A local leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir was allegedly dragged out of a mosque and severely beaten during Tarawih prayers in Sandwip’s Bauria Union on Friday night. The incident occurred at Jamir Majhir Mosque in Ward No. 5, where 20-year-old Jihad, the union’s Shibir secretary, was attacked by several individuals identified as Jasib, Nirab, and Naeem. Witnesses said the assailants entered the mosque, pulled Jihad outside, and assaulted him with sticks and local weapons while chanting political slogans. Worshippers reportedly could not intervene due to the attackers being armed.

Colleagues of the injured claimed the attack was politically motivated, linked to Jihad’s support for the “Dhapipal” symbol in a recent election and internal ideological disputes. He was rescued in critical condition and admitted to Sandwip Upazila Health Complex, where doctors confirmed serious injuries and bleeding marks on his body.

Sandwip Police Station Officer-in-Charge Zayed Noor stated that police are monitoring the situation and will take legal action once a written complaint is filed, assuring that no perpetrator will be spared.

A young housewife named Arpita Rani Karmakar Sithi, aged 18, reportedly died by suicide in Jautdaibaki village of Lalpur upazila, Natore, on Friday, February 20, 2026. Police and local sources said the incident followed a family dispute over mobile phone use. During an argument, Arpita allegedly poured petrol on herself and set herself on fire. Family members rescued her in a severely burned condition and took her to Lalpur Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared her dead.

Arpita was the wife of Jagai Karmakar, a tea seller from the same village, and daughter of Asim Karmakar from Baneswar Mistri Para in Puthia upazila, Rajshahi. The couple had been married for about two years. According to her husband, disagreements arose because he believed her frequent phone use caused neglect of household duties. He took her phone away, which reportedly upset her deeply.

Lalpur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mojibur Rahman confirmed that the body was recovered and a case of unnatural death (UD) has been filed. The body will be handed over to the family after autopsy, and legal steps will follow based on the investigation.

The Bangladesh Coast Guard rescued 55 people, including women and children, and arrested five human traffickers during an operation in Baharchhara, Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar. The operation took place late Thursday night following intelligence that a group was preparing to traffic people by sea to Malaysia. A suspicious boat ignored a signal to stop and attempted to flee, but was later intercepted near the Kachhapia area of Baharchhara.

Upon searching the boat, the Coast Guard found the victims who had been detained for trafficking to Malaysia. Preliminary questioning revealed that an organized trafficking ring had been luring Bangladeshi and Rohingya nationals with promises of better living conditions, high-paying jobs, and low-cost travel abroad. The Coast Guard confirmed that legal proceedings against the detainees are underway.

Lieutenant Commander Siam-ul-Haq, the Coast Guard’s media officer, stated that the agency will continue similar operations to prevent human trafficking in the future.

Former Managing Director of Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Shafiqul Rahman alias Safiqul Rahman, has been sent to jail in a case filed over the alleged torture of an eleven-year-old domestic worker. The order was issued on Friday by Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Albiruni Mir. According to the prosecution, after completion of remand, both Rahman and domestic worker Sufia Begum were produced before the court. While Rahman refused to give a confessional statement, Sufia provided her statement before the magistrate.

The case was filed by hotel worker Golam Mostafa, father of the victim, who alleged that his daughter was severely injured while working at Rahman’s residence in Uttara Sector 9. The child was reportedly burned and beaten by Rahman, his wife Bithi, and unidentified others. Following her rescue, she was admitted to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital in Gazipur. Earlier, Rahman, his wife, and two others had been arrested and placed on remand for interrogation.

The court has now ordered Rahman and Sufia to be sent to jail, while Bithi remains in remand as the investigation continues.

An inmate named Md Abdul Khalek, aged 65, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital after being brought from Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj late Thursday night. Prison authorities transferred him to the hospital around 11:30 p.m. due to illness, accompanied by prison guard Abdullah and several others. The on-duty doctor declared him dead at 12:17 a.m. following medical examination.

Inspector Md Faruk, in charge of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital police outpost, confirmed the death and stated that the body has been kept in the hospital morgue for autopsy. The prison guards who brought him could not immediately specify the case in which Khalek had been imprisoned, saying details would be provided later. The deceased’s father was the late Kofil Uddin.

