Gold smuggling through Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka continues despite seizures and intensified surveillance, according to customs, police and intelligence-linked accounts cited in the report. From 2021 to 2026, more than 100 operations seized nearly 2,000 kilograms of gold, valued at about Tk5,000 crore. Authorities recorded large consignments concealed in aircraft compartments, cargo and fruit crates, while alleged ringleaders remain beyond reach.

Dhaka Custom House data show 697 kilograms were seized in 2021-22, followed by 554 kilograms in 2022-23 and 417 kilograms in 2023-24. Airport police registered 541 gold-smuggling cases over the past five years. Intelligence sources said the networks use more than 50 concealment methods and may involve passengers as well as aviation-related workers. An aviation expert said coordinated support within airport operations was likely needed for repeated large shipments.

Three major consignments were seized this year, including 17.901 kilograms from a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on March 28 and 18.720 kilograms on July 2. Customs and airport officials said surveillance and operations will continue, while police said they are working to identify the principal figures, particularly on the Dubai route.

Rajbari District Detective Branch police arrested two women Union Parishad members with 30 yaba tablets in Pangsha. The arrests were made during an operation in the Pangsha Model Police Station area, at around 10:30pm on Tuesday, according to DB police officer-in-charge Md Mofizul Islam. The women are reserved-seat members of Majhbari Union in Kalukhali upazila.

The detainees were identified as Mosa Hamida Khatun, 47, wife of Abdul Mannan Mondal of Mohanpur and representative for wards 1, 2 and 3, and Sajeda Begum, 40, wife of Kadar Ali Mondal of Char Kultia and representative for wards 7, 8 and 9. Police said they were arrested from the paved road in front of Wood World Furniture on College Road in Pangsha municipality.

Majhbari Union Parishad chairman Kazi Shariful Islam said he had heard that two women members of his council had been arrested with yaba. However, he said the administration had not yet officially informed him about the matter.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh Senior Nayeb-e-Ameer Mufti Syed Muhammad Fayzul Karim visited the grave of Mujahidul Islam Bulbul, vice-president of the Bandar police station branch of Islami Jubo Andolan Bangladesh, in Bandar, Narayanganj. Bulbul was killed in an attack by assailants described in the source as terrorists. On Tuesday, Fayzul Karim also met Bulbul’s family members and conveyed condolences and sympathy.

Fayzul Karim said the people who killed Bulbul were identified terrorists and alleged that Bulbul had sought legal action against them. He blamed administrative negligence and inaction for Bulbul’s death, while welcoming the police action to detain suspects after the killing. He said earlier intervention could have prevented the death and spared Bulbul’s young children from becoming orphaned.

The Islami Andolan leader urged senior administrative authorities to take action against officials who did not act against a person identified as Sheikh Sifat despite a case being filed. He said his party would monitor the case and demanded punishment for Bulbul’s killer. Joint Secretary General Maulana Nesar Uddin, Assistant Secretary General Maulana Ahmad Abdul Qayyum, and district and metropolitan leaders were present.

A mobile court in Satkania, Chattogram, sentenced 24-year-old Fahim Uddin to one year of simple imprisonment and fined him Tk 50 over allegations that he assaulted and abused his parents. The action was taken on Tuesday morning in the upazila’s Daimarkhil area. Fahim is the son of Nazrul Islam of the same locality.

According to the report, Fahim had allegedly been assaulting and abusing his parents at different times over a long period. Police were informed about the matter on Tuesday morning, detained him from the scene and took him to the Satkania Upazila Nirbahi Officer’s office.

Satkania UNO and Executive Magistrate Khondkar Mahmudul Hasan conducted the mobile court and issued the sentence and fine. Office assistant Shahadat Hossain Rabbi at the UNO office confirmed the matter. The UNO said misconduct, assault or abuse of parents was unacceptable, and stated that stricter action would be taken if such incidents occur in the future.

Police recovered a skeleton from a sugarcane field near Jitarpur Mor in Khetlal, Joypurhat, on Tuesday, five days after easy-bike driver Farid Hossain, 41, went missing. Farid’s family said the remains were his. He was described as having an intellectual disability and was a resident of Hopirhat village in Khetlal upazila.

Farid left home with his easy-bike at about 10am on August 20 and did not return, according to police and local sources. His father, Abdul Quddus, filed a general diary at Khetlal police station after his disappearance. Police recovered Farid’s easy-bike from a garage in the Pakarmatha area of Joypurhat Sadar upazila on Monday afternoon, using information technology.

Police arrested two people, identified as Rabiul and Jakir Hossain, in connection with the incident. Investigating officer Abdul Karim said Farid’s parents identified the skeleton through clothing found with it, but said confirmation that the remains are Farid’s must await DNA testing. Senior police officials visited the scene, and the skeleton was taken to the police station.

A 16-year-old New Zealand citizen, Albert, is missing after a boat built by his family capsized at the Nazirartek-Sonadia estuary in the Bay of Bengal off Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday at about 9:30am. Three other members of the same family were rescued alive after all four people aboard fell into the sea.

