Auto-rickshaws in Gazaria, Munshiganj, are illegally using cooking LPG cylinders as fuel amid a severe shortage at CNG filling stations, according to a report published on August 15. At least 24 vehicles were seen on the Bhoberchar bus stand-Hoglakandi-Kalipura trawler ghat road with cylinders tied by rope behind passenger seats, raising fears of fire or explosions.

Drivers said some wait more than 24 hours in queues and still cannot obtain CNG, leaving them to use LPG so they can continue earning. Passengers described the practice as frightening and dangerous, saying even a minor crash or ignition source could cause serious harm. One passenger also said the fare on the route had risen from Tk40 to Tk50.

Gazaria Fire Service station officer Firoz Mia said LPG is highly flammable and faults, negligence or contact with fire during transport could lead to major accidents. Bhoberchar Highway Police Station officer-in-charge Shah Kamal Akhand said using cooking gas cylinders in vehicles is prohibited and illegal. He said police would investigate the matter, conduct raids soon and take legal action against those involved.

Separate cocktail explosions in Keshabpur, Jashore, and Kalkini, Madaripur, injured eight people, including seven students, on Saturday morning around August 15. In Jashore, motor worker Jewel, 35, suffered splinter injuries to his leg in an explosion in the Madhyakul area of Keshabpur municipality and was admitted to a local government hospital. Police cordoned off the area and took him into custody while treatment continued.

Police said two more unexploded cocktails wrapped in polythene were found at the Jashore site, where additional officers were deployed. Local residents alleged they had informed the police about a meeting at a fish farm the previous night, while Officer-in-Charge Mosha Roksana Khatun said residents had reported a meeting involving Awami League leaders.

In Kalkini's Ward 9, seven students of Gopalpur Darus Sunnah Mohila Madrasa were injured after handling a cocktail found on the stairs of a residence during their tiffin break. Two were in critical condition, and one was sent to Dhaka for advanced treatment. Additional Superintendent of Police Faria Rafiq Bhabna said evidence was being collected and an investigation was continuing into how the device arrived there and who was involved.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested 559 people and filed 44 cases during regular operations across the capital over the previous 24 hours. Additional Deputy Commissioner Niaz Mehdi of DMP’s Media and Public Relations Division disclosed the information in a press release on Saturday, August 15, 2026.

Mirpur Division recorded the highest number of arrests, with 118, followed by Gulshan with 105 and Wari with 87. Police also arrested 79 people in Tejgaon, 65 in Motijheel, 37 in Uttara, 33 in Lalbagh, 32 in Ramna and three through the Detective Branch.

Police said the operations recovered three foreign pistols, two magazines, nine rounds of ammunition, a toy pistol, two switch gears, a knife and a sharp blade. Other seized items included 17 mobile phones, 510 grams of cannabis, 3,710 yaba tablets, 100 packets of heroin, 15 bottles of local liquor, one litre of foreign liquor and 2,700 taka in cash. Police said legal action is being taken against those arrested.

Relatives of a Bangladeshi expatriate allegedly held hostage in Libya are accused of taking away eight-year-old Husain Ali from his home in Kalinathpur village, Chhatian union, Mirpur upazila of Kushtia. The child is the son of alleged manpower broker Jafar Ali. The incident reportedly occurred at about 8am on Saturday, according to the report published on August 15, 2026.

Local sources alleged that Jafar Ali sent people to Libya in the name of sending them to Italy. Members of the Jafar group in Libya were then accused of holding people hostage and collecting large sums of money from their relatives in Bangladesh. Sources said a person from Pultadanga village in Alamdanga upazila, Chuadanga, was recently held hostage in Libya and relatives paid several lakh taka.

Chhatian union chairman Kabir Hossain confirmed at about 12:30pm that the child had been taken away. He said families of many prospective overseas migrants come looking for Jafar Ali and that allegations exist of extorting money after sending people to Libya. Mirpur police station officer-in-charge Mohammad Shahidul Islam said he was not aware of the alleged child abduction.

A housewife, Kamrun Nahar Akter, was killed after attackers entered a businessman’s home in the Nagorbela area of Nagari Union in Kaliganj, Gazipur, early Saturday. Her husband, rod and cement trader Manjurul Islam, and their daughter, Sanjida Akter Mim, were seriously injured in the attack. Police said the assailants appeared to have entered disguised as robbers.

According to police and local sources, a group of 10 to 12 attackers broke the lock on the grill gate of Manjurul Islam’s tin-shed house at around 3 a.m. They also confined residents of several nearby homes. After entering the house, the attackers began hacking family members with locally made weapons.

The attackers fled as nearby residents started responding to cries for help. Kamrun Nahar Akter died at the scene, while the injured were sent to hospital. Gazipur police have started an investigation, and crime scene unit members visited the location. Authorities said they are trying to identify those involved. The body was sent to the morgue of Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College.

