Mithila Textiles gas meter tampering, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company people were forced to return under threat if they tried to disconnect the connection. Titas people were detained throughout the day, when the police failed, Titas people were rescued with the help of the army at midnight.

The factory is located in the Dhupatara area on Kalibari Road in Arai Hazar Upazila of Narayanganj. The owner of the influential company, Azahar Khan, has been committing misdeeds for a long time, sometimes by threatening and sometimes by managing. Former Chhatra League leader Nazrul Islam Babu, a former MP from that constituency, has become reckless.

Shahnewaz Parvez, Managing Director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, told Barta24.com that he went to the place on October 24 at noon and found evidence of meter tampering, and later checked the data on the computer and found evidence of interference in the meter there too. The meter was checked in front of the people of Mithila Group and shown to them that the seal was broken, the screw was opened. The data is recorded where it was tampered with and when and where. They were also shown that.

He said, in such cases, the rule is to disconnect the connection and open the meter. Later, when the company people went to cut the line, they stopped it. They detained our people, threatened to kill them. People gathered and stopped our people.

Later, even though the police went, they returned. Our people were rescued at night with the help of the army. Even though the army went, they stopped the meter from being opened. It has been decided to open that meter with another meter on Saturday and Sunday, he said.

He said, we have information that the people of that very influential company have been influencing and committing irregularities in various ways in the past. Although there were many attempts to conduct raids during the previous government, it was not possible due to various pressures.

Another Titas Gas official said on condition of anonymity that whenever there was an attempt to conduct raids at his factory in the past, the Prime Minister's Office himself would call. The then Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, Tofazzal Hossain, himself called and ordered them to refrain from conducting operations. Many times, the team had to return from Mithila Textiles located in Araihajar to conduct operations. They were never allowed to enter the factory.

Yesterday (October 24), they threatened to kill our people. They said that if the line is cut, no one will be able to return with their lives.

Despite the change in the Awami League, the violence of Mithila Group Chairman Azahar Khan has not decreased. Titas Gas believes that the group has embezzled hundreds of crores of taka by tampering with meters.

In response to a question, the Managing Director of Titas Gas said, "Every time we are going to cut the line due to irregularities, various obstacles and threats are coming. They want to use that as a shield that the factory will be closed, the workers will be unemployed.

We told them, keep the arrears and use the gas as approved, then you are doing the work knowingly. You should have known about it then, if caught, the line will be cut. You will be fined." Now why are you saying, I also feel sorry for the workers to be unemployed. But we cannot encourage theft.

After the interim government came to power, Shahnewaz Parvez took charge of Titas Gas. He has been able to break all past records in disconnecting illegal connections. In the last one and a half months, he has disconnected 78 illegal industrial connections. About Tk. 4 crore of gas was being stolen through those connections per month. In addition, he has disconnected 5,170 residential connections and 46 commercial connections. About 41 lakh 37 thousand cubic feet of gas was being stolen through these connections daily.

Before the current managing director took charge, only 74 illegal industrial connections were disconnected in the first 9 months of this year. Shahnewaz Parvez has set a record by disconnecting 71 illegal connections within one and a half months of taking charge. This has spread panic among illegal gas users and Titas officials and employees involved with them.

Petrobangla Chairman Janendra Nath Sarkar said, according to one estimate, we have seen about 200 million cubic feet of gas being stolen daily. We are trying our best. The public should come forward so that these thefts can be stopped. If we can stop the theft and give those 200 million to legitimate customers, they will be able to do better business. The state will benefit.

In response to a question, he said, the campaign has been intensified, as you can see. The message from the Energy Adviser is that the identity of the person using the illegal connection will not be considered. As soon as we receive news of illegal use, the campaign and action will be taken against those involved.

Dhaka: To avoid confusion about the number of police personnel killed in the mass uprising led by students in July-August, a list has been published by the Police Headquarters.

The list was sent to the media from the Press Wing of the Chief Adviser on Friday (October 25).

The list contains information about the deaths of 44 people. The Police Headquarters has published this list of police personnel killed in violence in various parts of the country during the anti-discrimination movement in July-August this year.

The list mentions the names of the deceased, their positions, dates of death and names of the attached units and the place of occurrence.

Releasing the list, the headquarters said, ‘We have noticed that some news outlets and some individuals are deliberately spreading false and incorrect information about the number of police personnel killed in the mass uprising led by students in July-August. Therefore, the actual list of police officers killed in the mass uprising has been published.’

