Shaheen Mollah

After coming to Dhaka from Noakhali when he was only 10 years old, Abdul Mannan engaged himself in many an odd job -- from working at restaurants to construction sites -- to save money for himself. He was able to save Tk 10 lakhs, with which he opened up a stationary shop 16 years ago.

Their family was a happy one -- mother and father with their two healthy children. On Wednesday night, the brutal fire that blazed through Chawkbazar reduced their perfect family of four to just one, while the rest looked on from behind a photo frame that managed to survive the hellish flames.

After an inferno claimed 124 lives in Old Dhaka's Nimtoli in 2010, a monument was built at that place. The structure, named “Nimtoli Tragedy”, bears many inscriptions. One of them says it was built to raise awareness on fire and the dangers of storing chemicals in residential buildings.

With dazed eyes on a blank face, five-year-old Sanin lay nestled in the arms of her father Suman, who was standing just yards off the Dhaka Medical College morgue yesterday.

Rashidul Islam, a tea-stall employee in Hatirpool, his wife and their two sons were on a rickshaw and passing through the lane of Chawkbazar where the fire broke out last night.

Barely a day after his birth, he found himself in the midst of rumbling bulldozers destroying the little world around him. The next day, the baby, who was yet to be named, and his mother Tanjila Begum, 24, were homeless.

Shaila, 14, came out of the garment factory she works for in the capital's Mohammadpur Beri Bandh area and saw her ex-boyfriend Billal, employed at the same RMG unit, waiting outside.

Some good Samaritans rescued 10-year-old Russell from the rail lines in Kamalapur Railway Station and rushed him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on November 8 with serious injuries.

An estimated Tk 50 to 60 lakh is extorted monthly from street vendors at Mirpur-10 roundabout and adjoining places, and the control over the easy money sometimes leads to clashes among the beneficiaries.

Shohag Chowdhury was admitted to the emergency unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) with injuries sustained from a road accident last month. There, he was prescribed a number of blood tests, ultrasound and an X-ray by a doctor.

The conjoined twins Rokeya and Rabeya may live normal lives as two separate individuals as they are flying to Hungary for better treatment.

As voting for the 11th parliamentary election starts this morning, voters of some remote villages in Noakhali are passing days in fear as they doubt if they will be able to vote freely.

A six-storey building in East Rajabazar has been evacuated recently. Almost all the rooms rented out to 140 boarders are locked from outside, with lights switched off.

Police have stepped up monitoring of city hotels and messes as they are strictly checking the identities of guests and boarders ahead of Sunday's national election.

With electioneering for the parliamentary polls winding down to a close, residents of the capital's slums are feeling left out, apparently because of a rather one-sided campaigning.

About 200 teenagers were found shouting slogans near the IBA Hostel in Farmgate on Sunday to drum up public support for Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Awami League candidate for Dhaka-12.

Viqarunnisa Noon ninth grader Aritry Adhikary, who committed suicide yesterday, was a brilliant girl who knew seven languages, family members say.

“Tree-men” Abul Bajandar, who “voluntarily” left Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) earlier this year, after being treated there for two and a half years, is appealing to authorities concerned to give him another chance at a full recovery.

Zinnat was living like any other boy. He could walk freely and used to give a hand to his brother at work. Everything went well till age 13 when he started growing tall at an abnormal rate. Within the next few years, he became of a victim of his own body.

“Let's stop here,” Taijul tells his father. The rickshaw-van comes to a stop. The 10-year-old gets off and starts collecting scarps from street corners.