Mohammad Jamil Khan

“Fire, fire”. Sharmin Akter, 22, woke up hearing these desperate cries which shattered the stillness of the night in Mollabari Slum in Tejgaon yesterday. Her immediate thought was to save her one-and-a-half-year-old son, Nafi Hossain.

Despite the national election being over, thousands of posters and banners of candidates are still hanging across the country, causing potential hazards to the environment.

Dhaka, usually a cacophony of honking horns, blaring rickshaw bells, and the incessant hum of human activity, wore an almost deserted look yesterday during the national polls.

Masud Alam started his journey towards Dhaka from Bhanga Railway Station in carriage “Cha” of Benapole Express around 7:50pm on Friday.

With the country going to polls tomorrow, at least 86,000 inmates in 68 jails across the country also got a chance to exercise their franchise through postal ballots this time.

Many Bangladeshi sex workers, once victims themselves, now serve as brothel managers, perpetuating the vicious cycle. They employ fellow countrywomen, who later become traffickers responsible for bringing new girls from Bangladesh into the clutches of these brothels.

Law enforcers are now setting their focus completely on January 7, the election day. They are particularly preparing contingency plans for the final hours of voting, as violence often erupts between supporters of rival candidates during this time.

A quarter of all the polling centres are “risky”, according to police.

After rescuing trafficking victims, the Indian police do not take them to shelter centre; they file cases under criminal laws.

Two hours away from Jhenaidah’s Indo-Bangla border, the district of Narail has gained a notoriety for being one of the biggest sources of girls headed for Mumbai.

The residents of Mohammadpur’s Beribadh area have been living with a growing sense of insecurity and fear over the last few months due to recurring robberies and muggings perpetrated mostly by teenage gangs.

Adjacent to the border in Narail district’s Maheshpur upazila, a hidden racket facilitating the illegal crossing of people thrives, operated by individuals known locally as “Dhurs” or carriers.

Every year, many girls are trafficked out of Bangladesh with the promise of a better life abroad, only to end up in the underbelly of Indian cities. The Daily Star takes a look into this dark world

Dhaka Metropolitan Police yesterday sought assistance from the city’s ward councillors to ensure the presence of voters in the January 7 national election.

A transnational syndicate embezzled a significant amount of money by blackmailing Bangladeshi university and college students, as well as businessmen.

As a measure to prevent sabotage activities ahead of the national election, law enforcers have been instructed to beef up security measures across the country.

As a measure to prevent sabotage activities ahead of the national election, law enforcers have been instructed to beef up security measures across the country

Amid increasing acts of sabotage, Bangladesh Railway has identified 350 vulnerable places on the nearly 3,000 kilometres of railway lines across the country.

Mainuddin Manik, an attendant of Mohanganj Express,  was closing the door of a carriage when he saw the flames in the coupling between the Ja and Jha carriages.

Nuru Islam Nuru is a truck driver by profession, travelling across the country to deliver products. But Nuru, a seemingly unsuspecting individual, has been utilising his delivery ventures as a front for conducting robberies with his six-to-eight-member gang.