Police have arrested two suspects in a case over a hammer attack on journalist K M Bacchu in Kuakata, Patuakhali. The detainees are Shahid Sikdar, joint assistant secretary of Kuakata municipal Jubo Dal, and Nasir Hawlader, vice-president of Ward No. 8 Sramik Dal. Police detained them during an operation in Kuakata on Monday night and sent them to court on Tuesday.

According to the case and police sources, Bacchu, a Kuakata representative of Desh Rupantor, was ambushed around 11:30 pm on July 24 near Hotel Shaikat on the beach. The complaint alleges that several people struck him indiscriminately with hammers on his head and both legs, leaving him seriously injured. Locals first took him to Kuakata's 20-bed hospital before he was referred to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in Barishal.

After three days of treatment in Barishal, Bacchu was transferred to Dhaka for advanced care. His family alleges the attack followed reporting on an attempted molestation case and alleged irregularities and corruption involving the accused. They also say he had previously received threats. Mahipur police chief Shamim Hawlader said efforts are continuing to arrest the remaining accused.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines cabin crew member Mirza Adnan has been held for five days by the Abu Dhabi branch of the United Arab Emirates’ CID police while on duty in the country. A Sharjah station source said Adnan went missing from Sharjah Airport on July 22 and was later found to have been detained by immigration authorities after operating Biman flight BG-151.

UAE authorities have not explained the allegation or suspicion behind his detention. Biman acting general manager for public relations Muhammad Mohiuddin said immigration does not provide such information and may release him after an internal investigation or take action if an offence is established. Flight Operations Director Captain A K M Aminul Islam said he did not yet know about the matter.

According to the Sharjah station source, Adnan was transferred from Sharjah to Abu Dhabi CID for further investigation and questioning and remains in its custody. Sharjah station manager Zakir Hossain said Biman’s Abu Dhabi station and the Bangladesh embassy were informed by an Abu Dhabi police station. Abu Dhabi station manager Anwar Ul Firdaus said airport authorities and CID personnel would not provide any information despite contact.

Police Headquarters has warned the public about fraudsters using the names and photographs of senior and responsible officials from police and other government offices. In a press release issued Tuesday, July 28, 2026, AIG for Media and PR A H M Shahadat Hossain said complaints had been received about scam groups sending social-media messages seeking money and requesting various forms of intervention.

The release said the groups are both taking money through such activities and damaging the reputation of government institutions and responsible officials. Police stressed that a social-media account displaying a government official’s photograph does not confirm that the associated mobile number belongs to that person. The public was urged not to respond to such messages.

Recipients of suspected scam messages may contact the national emergency service at 999, as well as the Cyber Police Center, CID, and the Detective Branch at DMP headquarters. Police said they remain highly alert to the activities of scam groups and are committed to taking appropriate legal action against anyone involved in such fraud.

A Chattogram court has sentenced Md Al Amin, 44, to death for the killing of seven-year-old Mahfuz in the city’s Halishahar Toll Road area. The Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge of Chattogram, Nishaduzzaman, delivered the verdict on Tuesday after a judicial process lasting nine years. Mahfuz was allegedly strangled to death with a gamcha.

Court bench assistant Md Shahidul Islam said the sentence was imposed under section 302 of the Penal Code on the basis of testimony and evidence from 12 witnesses. The court also fined Al Amin Tk25,000. Mahfuz was a first-grade student at Halishahar Housing Estate Government Primary School. Al Amin was identified as the son of the late Jinnat Ali of Karpasha Putihara in Nikli, Kishoreganj.

Investigators found that Al Amin suspected Mahbub over his wife, while the two had previously fought over unpaid money. The investigation said Al Amin killed Mahbub’s child in retaliation for that dispute. For concealing evidence and removing the body, the court imposed seven years of rigorous imprisonment and a Tk5,000 fine. Failure to pay that fine carries an additional two months of simple imprisonment. The child’s father filed the murder case with Halishahar police, and trial proceedings began after charges were framed on April 27, 2017.

Bangladesh’s Civil Aviation Authority, CAAB, has temporarily suspended approvals for additional scheduled international passenger flights at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka because of rising aircraft and passenger pressure. The decision, reported on July 28, 2026, will remain in force until Terminal 3 becomes fully operational. CAAB has sent a letter on the matter to 38 airlines.

The airport currently handles an average of about 316 aircraft movements daily, including 140 to 160 international passenger flights, 125 to 140 domestic flights and 10 to 16 international cargo flights. Private helicopters also operate there. The volume has placed severe pressure on the runway, taxiway, terminal, aerobridges, check-in counters, immigration and baggage handling systems. During peak periods, simultaneous international arrivals have caused long queues, passenger congestion and service delays.