Three separate investigation committees have been formed after an accident during ship cutting at Ferdous Steel Ship Recycling Industries in Bhatiari, Sitakunda, Chattogram, left multiple workers dead or injured. The incident occurred around 9:30 a.m. on Friday while work was underway inside a ship at the Station Road shipbreaking yard. The Ministry of Industries, Chattogram district administration and the Bangladesh Ship Breakers and Recyclers Association formed the committees.

BASBRA member secretary Nazmul Islam confirmed the formation of the three bodies. Following an application from the yard authorities, BASBRA formed a five-member technical committee on August 14, chaired by technical adviser Captain Anam Chowdhury. Nazmul Islam is its member secretary. The committee was instructed to quickly inspect the site, determine the specific cause of the accident and submit an urgent report.

The inquiry is expected to examine gas testing, verification of gas-free certificates, ventilation in enclosed areas, workers' use of personal protective equipment and safety supervision during cutting. Former BNP joint secretary general Professor Aslam Chowdhury called for treatment for injured workers and proper assistance and compensation for families of those killed. Stakeholders said anyone responsible for safety violations or negligence should be held accountable and recommendations should be implemented.

Five people were killed in a shooting in northern Michigan, United States, on Friday, Michigan State Police said. Officers responded at about 11:40 a.m. local time to a report of gunfire at a home in Missaukee County, where they found three people dead and another person injured. The injured person was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Police initially identified 39-year-old Chad Hickman as a suspect. He had fled before officers reached the first scene, prompting a large search operation. During that operation, investigators found another body at a second home, according to police information reported by Reuters.

Police later located Hickman's vehicle near a wooded area by Whitlock Lake. Hickman and another person were found dead there. Authorities did not release the names, ages, or genders of those killed, and said the process of notifying relatives was continuing.

Residents and family members of Mohammad Toha, general secretary of the Patiya Advocate Clerks Association, demanded the arrest of all those involved in his killing. At a human chain in Pachuria on the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar highway in Patiya on Friday at 3pm, they gave authorities a 48-hour deadline. More than 100 people from Habilas Dwip Union joined the protest, seeking the highest punishment for those responsible.

Police and local sources said Toha was beaten on the night of July 31 in the Monaf Haji Para Notunbari area of Habilas Dwip Union. The incident was linked to a prior dispute and his protest over banana theft, after which he died. Toha was the son of the late Abul Bashar. Police have arrested one person, 29-year-old Mohammad Anwar, in connection with the case.

At the protest, Toha’s daughter, Mosammat Marwa, appealed for the prime minister’s intervention and called for swift justice. Relatives and residents said that, more than two weeks after the killing, not everyone involved had been brought under the law. They warned they would take to the streets if all suspects were not arrested within 48 hours.

The daughter of slain M A Sattar filed a written complaint at Kotwali Model Police Station on Friday night over the triple murder in Sylhet city’s Raynagar Mitali Residential Area. The FIR does not name Babul Mia, a painter whom police detained three days earlier and said had confessed. The complaint alleges that the killings were planned and carried out by hired killers over land and litigation-related disputes.

Police recovered the bodies of 82-year-old M A Sattar, his wife Suraiya Begum and domestic worker Tahamina Begum from the second floor of house No. 111 on August 12. Police initially said all three had been killed with sharp weapons. Police said Babul Mia was detained on suspicion that afternoon and, after his confession, was shown arrested under Section 54 and sent to jail through a court.

The FIR cites alleged threats on July 28 and July 30 to withdraw land-related cases and claims that case papers, general diary copies and land deeds were taken from the house. It says filing was delayed because the victims’ children were abroad and after burial arrangements. Police said it is investigating the motive, roles of those involved and any link to the disputes.

Several Awami League-supported kazi registrars are accused of going into hiding with “balam books,” key marriage and divorce registration records, following a political change. The reported loss has affected kazi offices in areas including Moghbazar in Dhaka and Tangail Sadar, leaving applicants unable to obtain certified marriage or divorce certificates, kabinnamas, or English copies needed for use abroad. The report was published on August 15, 2026.

The Law Ministry said taking balam books is a criminal offence and that it will examine the matter and take necessary action. Bangladesh has 5,578 registered kazi posts, of which about 500 are vacant, according to the report. Rules on transferring a nikah registrar’s duties require records to be secured and jointly certified for submission through registrars.

Moghbazar kazi office official Maulana Selim Reza alleged that former kazi Sagar Ahmed Shaheen left with many books and that no inventory of missing records was provided. Reza also reported signs of serious forgery and incomplete divorce entries in some books. Shaheen denied taking any records, saying all books were left at the office. Affected applicants called for recovery of missing records, stronger document security, and action against those responsible.

