The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have rescued 84 people, including women and children, who were gathered together deep in the hills of Teknaf Upazila in Cox's Bazar for trafficking to Malaysia. Three members of the trafficking ring were arrested in the operation and their weapons were seized. The BGB said an international human trafficking ring working in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Malaysia is operating under the protection of some influential locals. 62 TRAFFICKERS ARRESTED IN EIGHT MONTHSSo far this year, the BGB has arrested 62 people suspected of being involved in human trafficking from the Teknaf border area. Two days before that, on Sept 16, the BGB rescued 11 another people, including women and children.

As ex-Janata Bank chief Abul Barkat stands in a prison van, his two daughters call out to him – “Father, father!”His sister-in-law calls out to him as well. Eminent economist Barkat has been sent to jail over a Tk 2.97 billion loan fraud case connected to the AnonTex Group. Central Insurance Deputy Managing Director Md Sainik said, "I come to the court at every scheduled date hearing to see him. However, the disbursement of large sums mainly took place during the period 2013-14, when Barkat, former president of the Bangladesh Economic Association, was the chairman of Janata Bank. It is alleged that Janata Bank, which was once financially stable, became weak under Barakat.

Bangladesh’s Chief of Army Staff Gen Waker-Uz-Zaman has set off for Malaysia to attend the 14th Indo-Pacific Army Chiefs Conference. He left Dhaka for Kuala Lumpur for a four-day trip on Monday, the Inter-Services Public Relations said at a press conference. The conference, jointly organised by the US Indo-Pacific Command and the Malaysian Defence Force, will be attended by the chiefs of the land forces of the Indo-Pacific region. "They will discuss ways to strengthen friendship and cooperation, exchange views on common challenges, and take coordinated action in regional crises," the ISPR said. The ISPR expressed its hope that through this visit, the relationship between the Indo-Pacific countries and the Bangladesh Army will be further strengthened and the potential for mutual cooperation will increase.

Traffic congestion was reported across Dhaka from the start of the workday. The downpour triggered waterlogging in Motijheel, Rajarbagh, Green Road, Panthapath, Dhanmondi, Bijoy Sarani, Mirpur No. I reached the office with great difficulty after wading through the water and enduring the traffic jam.”In Motijheel, water kept accumulating in front of the Agrani Bank head office as late as 1:30pm. Md Fazlul Karim, additional deputy commissioner of DMP Traffic Motijheel Division, said flooding at Shantinagar, Rajarbagh Police Lines Gates 1 and 2, the Shahjahanpur intersection and Motijheel caused the delays. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Traffic, Mirpur Division) Deputy Commissioner Gautam Kumar Biswas said breakdowns added to the gridlock.

A new schedule for Dhaka’s metro rail will be implemented on a trial basis from Friday. But, according to the new timetable, trains will run at intervals of 4 minutes and 15 seconds. The metro rail was launched in Dhaka on Dec 28, 2022. The capacity of the metro rail will increase further when the extension work to Kamalapur Railway Station is completed. The metro rail carries an average of 420,000 passengers a day.

Three hours of heavy rain on Monday morning have flooded many roads and streets in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. The rain and waterlogging caused several vehicles, including buses, to stall out on this stretch of road. Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Traffic, Mirpur Division) Deputy Commissioner Gautam Kumar Biswas told bdnews24.com at 11:30am that various roads in Mirpur were submerged by water due to the early morning showers on Monday. Vehicles broke down on various roads, and trees also fell. Many vehicles have broken down on various roads.

A man has been electrocuted to death after attempting to cycle across water that had accumulated at the Najira Bazar intersection in Dhaka’s Bangshal following heavy rain. Locals were able to recover the body and take it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 9:45am. There, a doctor on duty declared him dead, according to Md Rafiqul Islam, chief of Bangshal Police Station. Rafiqul said he was unable to confirm whether a power line had torn and fallen into the water, leading to the death. After he arrived, the doctor declared him dead.”Witnesses say a power utility pole stands next to the spot where the incident occurred.

Death toll from rain, floods in Pakistan over 1,000 in 3 monthsPakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) says that at least 1,006 people have lost their lives in torrential rains and flash flooding since Jun 26. Punjab reported 304 deaths, Sindh 80, Balochistan 30, Gilgit-Baltistan 41, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 38, and Islamabad nine. The NDMA said that more than 3.02 million people have been rescued from the flooding in nearly 5,800 operations. Authorities have established 1,690 relief and medical camps in affected areas since the flooding began. Of these, 741 medical camps have treated 662,098 patients, while 949 relief camps have provided shelter and services to 152,252 people.