The Police Headquarters further said that the Police Department very carefully maintains a list of officers or constables who were injured or killed in protests or violence. If anyone claims that there were police deaths outside this list during the mass uprising, they are called upon to provide evidence.

Dhaka: The number of dengue patients and deaths is increasing exponentially across the country. Doctors usually advise dengue patients to drink enough liquid food. Patients undergoing treatment in hospitals have become hostage to green coconut traders for liquid food. There are allegations that each green coconut is sold for Tk. 150 to Tk. 180, depending on the quality and size.

A visit to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital and Mugda General Hospital area shows several mobile green coconut shops in front of the main gate of the hospital. The customers of each green coconut shop are hospital patients, especially the relatives of those who have come for treatment due to dengue. They are forced to buy green coconut for dengue patients at whatever price the sellers are charging.

Daub traders say that the demand for daub is high due to the increase in dengue patients. Compared to that, they have to sell it at a higher price due to the lack of supply.

Doctors are advising patients to drink green coconut due to the dengue outbreak because green contains potassium. But traders are taking advantage of the increased demand for green coconut due to dengue.

A dengue-affected husband is admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Rubina Akhter is feeding her husband by buying green coconut from the hospital gate. She told Barta24.com, "I bought a small green coconut for 170 taka, which should have cost 80-90 taka if it was more expensive. They are charging a higher price because it is next to the hospital."

Rubina Akhter complained that no matter what the price, the green coconut has to be bought for the patient. They are taking advantage of the opportunity to cut into people's pockets.

Abdul Khalek, who drinks green coconut water every day, told Barta24.com that a large green coconut cost 50 taka three-four years ago. The price has increased almost threefold since then. He said, "People like me who have to drink it every day due to illness are in great difficulty. Now everything is beyond their means."

A relative of a dengue patient named Sajjadur was saying in front of Mugda Hospital that buying a green coconut is a big expense, like treatment which is not possible for everyone to afford.

A seller named Majid Mollah told Barta24.com, "Today I bought 100 green coconut for 14,500 taka. That is, an average of 145 taka each. Of these, not all are of the same size. The small ones have to be sold below 150 taka. That is why the big ones cannot be sold below 170 taka."

When the issue of such excessive prices of green coconut was brought to the attention of Mohammad Alim Akhtar Khan, Director General of the National Consumer Rights Protection Department, he told Barta24.com, "Currently, the national issue is to control food prices. Since dengue infection is increasing, there have been complaints of increasing prices of green coconut. We will soon conduct a campaign in this regard."

Meanwhile, there are more than two months left for the end of this year. In the meantime, 53,196 patients admitted to hospitals in the country due to dengue have been infected with Aedes. At the same time, 264 people have died from this Aedes mosquito-borne disease. Of these, 101 people died of dengue on 23 days of this October.

The cluster admission test for the first year of undergraduate studies of nine public universities offering degrees in agricultural sciences has been held. The attendance rate in the admission test is 69 percent, which is the lowest compared to previous years.

According to the Cluster Agricultural Admission Committee, 75,170 candidates applied for a total of 3,718 seats this year. Of these, 51,811 participated in the admission test.

The admission test was held simultaneously at a total of eight main centers and three sub-centers on Friday (October 25) from 11 am to 12 noon.

The cluster admission test was held at the main center in the remaining eight agricultural universities except Kurigram and at Dhaka University, Khulna University and Chattogram University of Science and Technology as sub-centers.

The Chattogram Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science University is leading the integrated admission test held for the fifth time this year.

The central committee for conducting the cluster admission test is chaired by Professor Dr. ASM Lutful Rahman said, "The admission test was conducted in a fair and beautiful manner. There was no chaos or unpleasant incident anywhere. The attendance rate was slightly low. I express my sincere gratitude and thanks to all the universities involved in the admission test."

Out of the 3,718 seats of the Agricultural Cluster, 1,116 seats are available in Bangladesh Agricultural University, 698 in Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, 435 in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, 448 in Patuakhali University of Science and Technology, 270 in Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, 431 in Sylhet Agricultural University, 150 in Khulna Agricultural University, 90 in Habiganj Agricultural University and 80 in Kurigram Agricultural University.

It is worth noting that the results of the admission test will be published on October 30 and the admission process will start from November 9, the admission committee of the Agricultural Cluster confirmed.