The survivors were identified as John Edward, 74, Bela, 36, and Ralph, 13. Cox’s Bazar Sadar Model Police Station officer-in-charge Sheikh Mohammad Ali confirmed the incident. He said the family had been travelling at sea in their self-made boat when it sank accidentally.

Local fishermen spotted the group and rescued the three survivors before handing them over to the Coast Guard. Coast Guard personnel and Fire Service divers are continuing a search operation for Albert. Authorities said no immediate information was available about when the New Zealand citizens arrived in Bangladesh or when they came to Cox’s Bazar. The Coast Guard said it could not provide further details at this time.

A Dhaka metropolitan magistrate’s court on Tuesday, August 25, ordered five days of remand for Mohammad Abul Kashem Patwary, known as “Hatkata Kashem,” in a case over an alleged attack and attempted murder targeting former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s motorcade. Kashem is president of the Tejgaon police station unit of the Jatiya Sramik League. Metropolitan Magistrate Ariful Islam issued the order, confirmed prosecution sub-inspector Arif Reza.

Police arrested Kashem from the capital’s Karwan Bazar area on August 17. A court rejected his bail application the following day and sent him to jail. The investigating officer sought seven days of remand on August 20, and the court set Tuesday for a hearing in Kashem’s presence.

The prosecution said Khaleda Zia’s motorcade was attacked in Karwan Bazar on April 20, 2015, while she campaigned for Dhaka North City Corporation mayoral candidate Tabith Awal. Defence lawyers sought cancellation of remand and bail, arguing there were no specific allegations and citing Kashem’s physical disabilities. After hearing both sides, the court granted five days of remand.

Upazila authorities recovered 72 sacks of fertilizer from the home of former union parishad chairman Shaheen Sarkar in Sadullapur, Gaibandha, and fined him. Assistant Commissioner (Land) Jasim Uddin conducted the raid on Tuesday morning at Sarkar’s residence in North Mondwar area. Sarkar, 60, is a former chairman of Bongram Union Parishad.

The administration said the fertilizer had been stored illegally. The recovered stock included 13 sacks of urea, 28 sacks of gypsum, 16 sacks of DAP, 13 sacks of TSP and two sacks of potash fertilizer. Authorities put the market value of the seized fertilizer at about Tk56,700.

Shaheen Sarkar said his family were marginal farmers and that the fertilizer was neither intended for sale nor illegally stockpiled. He said it had been kept for use on transplanted Aman paddy land. Jasim Uddin said strict legal action would be taken against anyone who illegally hoards fertilizer allocated for farmers or attempts to sell it at higher prices.

The bodies of five fishers missing after the fishing trawler FB Barkat sank in rough weather in the Bay of Bengal were recovered about 22 hours later. The bodies were found in deep waters around 11am on Tuesday, August 25, according to trawler owner and helmsman Badal Mollah. A trawler carrying the bodies was returning toward the coast and was expected to take about three hours to reach Patharghata.

FB Barkat sank on Monday afternoon after being hit by adverse weather and strong waves. There were 13 fishers aboard; eight were rescued alive while five remained missing. The deceased were identified as Nur Alam, 37, Kawsar, 30, Saikul, 33, Ibrahim, 28, and Bellal, 22, all from different areas of Patharghata Sadar Union.

Survivor Yunus Mollah, the trawler’s cook, said several exhausted fishers had been sleeping inside the bridge while preparations were underway to cast nets. He said a sudden storm and heavy waves overturned the vessel. Eight fishers floated in the sea for about two hours before another fishing trawler rescued them. A trawler dispatched by the district fishers’ trawler owners association located the bodies. Police said legal action would follow after the bodies arrived.

Police have arrested Tamal Sarkar, 35, described as the main accused in a case over an attack and vandalism targeting the motorcade of Sirajganj-3 MP VP Aynul Haque. Police detained him during a late-night operation on Monday in the Dhangara Bazar area of Raiganj upazila. Additional Superintendent of Police for the Raiganj Circle Saiful Islam Khan confirmed the arrest.

The attack occurred on the evening of August 15, after the MP attended a discussion meeting on selecting land for a proposed Technical Training Centre in Dhangara Bazar. The motorcade was attacked while returning from the meeting. The MP was unharmed, but the rear portion of his vehicle was damaged.

Former Chandai Kona union BNP vice-president Shamimul Hasan filed the case, naming 15 people and listing another 30 to 40 unidentified accused. Police had arrested two named accused, Md Golam Muktadir and Alamgir Hossain, on August 17. Tamal’s arrest brings the total number of arrests in the case to three. A local BNP leader said Tamal is related to late BNP leader Nur Saeed Sarkar but has no connection with BNP and is involved in NCP politics.