Further information regarding the cause of death or the nature of the case against Khalek was not available at the time of reporting.

Two suspected robbers were beaten to death by a mob in Khordd Mojahidpur village of Sadullapur upazila in Gaibandha early Thursday. According to reports, a group of robbers was allegedly preparing for a robbery when local residents noticed them. As villagers raised the alarm and surrounded the group from different directions, the crowd became enraged and began beating the suspects, killing two of them on the spot.

Sadullapur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Alim told Amader Desh that the deceased were not robbers but snatchers. He confirmed that police had received information about the incident and were preparing to recover the bodies. As of the time of reporting, the identities of the deceased individuals had not been determined.

The incident highlights ongoing tensions between local residents and suspected criminal groups in rural Gaibandha, with law enforcement now investigating the circumstances surrounding the deaths.

A physician named Al Amin was killed in a knife attack by unidentified assailants on Thursday night in Baripota village of Sharsha upazila, Jashore. The incident occurred around 9:30 p.m. when Al Amin was returning home after offering prayers. Locals found him critically injured and took him to a hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Police arrived at the scene, collected evidence, and began an investigation. The motive behind the killing was not immediately known, though locals suspected it might be linked to a prior dispute or personal enmity. Al Amin, a resident of Navaran and son of Rafiqul Islam, had been providing medical services in the area for a long time and was well known among residents.

Sharsha police officials confirmed that a case is being processed and efforts are underway to identify and arrest those involved. The murder has cast a shadow of grief over the community, with locals demanding swift justice. Police stated that further details on the investigation will be shared later.

Four people were killed in a security operation conducted in Lakki Marwat district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a report published on Thursday, February 19, 2026, by Samaa TV. The operation was carried out based on intelligence information about the presence of an armed group in the area.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, stated that the operation took place during the night between February 18 and 19 after receiving credible information about militant activity. During intense gunfire, four members of a group known as “Fitna al-Khawarij” were killed. Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the site, and the deceased were alleged to have been involved in multiple violent incidents in the region.

Security forces have launched a sweeping search operation across the area to capture any remaining armed individuals. Authorities reaffirmed their commitment to continuing counterterrorism operations to maintain peace and stability.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez announced on Thursday that the state has reopened its investigation into possible illegal activity at Jeffrey Epstein’s former Zorro Ranch near Stanley. The decision follows the release of more than three and a half million government files by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 30, which included previously sealed FBI documents. Torrez’s office said the new revelations warranted further examination of the earlier state probe, which was halted in 2019 at the request of federal prosecutors in New York, the same year Epstein was arrested on sex trafficking charges.

The renewed investigation coincides with the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, a former UK royal, on suspicion of misconduct in public office linked to allegations of sharing confidential documents with Epstein. The Epstein scandal has triggered political fallout in the UK but not in the U.S., where critics have accused the Justice Department of lacking transparency. In New Mexico, lawmakers have formed a truth commission to investigate Epstein’s ties to the state and why he was not registered as a sex offender there after his 2008 conviction.

Torrez’s office said it will cooperate with the commission and seek full access to unredacted federal case files to determine whether further legal action is warranted.

Emails released in newly published United States Department of Justice files reveal that Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender, was offered the chance in 2016 to buy into a large building complex tied to the Department of Defense. The 84,710-square-metre site, located about one mile from the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, was described as a mission-critical property capable of meeting the Defense Department’s infrastructure needs. The proposed $116 million deal would have made Epstein a co-owner and landlord to the U.S. government, though there is no evidence the transaction occurred.

The documents also show Epstein’s extensive ties to Israel, including a decade-long relationship with former Prime Minister Ehud Barak and financial support for Israeli organizations such as Friends of the Israeli Army and the Jewish National Fund. An FBI informant memo described Epstein as a “Mossad agent.”

The Pentagon-linked offer was forwarded by businessman David Stern, who also proposed a separate 2015 investment in FBI field offices and courthouses. Both property proposals were originated by real estate investor Jonathan D Fascitelli.

A Dhaka court has postponed the date for submitting the reinvestigation report in the murder case of Inkilab Moncho spokesperson Shahid Sharif Osman Hadi. On Thursday, February 19, 2026, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md. Sefatullah set February 26 as the new date after the investigating officer, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Abdul Kadir Bhuiyan, failed to present the report.

