Lifeline: Dhaka Metro resumes service after more than 30 days, commuters heave sigh of relief
Dhaka (PTI): The Dhaka Metro resumed services on Sunday over a month after it was shut for passengers during the unprecedented anti-government protests in Bangladesh with two of its stations bearing the brunt of vandalism.
These two stations—Mirpur-10 and Kazipara—will however remain closed, according to an official notification.
Commuters, especially students and office-goers, heaved a sigh of relief as they had to travel through Dhaka’s notorious traffic congestions daily to reach their destinations.
According to the official notification, the services resumed in the morning around 7 am.
Mirpur-10 and Kazipara stations were vandalised in July during the anti-government protests. The Dhaka Metro services were shut for passengers in the third week of July and coupled with choc-a-bloc streets due to protests had nearly paralysed the public transportation system in the capital.
Many commuters who otherwise were using cab services or autorickshaws for travelling to university and other areas on Sunday used the metro after a gap of over five weeks.
Dhaka Metro, whose current network spans from Uttara North to Motijheel, is operated by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL).
“We are planning to make the metro rail infrastructure a key point installation with enhanced security for its protection from any kind of vandalism,” Road Transport and Communication Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan said.
Khan said the interim government also plans to declare metro rail operations as an essential service to prevent any disruption in the service. He travelled between Agargon station and Bangladesh Secretariat station in the metro.
A Dhaka High Court official told PTI that he used the metro on Sunday to travel to his office, and the resumption of services has come as a big relief for daily commuters like him.
On December 28, 2022, Bangladesh launched its first metro rail service with Japanese assistance to ease commuting in the capital Dhaka, one of the most congested cities in the world.
Called Dhaka MRT Line 6, it initially operated on an 11.73-km section from Uttara North to Agargaon, consisting of nine stations. The then prime minister Sheikh Hasina had inaugurated the project.
In November 2023, the section from Agargaon to Motijheel having eight stations and spanning 9.53 km, was inaugurated by Hasina.
The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is working on the Dhaka Metro project (three lines) as a consultant, with varying degrees of involvement, a senior official of the DMRC had earlier said.
Besides the presently operational Line 6, DMRC is involved as a consultant for Line 5 North and Line 1 in the Dhaka Metro project.
“About 10 DMRC employees were posted in Dhaka as part of the metro project there. They have all returned safely to India,” a senior official of the DMRC said in response to a PTI query.
A large number of Indian nationals have returned to India from Bangladesh since the protests began on July 1.
The unprecedented anti-government protests reached a crescendo on August 5. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled to India on that day, even as protesters had termed the fall of the government and her departure a “day of victory”.
Asked if the DMTCL has approached the DMRC to send consultants for the ongoing or planned construction works, the senior official said the DMRC officials are “extending the necessary cooperation as per the terms and conditions of our engagement”.
“However, any decision regarding the return of the employees will be taken as per the advisories issued by India’s Ministry of External Affairs,” he added.
Asked if the DMRC is remotely monitoring the project in the absence of physical presence of its employees and experts on the ground in Dhaka, the official said, “Yes, currently, the DMRC officials engaged with the Dhaka Metro project are extending the necessary cooperation through online mode.”
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