Police arrested Vidisha Siddique, the second wife of former president Hussain Muhammad Ershad, in connection with an 18-year-old fraud case involving the sale of a flat. Gulshan police station officer-in-charge Daud Hossain said she was detained from a restaurant in the capital at about 8:30pm on Tuesday after a court warrant was issued. A court sentenced her in May this year to two years’ rigorous imprisonment in the case.

The case was filed at Gulshan police station in 2008 by businessman Mosharraf Hossain Sikder, who alleged fraud over a flat at President Park in Baridhara. Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jamsed Alam delivered the verdict on May 20, sentencing Vidisha to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and imposing a Tk10,000 fine, with an additional month in jail for non-payment.

According to the complaint, Vidisha showed Sikder the flat on July 1, 2001 and agreed to sell it for Tk8 million. Sikder later paid Tk7.5 million through a pay order in the name of Abdul Razzaq. The flat was not handed over by the promised date, the complaint said. A Tk7.2 million cheque issued in 2005 was returned because of insufficient funds.

Bagerhat District Detective Police recovered 59 allegedly stolen mobile phone sets with altered International Mobile Equipment Identity, or IMEI, numbers during a raid in Fakirhat. The operation was conducted at 9:40pm on Monday night at the mobile phone shops Rezaul Rahman Palash and Pushpa Telecom. Four people were detained in connection with the recovery.

The detainees were identified as Rezaur Rahman Palash, 34, of Pagla Shyamnagar in Fakirhat; Mohammad Wahidul Islam, 26, of Ataikathi in Bagerhat; Chandan Saha, 30, of Ghatbhog under Rupsa police station; and Huchhain Khan, son of Jahangir Khan of Bhat Baliaghata. Bagerhat Police Superintendent Hasan Mohammad Naser Rikabdar disclosed the information at a press briefing at his office on Tuesday morning.

The police superintendent said every mobile phone has an IMEI number used to identify the device, but members of the alleged theft ring changed those numbers. Three additional people linked to the group fled during the recovery operation. Police have filed a case against both the detained and absconding individuals and are continuing efforts to arrest those who fled. A process has also begun to return the recovered phones to their actual owners.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal ordered Brigadier General Miftah Uddin Ahmed and former Cox’s Bazar lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi sent to jail in a crimes against humanity case over the alleged killing of Ekramul Haque in Teknaf in 2018. The two were brought before Tribunal-2 on Tuesday morning, where a judge issued the detention order after a hearing.

The prosecution submitted formal charges on July 26 against 11 people, including the death-sentenced Hasina, in the case. After taking the charges into cognizance, the tribunal issued arrest warrants for eight fugitives. Other defendants include former ministers, police officials and military officers, according to the case details.

Ekramul Haque was killed in what was described as a “gunfight” in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, on the night of May 26, 2018. He was a councillor for Ward 3 of Teknaf municipality and president of the local Upazila Jubo League. The incident drew widespread discussion, and the case is now under judicial proceedings at Tribunal-2.

International Crimes Tribunal-2 has ordered newspaper notices directing seven accused, including Sheikh Hasina, to appear in a crimes against humanity case over the alleged killing of Ekramul Haque in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, in 2018. The three-member panel, led by Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury, issued the order on Tuesday afternoon after the seven did not appear before the court.

The other accused named in the notice order are former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, former road transport minister Obaidul Quader, former inspector general of police Benazir Ahmed, Major Ruhul Amin, army officer Nazmus Sakib and former army officer Ashiqur Rahman. The panel’s other members are Manjurul Basid and Nur Mohammad Shahriar Kabir.

On 26 July, prosecutors submitted formal charges against 11 people, including Sheikh Hasina. The tribunal took cognisance of the charges and issued arrest warrants for eight fugitives, directing them to appear on the scheduled date. Brigadier General Miftah Uddin Ahmed appeared, while former MP Abdur Rahman Badi, Brigadier General Mahbub Alam and Colonel Anwar Latif were brought before the tribunal and sent to jail in the case.

Police detained Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation storekeeper Md Akhtarul Islam, 35, over allegations that about 227 metric tonnes of government fertiliser were sold without approval in Dinajpur. The operation was conducted around 11pm on Monday at a BADC government fertiliser warehouse in the Nashipur area of Dinajpur Sadar upazila. Police said the warehouse official was taken into custody during the raid.

According to police, Akhtarul Islam admitted during preliminary questioning that he sold a total of 227 metric tonnes of fertiliser at different times in July and August without permission from higher authorities. Police also said they found information indicating the involvement of two BADC-contracted dealers, Sohag Hossain of Birganj upazila and Ansarul Islam of Kaharol upazila.

BADC said Nashipur has two government fertiliser warehouses, named Kanchan and Steel, with a combined storage capacity of about 18,000 metric tonnes for MOP, DAP and TSP fertilisers. Kotwali police station officer-in-charge Mohammad Nurnabi said BADC authorities were preparing to file a case and legal procedures were under way. He said police would take action against others if the investigation finds evidence of their involvement.