Massive fire engulfs slum in Bangladesh, leaves thousands homeless
Dhaka: An massive fire ripped through one of Bangladesh's largest slums here on Wednesday, leaving hundreds of shanties gutted and thousands of people homeless, according to media reports.
The fire broke out on Wednesday morning at the Shialbari Jhilpar Slum in Mirpur's Rupnagar residential area where some 20,000 people lived in around 2,000 shanties.
Fire Service and Civil Defence Director (Operations) Zillur Rahman told reporters that no casualty was reported immediately.
"The cause of the fire will be known after investigation. We will form a four-member probe team and it will be asked to submit its report within 10 days," Rahman was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.
He said the narrow lanes around the slum and shortage of water had caused difficulty for about 20 fire fighting units in putting out the blaze.
Hundreds of low-income residents of the slum lost their belongings and shelters as the fire burnt them to ashes, Rahman said.
Local lawmaker Elias Uddin Mollah told reporters that some 20,000 people lived in 2,000 shanties in the Shialbari Jhilpar Slum.
Mollah, who was at the scene of the blaze, said the residents affected by the fire will temporarily be lodged in a school nearby.
"No one will be living under the open sky. We will stand by them until their homes become habitable. We will bear all the expenses relating to their food, shelter and clothing," he told bdnews24.com.
"The area shelters hundreds of thousands of poor residents," Officer-in-Charge of Rupnagar Police Station Abul Kalam Azad told The Daily Star newspaper.
According to slum dwellers and fire officials, illegal gas and electricity connections in the slum caused the fire.
There was no natural source of water like pond or canal in the area which resulted in delay in dousing the blaze, an official said.
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Woman shot dead in Delhi; police suspect link to 2023 murder of her husband
New Delhi (PTI): A 44-year-old woman was shot dead at point-blank range in northwest Delhi's Shalimar Bagh on Saturday, with police suspecting the killing to be a fallout of the 2023 murder of her husband, an official said.
The deceased was identified as Rachna Yadav, a resident of Shalimar Bagh and the resident welfare association (RWA) president of her locality. According to police, she was shot in the head and died on the spot.
Police said Rachna was originally from Bhalswa village in north-west Delhi. Investigators suspect that the murder is linked to the killing of her husband, Vijendra Yadav, who was shot dead in 2023. The case concerning that murder is currently under trial.
"In the 2023 case, Vijendra Yadav was allegedly murdered due to previous enmity. Bharat Yadav and five others were named as accused. While five of the accused were arrested and are facing trial, the main accused, Bharat Yadav, is still absconding and has been declared a proclaimed offender," a senior police officer said.
Police said Rachna was the main witness in her husband's murder case, and her testimony was considered vital for the prosecution. Investigators believe her killing may have been aimed at weakening the case and intimidating other witnesses.
CCTV footage has surfaced in the Rachna Yadav murder case, clearly capturing the accused who allegedly shot her. Police said the assailant's accomplice was already waiting nearby on a sports bike bearing a Delhi registration number, facilitating a swift escape, according to an official.
Police said a PCR call was received at around 10.59 am at Shalimar Bagh police station, reporting that a woman had been shot.
Local police teams rushed to the spot and found Rachna lying on the road in a pool of blood. An empty cartridge was recovered from the scene, officials said.
According to the investigation, when Rachna was returning after meeting a neighbour, two assailants intercepted her. One of them allegedly stopped her and asked her name. When she identified herself, the attacker pulled out a firearm and shot her in the head before fleeing the spot along with his accomplice, police said.
Preliminary inquiry suggested that the woman was targeted, and the assailants appeared to have prior knowledge about her identity and movements.
"Crime Team and FSL teams were immediately called, and the scene of the crime was thoroughly examined. CCTV footage from nearby areas is being scanned to identify the assailants," Additional Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Bhisham Singh said.
Prima facie, it appears that the present case is linked to the earlier murder, he said. "We are re-examining all aspects of the 2023 case and the role of the proclaimed offender (Bharat)," Singh said, adding that multiple teams have been formed to trace the shooters and those who may have masterminded the crime.
Speaking to reporters, Kanika Yadav, the deceased's elder daughter, alleged that the murder was planned by Bharat.
"Some of the accused in my father's murder case are lodged in Tihar Jail. Despite that, they are planning such crimes. Bharat Yadav planned and executed my mother's murder," she alleged.
Kanika claimed her mother was killed because she was standing firm as a witness in her father's murder case.
"They were afraid that they would be convicted on the basis of her statement. That is why my mother was killed. My father was murdered in 2023, and the case is still pending before the court," she said.
Police said Rachna is survived by two daughters, one of whom is married, while the younger daughter lived with her. Security has been stepped up in the area, and further investigation is underway, police added.
