144 imposed

An allegation has been raised that half of a market in Kaliganj upazila of Jhenaidah has been seized after extortion money was not paid. Market owner Asaduzzaman Mintu alleges that his tenant Asadur Zaman Sonet, without any valid documents, seized 15 shops, is collecting rent from them, and has named the seized portion Asadur Zaman Plaza.

The accused Sonet is the son of the late Arab Ali of BadeDihi village in Kaliganj and the nephew of Abul Kalam Azad, a former joint convener of the upazila BNP.

Local residents said Asaduzzaman Mintu built a market beside the railway line at Barbazar in Kaliganj upazila in 2011 and named it Mridha Shahajahan Plaza. He built the market on 15 decimals of ancestral land under plots 121, 122, 123, 124 and 525 of Mithapukur mouza, and on 960 square feet of land taken from Bangladesh Railway by paying commercial revenue. The market has 30 shops in total, six of them tin-shed shops on railway land.

Sonet rented shop No. 3 in the western row of the market in 2018. When the five-year agreement ended, he renewed it on June 1, 2023. The owner alleges that after the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, Sonet began manoeuvring to seize the market, and in September 2026 seized 15 shops and collected one month's rent.

Bangladesh Railway sources said that to take over the market, Asadur Zaman Sonet deposited Tk 23,760 on August 31, 2026, and obtained a DCR for commercial use of 600 square feet of land under plots 93/95 of Mithapukur mouza from the office of the railway's divisional estate officer. It was signed by Md Shafiqul Islam, the divisional estate officer of Pakshi.

Afterwards, market owner Asaduzzaman Mintu contacted Pakshi following the seizure of the 15 shops. On September 10 this year, the officer cancelled Sonet's allocation for the 600 square feet of land. In the notice he stated that Sonet had obtained the commercial revenue payment or compensation notice for the 600 square feet by giving false information to the railway administration, and that in reality Sonet has no possession or structure at that place.

Asaduzzaman Mintu said Sonet has been harassing him in various ways since the BNP government came to power. Sonet seized the market's 15 shops because a large sum of extortion money was not paid, Mintu said. Using the influence of his uncle, a BNP leader, Sonet seized his market and, taking over his structure, named it Asadur Zaman Plaza, he alleged.

A shopkeeper of Mridha Shahjahan Plaza, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Asadur Zaman Sonet is a tenant of this market who does business renting a shop like them. But last September it was heard that he had become the owner of 15 shops and that rent would now have to be paid to Sonet, or the shops would have to be vacated. Out of that fear, the shopkeeper paid Sonet the rent for September.

Mintu also said all his documents are valid. Six shops are built on railway land. But Sonet is seizing and collecting rent from 15 shops including nine more built on his ancestral land, for which Sonet has no valid documents, he said. Since June this year, Sonet has not even paid the rent for his own shop, according to Mintu.

Mintu filed a case in a Jhenaidah court on September 20 over the incident. According to him, the court issued an order under Section 144.

When asked, Asadur Zaman Sonet said he has not officially received any cancellation notice from the railway. He is still a tenant of that market's land. Last September he collected rent from 13 shops. He claimed those are not on any ancestral land. On collecting rent by seizing another's structure, he said he had contacted Mintu to pay the cost of constructing the structure, but Mintu does not meet him.

Sonet's uncle Abul Kalam Azad, former joint convener of Kaliganj upazila BNP, said the market owner's documents are not valid. He has not paid land tax for the past 10 years. After that, his nephew Sonet brought a DCR from the railway. Asked whether another person's structure can be seized and rent collected from it, he said work to demolish the structure is under way.

Rashed Khan, the BNP-nominated candidate for the Jhenaidah-4 seat and political assistant to the prime minister, said Asadur Zaman Sonet, against whom the allegation has been made, is not anyone of the BNP. If the person whose market has been seized takes legal help and his documents are correct, his position will certainly be in that person's favour, he said. There will be no place in the BNP for any extortionist, grabber or drug dealer, he said, adding that after learning of the matter he told the victim to file a complaint with the police station.