The restriction will be strictly applied to foreign passenger airlines without their own operational base in Bangladesh. Previously allocated slots will not be considered operational approval. Airlines seeking additional scheduled flights may apply to operate through Hazrat শাহ Amanat International Airport in Chattogram or Osmani International Airport in Sylhet. CAAB said the restriction would be lifted when Terminal 3 opens fully and capacity increases.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has sought assistance from Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to address the country’s ongoing gas crisis. The two leaders spoke by telephone at 2pm Bangladesh time on Tuesday, according to State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Anindya Islam Amit, who briefed reporters at the Secretariat.

Amit said Bangladesh is unable to supply gas in line with demand and that the request for Malaysian support aims to narrow the gap between demand and supply. He said the government was working intensively to resolve the problem because of its responsibility to the public, even though the floating LNG terminal used to regasify imported LNG is a privately managed facility.

The prime minister had written to Anwar Ibrahim on Monday about the issue, and Education Adviser Mahdi Amin, who is visiting Malaysia, handed over the letter in Kuala Lumpur. Anwar said he would quickly consult his team and relevant ministries on possible assistance and inform Rahman. Amit said the energy ministry, Petrobangla and RPGCL were working around the clock, while Rahman remained in contact over developments.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami expressed deep grief over the deaths of six Bangladeshi citizens from Narayanganj in a major fire at a shop in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The fire occurred at about 3 a.m. local time on Tuesday. In a statement sent to the media on July 28, 2026, the party’s assistant secretary general and central publicity and media secretary, Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, conveyed the condolences.

Zubair said the deaths of six expatriate Bangladeshis who had gone to South Africa in search of livelihoods were heartbreaking and painful. He said it was difficult to bear the grief of people dying in a fire while living far from home for work. He prayed for forgiveness for the deceased and expressed deep sympathy for their bereaved families.

He also prayed for the deceased to receive the status of martyrs and for their relatives to be given strength to endure the loss. Zubair wished a speedy and full recovery for another expatriate who was seriously injured and receiving treatment. He urged the Bangladesh government to take necessary diplomatic and administrative measures to return the bodies promptly, ensure proper treatment for the injured person, and provide financial assistance to affected families.

Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and opposition chief whip, condemned an attack on the convoy of NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary and chief organiser Sarjis Alam during the party’s July march in Habiganj. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, he demanded the swift arrest of those involved.

Islam alleged that local BNP leaders and activists carried out the surprise armed attack. He said several journalists and NCP leaders and activists were injured, and claimed the incident took place in the presence of law-enforcement personnel.

The NCP convener said attackers took the party’s media team microbus inside the Habiganj district circuit house and attacked it there. According to his post, they damaged the vehicle and took away mobile phones and cameras. Islam called for the immediate arrest of those responsible and for exemplary punishment.

Bangladesh plans to introduce an artificial intelligence-based data analysis system to keep supplies of essential and sensitive goods stable, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muqtadir said on Tuesday. He announced the initiative while speaking as chief guest at an e-commerce implementation meeting at the Commerce Ministry conference room. Ministry Secretary Md Ataur Rahman Khan chaired the meeting.

The minister said ministries and agencies dealing with agriculture, food, industry and other sectors need an integrated management system to assess domestic production, import dependence and products supplied through a mix of local output and imports. He identified supply shortages as a frequent cause of price increases and said authorities must prepare in advance when production or import sources face problems, so abrupt shortages do not destabilize markets.

The proposed platform would analyze 10 years of market, production, import-export and international market data to support faster decisions. It is expected to identify possible shortages, favorable import sources, exporters’ capacity and advantageous purchasing periods. The Commerce Ministry said it would work jointly with relevant ministries and agencies, building a database from government information as well as international open-source and subscription-based sources.

A fire broke out on Tuesday afternoon at the executive engineer’s office of Public Works Department-1 in Bangladesh’s National Parliament main building complex. According to a Parliament Secretariat press release, the blaze began at 3:15 pm and was fully brought under control after Fire Service and Civil Defence personnel rapidly reached the site. No casualties were reported.

Acting Speaker Kaiser Kamal and Parliament Secretariat Secretary Barrister Md Golam Sarwar Bhuiyan visited the scene after receiving news of the incident. They were briefed by relevant officials and issued necessary instructions. The cause of the fire could not be confirmed immediately, the Parliament Secretariat said.