Law enforcement agencies detained 54 people in a raid on a rented flat in Dhaka’s Bashundhara Residential Area, alleging that a birthday gathering was being used to plan sabotage ahead of August 15. The operation was conducted late Thursday at a second-floor flat in a building on Road 28 in M Block, according to the report. Authorities alleged that leaders and activists of the banned Awami League and affiliated organisations had gathered there to discuss fires and disruptive activities at different points in the capital.

Police said Bhatar police surrounded the flat around 9 p.m. and seized provocative banners, placards, face masks and alleged sabotage equipment. They initially arrested 53 people, including Mehjabin Akhtar Mala and her husband Motaleb Hossain, then detained another alleged member based on information from those arrested. Investigating officer SI Hafizur Rahman said questioning indicated plans to create major disorder in Dhaka before August 15.

A court sent 52 detainees to jail, while two minors were sent to the Tongi Child Development Centre in Gazipur. Police are examining communications, funding sources, who ordered the meeting and its planned activities. Security and surveillance have also been increased at Dhaka entry points, key facilities and crowded locations.

Former National Citizen Party leader Asad Khokon was allegedly assaulted and handed over to police in Haripur Rajbari, Nasirnagar, Brahmanbaria, on Friday afternoon. The report alleges that BNP, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal activists beat him before taking him, unconscious, to Nasirnagar town and surrendering him to police.

Khokon, a resident of Burishwar Union, had been a member of the NCP's Brahmanbaria district coordination committee. He was temporarily relieved from the party last year for violating party discipline. Witnesses said he travelled by boat from the district town to Haripur Rajbari in the morning, went live on Facebook around noon, and was attacked by a group of 20 to 30 people while bathing in the Titash River around 2pm.

An unnamed NCP leader alleged that several local political figures led the attack. Former Nasirnagar Government College Chhatra Dal convenor Yasin Mahmud denied the assault allegation. BNP's Nasirnagar unit general secretary KM Bashir Uddin said an altercation with locals led to the incident and denied involvement by party members. Police said Khokon filed no complaint and was released to his family after initial treatment.

Police have arrested five people, including the main suspect, in the murder case of Chhatra Dal leader Ibrahim Al Masum in Palash upazila of Narsingdi. Palash police confirmed the arrests in a press release at about 10:15 p.m. on Friday. RAB-11 detained the suspects at about 3 a.m. Friday from Hotel Green Palace, a residential hotel in Maheshkhali police station area of Cox's Bazar district.

Masum, 33, was shot during a clash between two BNP groups over establishing dominance in the area, according to the release. He was admitted to a private hospital in Dhaka and died while under treatment at about 10:30 a.m. on August 10. Hasan Md. Mohsin, Masum's brother-in-law, filed the case on August 4, naming 37 accused.

The detainees were identified as main accused Safadi Mirza Bijoy, 25, Shah Alam Fakir, 30, Babu Fakir, 22, Tushar, 25, and Mehedi, 20. The press release said they initially admitted to police that they were involved in the incident. Additional Superintendent of Police Md. Ashikur Rahman, Sadar Circle Sajib Shahreenn and the RAB-11 CPSCs Narsingdi camp commander took part in the operation.

At least 15 passengers were injured after a shunting engine struck the rear of the stationary Mahananda Express at Ishwardi Junction station in Pabna on Friday night. The train was travelling from Khulna to Rajshahi when the collision occurred, causing panic among passengers, according to station officials.

Ishwardi Junction station master Md Aslam Hossain said the shunting engine hit the train forcefully from behind. Railway GRP police said officers reached the scene, rescued injured passengers and arranged treatment. Officer-in-charge Md Ziaur Rahman said they were released after receiving primary treatment.

Passengers reportedly chased the locomotive master after the crash, and he left the area before later returning. Pabna-4 lawmaker Professor Abu Taleb Mondal visited the station, spoke with injured passengers and consulted railway staff and police. He said passenger safety must not be neglected and called for a serious investigation into how the engine struck the train, with action against anyone found negligent. The Mahananda Express later departed for Rajshahi.

Bomb threats were issued to six key locations in India’s capital, New Delhi, on Friday, a day before the country’s Independence Day. The targets included the Delhi High Court, Indira Gandhi International Airport’s Terminal 3 and four other sites. Authorities strengthened security across the capital after the threats were received through separate email and phone calls.

An email sent to the Delhi High Court threatened an explosion at 2:11 pm on Saturday. The same message also threatened explosions at various district courts in Delhi at 3:11 pm. Despite the threat, the High Court’s judicial proceedings faced no immediate disruption and continued according to the scheduled timetable.

Phone threats also targeted Jamnagar House, Jhandewalan Building, the Saket office on MB Road, IGI Airport Terminal 3 and the Sub-Divisional Magistrate’s office in Delhi Cantonment. Delhi Fire Service said it received information between 11:18 am and 11:40 am on Friday and dispatched vehicles to every location. Authorities said no suspicious object had been found at any threatened site.