According to case details, Hadi was shot by assailants on a motorcycle in the Box Culvert area of Paltan on December 12 after completing election campaigning in Motijheel. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, later transferred to Evercare, and then to Singapore for advanced treatment, where he died on December 18. The case was subsequently reclassified as a murder case.

Earlier, on January 6, the Detective Branch submitted a charge sheet against 17 individuals, including former ward councillor Taizul Islam Chowdhury Bappi and Faisal Karim Masud. However, Inkilab Moncho’s member secretary Abdullah Al Jaber filed a petition expressing dissatisfaction with the DB report, leading the court to order further investigation by the CID.

The Road Safety Foundation reported that 487 people were killed and 1,194 injured in 559 road accidents across Bangladesh in January 2026. The organization also recorded six deaths and seven injuries in four waterway accidents, and 32 deaths with 17 injuries in 41 railway accidents. The data was released on Thursday morning through a press statement.

According to the foundation, motorcycle accidents were the most frequent, accounting for 208 incidents and 196 deaths, representing 40.24 percent of total fatalities. Regionally, Dhaka Division saw the highest number of accidents, with 143 incidents causing 119 deaths, or 25.58 percent of total accidents and 24.43 percent of deaths. Sylhet Division recorded the fewest, with 24 accidents and 18 deaths, representing 4.29 percent of total accidents and 3.59 percent of fatalities.

The report was compiled using information from nine national dailies, seven online news portals, various electronic media, and the foundation’s own data sources.

Six police officers were injured when a group of locals attacked them during an arrest operation in Rasulpur area of Satgram Union, Araihazar upazila of Narayanganj. The incident occurred late Wednesday night as police attempted to arrest Asma Begum, 45, a woman wanted in a CR case. Five people, including three women, were detained following the attack, according to police.

Police sources said officers from Araihazar Police Station launched the operation around 1 a.m. to apprehend Asma Begum, wife of Julhas Mia. Family members and some locals obstructed the officers, leading to an altercation that escalated into physical assault. The injured officers—SI Ajit, ASI Arif, ASI Faruk, ASI Sharif, ASI Saiful, and ASI Nizam—received primary medical treatment.

Investigating officer Ripon Kumar Sarkar stated that Asma pretended to be ill after her arrest, prompting relatives and neighbors to surround the police for about an hour until reinforcements arrived. The suspect was later taken away by her relatives, who claimed she was hospitalized in Madhabdi. Police have filed a case and are continuing efforts to identify and arrest others involved.

An internal investigation has confirmed multiple allegations against Chattogram Metropolitan Police’s Chawkbazar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Babul Azad. The probe, conducted following a report by the newspaper Amar Desh, found evidence of bribery, extortion, and abuse of power. A senior CMP official has submitted the investigation report to the Police Headquarters, which is expected to take action soon.

According to the report, eleven categories of allegations were proven, including taking money for releasing detainees, filing multiple cases when payments were refused, collecting money from drug dealers and gambling operators, and harassing opposition activists by labeling them as ruling party members. The Police Internal Oversight (PIO) unit initially compiled a five-page report based on complaints from Azad’s tenure at Double Mooring Police Station, which was later investigated by CMP’s Additional Commissioner Humayun Kabir.

The report also detailed instances of extortion, unlawful arrests, and torture in custody. Several officers were identified as his collaborators. Police Headquarters is expected to decide on disciplinary measures against Azad based on the findings.

At least ten people were killed and twelve others injured when part of a three‑storey residential building collapsed following a gas leak explosion in Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar No. 3 area on Wednesday night. The blast occurred on the building’s ground floor, causing a large section to cave in. Rescue teams immediately launched operations, pulling several victims—both alive and dead—from the debris using all available equipment.

Police said initial findings suggest the explosion may have been triggered by gas leaking from a cylinder or suction machine. Among the confirmed dead are ten‑year‑old Nazia and sixty‑year‑old Mohammad Riaz, while the body of one woman has been recovered and another victim’s identity is being verified. Several of the injured are children, including a fourteen‑year‑old girl in critical condition, all of whom were taken to hospital.

Officials fear at least two people remain trapped under the rubble. Narrow surrounding streets have slowed rescue efforts. Police have cordoned off the area, tightened security, and continued the rescue operation.