News in Brief-(2023-08-12)

Six residential halls of JU officially named
The newly-constructed six residential halls at Jahangirnagar University (JU) have been officially named on Thursday evening following a decision made during a syndicate meeting led by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Md. Nurul Alam. A syndicate member, wishing to be unnamed, revealed that the naming took place during the meeting. He said, "Six newly-constructed halls and a sports complex have been named in the syndicate meeting." According to him, "The girls' halls have been named as Begum Rokeya Hall, Fazilatunnessa Hall and Bir Protik Taramon Bibi Hall. Similarly, the boys' halls were named as Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Hall, Sheikh Russell Hall and Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall. Additionally, the sports complex has been dubbed as Sheikh Kamal Sports Complex. At present, two out of the six newly- constructed halls are accessible to students. While the construction of the remaining halls is complete, their opening has been delayed due to shortage of manpower. The construction of Sheikh Kamal Sports Complex is underway. — JU CORRESPONDENT
20 more Covid cases reported
Bangladesh reported 20 more Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours until Friday morning. With the new numbers, the country's total caseload rose to 2,044,957 according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The daily case test positivity stood at 1.88 as 1, 066 samples were tested, it said. However, the recovery and death rates remain unchanged at 98.39 per cent and 1.44 per cent, respectively. Bangladesh registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 in 2021 and highest number of fatalities of 264 on August 10 the same year. — UNB
Two prisoners die in Kushtia
Two convicted inmates of Kushtia District Jail have died while undergoing treatment at a hospital within the span of five hours, jail authorities said. The dead are Ajmal Pramanik (60), son of Khalil Pramanik of Islampur village in Daulatpur upazila of Kushtia, and Abul Kalam (40), son of Abdur Razzak of Thanapara area of Kushtia city. Ajmal Pramanik died at 1:10 am while Abul Kalam died around 6:30 am on Friday. Kushtia District Jail Superintendent Abdul Bareque said the two died of cardiac arrest. Ajmal was serving a 30-year jail term in a murder case. He had been in custody for almost a year. Meanwhile, Abul Kalam was sentenced to three months in jail in a drug case by a mobile court. According to jail and hospital sources, Ajmal was taken to Kushtia General Hospital from the jail after he suddenly fell ill on Thursday night. He died around 1:10 am while undergoing treatment there. Meanwhile, Abul Kalam was taken to the hospital after he suddenly fell ill in the early hours of Friday. He died around 6:30 am while undergoing treatment. Tapas Kumar Sarkar, resident medical officer of Kushtia General Hospital, confirmed the matter. The Jail Super said the bodies of the deceased will be handed over to their families after completing the post-mortem at Kushtia General Hospital. — UNB
Youth beaten to death on suspicion of theft
A 21-year-old youth was lynched over an allegation of theft in Bheramara upazila of Kushtia on Thursday night. The dead, Akram Shah, was son of Lalon Shah of Masjidpara village under Jhunidah union of the upazila. Police and locals said a theft occurred at the house of late freedom fighter Headayet Ali at Khandakerpara last Monday night. On suspicion, eight to ten people picked Akram up from his house on Thursday 12:00 noon and tied him with a tree of Hedayet Ali and gave a thrashing for around two hours, they said. At one stage, the victim became unconscious and suffered from bleeding from nose and mouth, they narrated. Later, he was handed over to one of his relatives who took him to his (Akram) house. The youth succumbed to his injuries at home around 11:00 pm. The victim's paternal uncle Bisharat Ali Shah alleged his nephew was beaten to death by some locals suspecting him as a thief, but actually he was not involved with it. Holding Tanjil, Likhon, Hasibul, Rajon, Rukon and Sajal responsible for the death of his nephew, he demanded justice for Akram. Jahurul Islam, officer-in-charge of Bheramara thana, said on information they recovered the body from the house and sent it to Kushtia General Hospital morgue for autopsy. A process was underway to file a case in this connection, he said, adding that drives are on to nab accused involved in the death. — UNB
Two bodies washed ashore in St. Martin's island
Police have recovered the partially decomposed bodies of two unidentified men washed away by the tide on the beach of Teknaf's St Martin's Island in Cox's Bazar, police said. The bodies were found on the beach about 4 km south of St. Martin's Jetty, around 8am on Friday. Police estimated one man's age at 35 and the other is believed to be 28. Officer-in-Charge of Teknaf Model Police Station Syed Zubair confirmed the matter. — UNB