US President Donald Trump has claimed he ended seven wars across the world and deserves a Nobel Peace Prize for each, including one for stopping the conflict between India and Pakistan, reports bdnews24.com. He said this on Saturday night during a speech at the American Cornerstone Institute Founders' Dinner, NDTV reported. Trump said: "On the world stage, we are once again doing things that we are just respected at a level that we have never been respected before.

A 105-run opening stand between Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill helped defending champions India beat Pakistan by six wickets in their Asia Cup Super Four match on Sunday, a second victory over their arch rivals in the Twenty20 tournament. Put in to bat first, Pakistan set India a target of 172, which they reached with seven balls remaining. Farhan, who was dropped in the first over by Sharma, completed his half-century in 34 balls, steering Pakistan to 91-1 after 10 overs. India seemed to be cruising to a quick victory until Gill (47 off 28) was bowled by Faheem Ashraf in the 10th over. Pakistan will face Sri Lanka on Tuesday, with both sides looking for their first win in the Super Four, a day before India play Bangladesh, who beat Sri Lanka on Saturday.

Shots were fired in the head with sniper rifles, says July witnessA witness at the tribunal has said protesters in Dhaka's Jatrabari during last year’s July Uprising were shot in the head with sniper rifles on the day of the Awami League-led government’s fall. The witness, Ali Ahsan Junayed, is affiliated with a research institute and is the founding convenor of the post-Uprising political organisation United People's Bangladesh (UPB). Junayed, a former student of Dhaka University during the 2013 quota movement, described incidents from last year’s anti-quota movements. He recounted that during the protests from Jatrabari to Chittagong Road, over a hundred people were killed and several hundreds were injured. He claimed that police continued to fire at protesters from near the Jatrabari Police Station until 6pm.

Md Mokhles ur Rahman, senior secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration, has been transferred to the Ministry of Planning. The decision was announced in a notice from the public administration ministry on Sunday. Mokhles has been serving in the post on a contractual basis since August, 2024. In another notice released on the same day, Md Ruhul Amin, a member of the Planning Commission with the rank of secretary, has been named officer on special duty (OSD) at the Ministry of Public Administration. OSDs are usually not assigned any work in the policymaking or implementation process of the government.

Yunus leaves for New York with five politicians to attend UN General AssemblyChief Advisor Muhammad Yunus has left for New York to attend the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). According to the schedule, Yunus will arrive in New York on Sept 22 and address the General Assembly session on Sept 26. This is because on Sept 30, a high-level meeting will be held under the presidency of the UN General Assembly president to discuss the situation of Rohingya Muslims and other minority groups in Myanmar. “This is the first time such a high-level meeting has been organised at the UN General Assembly focusing on the Rohingya crisis,” he said. On the sidelines, the chief advisor will also hold meetings with heads of government and state from various countries and will participate in a meeting with expatriate Bangladeshis.

Md Siam Ahsan Ayan, a college student who was part of the anti-quota student movement last year, gave testimony on the killing of Abu Sayed in a police-led attack during the July protests in Rangpur. On Sunday, Ayan, an 18-year-old student of RCCI Public School and College, appeared as the sixth witness in the International Crimes Tribunal in the murder case of Sayed, who was a student of Begum Rokeya University. Ayan, who sat for his HSC exams this year, shared his first-hand account of the incident that took place on Jul 16, 2024. He said, on the night of Jul 15, a meeting was held in Rangpur, where they decided to gather at the district school the next day to join the protest in support of the ongoing movement at Begum Rokeya University.

ACC traces assets linked to ex-land minister Saifuzzaman in 5 more countriesAfter the United Kingdom and the United States, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has uncovered new information about overseas assets belonging to "fugitive" former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed in five more countries, including India, Vietnam and Malaysia. “In these documents, we have found information about Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s assets in India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia.”Earlier, the commission had found information about his assets in the US, Britain, Dubai and Singapore. We can get more information after verification.”The seized documents include records of assets purchased in different countries, income tax papers, rent receipts and other financial information, according to officials. ACC officials said two employees of the Aramit PLC, a family-owned company of the former minister, were arrested on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, on Sunday, a court ordered the issuance of Interpol red notices against Saifuzzaman and Rukmila.