The acting speaker ordered the formation of an investigation committee to determine the exact cause of the fire, assess the extent of damage and identify measures to prevent similar incidents in the future. The Parliament Secretariat said detailed information about the cause and related matters would be disclosed after the committee submits its report.

The bodies of two Bangladeshi brothers, Fayez Ahmed Sajib, 29, and Farhad Hossain Sujon, 21, who were killed in a road crash in Saudi Arabia, were buried in their home village of Ganipur in Chandraganj, Lakshmipur. Their funeral prayers were held at Kamarhat Mosque field on Tuesday morning before they were laid side by side in the family graveyard.

The brothers were sons of Abdul Malek of Khalifar Bari in Ganipur village. According to family sources, Sajib had run a date business in the Dammam area of Saudi Arabia for a long time. Earlier this year, he took his younger brother Sujon to Saudi Arabia to help with the business.

On the night of July 15, their date-laden pickup lost control while returning from a garden and struck a truck-lorry parked beside the road. Both brothers died at the scene. After legal procedures were completed, their bodies were sent to Bangladesh on Monday night. Relatives, local residents, representatives and worshippers attended the funeral. Sajib is survived by his wife and a two-year-old son, while the family has lost two earning members.

The National Citizen Party alleged that local BNP leaders and activists attacked a convoy carrying its chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary and northern region chief organiser Sarjis Alam in Habiganj. The alleged incident occurred as they were returning to Moulvibazar after completing the “July March” programme in Habiganj.

NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan made the allegation in a post on his verified Facebook page on the night of July 28. He said journalists and several NCP leaders and activists were injured in the attack. He also described it as concerning that the incident took place in the presence of police.

Bhuiyan further alleged that an NCP media team microbus was taken inside the district circuit house and vandalised. He said the attackers took away several mobile phones and cameras from the scene. The report did not include responses from BNP representatives or police regarding the allegations.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman held a courtesy meeting with Uno Yoshimasa, special adviser to Japan’s prime minister, at the Prime Minister’s Office in the Secretariat on Tuesday, July 28. The talks focused on strengthening the Bangladesh-Japan strategic partnership and taking bilateral relations to a new level.

Rahman sought more active Japanese cooperation in human-resource development, skills enhancement and other sectors. He urged the Japanese delegation to pursue recruitment of skilled Bangladeshi health workers, agricultural labourers and drivers through Japanese-language proficiency. He also called for increased investment by Japanese companies in Bangladesh and stressed joint work to expand trade and economic cooperation.

The prime minister said the government would provide full support if Japan showed interest in establishing another industrial park similar to the one in Araihazar, Narayanganj. Participants also discussed the planned December 16 opening of the third terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, progress on the ongoing Mass Rapid Transit project and other infrastructure cooperation. Ministers, advisers, Japanese aviation officials and Japan’s ambassador to Bangladesh attended the meeting.

Looting and arson were reported in Akbarnagar village in Bhairab, Kishoreganj, after a clash between residents of two villages over the name of a market left two people dead. Local residents said 50 to 60 homes were looted and set on fire from Tuesday morning. They said Akbarnagar residents fled their homes on Monday after the violence, fearing cases, and people from the opposing side later targeted the empty houses.

Bhairab police station officer-in-charge Limon Bose said police went to the scene and brought the situation under control after receiving reports that some overenthusiastic people were setting fire to debris from homes damaged during the previous day's vandalism. Monday's clash, which lasted from morning until 2 p.m., killed Masud Mia and Hiron Mia of Mirarchar village and injured more than 50 people.

Police and local sources said tensions had long persisted over whether a bus stand market between Akbarnagar and Mirarchar in Kalikaprasad union would be named Akbarnagar or Mirarchar. A 10-member committee was formed at a Sunday meeting to find a solution within three days, but both sides clashed the next morning. No case had yet been filed over the deaths, police said.

The National Citizen Party, or NCP, alleged that its march in the Circuit House area of Habiganj town was attacked on Tuesday afternoon. The party accused local BNP leaders and activists of carrying out the assault. At least 10 NCP leaders and activists were injured, while several journalists’ vehicles were vandalised, according to the report.

Sarzis Alam, NCP’s chief organiser for the northern region, alleged that “terrorist forces” of Chhatra Dal and Jubo Dal carried out the attack. In a video posted Tuesday night on NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary’s Facebook account, he said some people suffered broken hands and head injuries, while one worker was struck in the eye with a rod.

Sarzis said the district secretary was injured while trying to save a worker, and alleged that attackers took cameras and phones. He further claimed that seven or eight injured people faced another attack at the gate of the sadar hospital while being taken for treatment and were prevented from entering. He also alleged that police present during the attack took no action.