Shariful Islam

Firearms, including sophisticated ones, in the hills are not only for the extremists' “ideals”, they are now a means for their financial solvency.

Police have stepped up monitoring of city hotels and messes as they are strictly checking the identities of guests and boarders ahead of Sunday's national election.

People from different districts are turning up in Narail to campaign for Bangladesh ODI captain Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.

Confusion remains among many over casting votes using electronic voting machines in Satkhira-2 and Khulna-2 as they have no practical knowledge of the machines.

Children in Jashore's Malopara village still have nightmares of people coming to attack them. And with the election on the horizon, panic has spread even among the adults.

With the December 30 election approaching, people in Satkhira, known as a stronghold of the Jamaat-e-Islami, fear that the party may resort to violence again, the way it did in 2013 centring a verdict on Delawar Hossain Sayedee.

Promises of further development work are Awami League contestants' election mantra in Khulna while the BNP candidates are pledging “restoration of democracy”.

The Jatiya Oikyafront candidates in the six constituencies of Khulna are heavily depending on female activists for their campaigns as most of the men are either on the run or under cover fearing police.

With the election 14 days away, campaigning should be in full swing but the situation in Khulna is different.

Every month a mindboggling Tk 2.47 crore used to be gathered inside Chattogram Central Jail and the lion's share came from drug dealing, its arrested jailer Sohel Rana Biswas told investigators while in remand.

Two militant suspects, including a woman, were killed in a police operation at a hideout in Narsingdi's Shaikerchar area yesterday, about two weeks after they came to the district with several other suspects to attend the wedding of one of their female accomplices.

They must be turning in their graves. Jahangir Hossain died one and a half years ago, Mansur Ali a year ago and Zilllur Rahman six months back. Now all these months and years later, police have charged them with vandalising vehicles and planning subversive activities.

Police are pressing for promotion of 495 officials of the ranks of superintendent of police to additional inspector general ahead of the national elections.

Two bomb-disposal robots would soon be used in Bangladesh for busting explosive-stashed militants' dens where the risk of death lurks in every corner.

One is an 85-year-old paralysed man who cannot move out of his bed by himself. Another left the country for Malaysia in February and is still there. Two others are hajj pilgrims -- one of them returned home just yesterday while the other is still to come back.

Implicated in three “false cases” and tired of police harassment, Ahad Khalifa was desperately looking for a break.

Luthful Haque was treated at Labaid hospital in the capital's Dhanmondi for seven days from August 4 for hypertension, diabetes and kidney complications.

A photo album is all Tasin has to see his father.

With over 300 splinters inside his body, all Suranjit Sengupta wanted until his death was justice for the August 21 grenade attack. "I want justice," said the Awami League leader in tears while testifying before a court in 2015, eleven years after the attack on an AL rally that left 24 people killed and over 300 wounded.

Banned militant outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which remained below law enforcers' radar for many years, has lately been gathering strength through collecting funds mainly by robbery, counterterrorism officers said.