Muntakim Saad

The prices of key Ramadan items edged up yesterday, the first day of the fasting month, with those of lemon and cucumber spiralling to a level that many consumers termed irrational.

Law enforcement agencies have put in place a tight security arrangement across the country for the national election and referendum today, deploying nearly 10 lakh personnel to ensure a free, fair, and uninterrupted vote.

As major political parties prepare their election manifestos, law enforcement experts and rights activists urge them to make law and order a top priority, keep police free from political interference, and end the partisan use of the force.

With the 13th national election and referendum approaching, the interim government has placed the most vulnerable polling centres under heightened security, tightened controls on firearms and ordered law enforcers to take swift legal action against anyone attempting to disrupt the vote.

With a little over a month left before the 13th general election, political leaders and activists are increasingly falling victim to targeted killings.

Police have identified a suspect in the shooting of Sharif Osman Hadi, an independent MP aspirant for Dhaka-8 and spokesperson for Inqilab Moncho, who is currently fighting for his life at Evercare Hospital.

The government yesterday approved the Police Commission Ordinance 2025, but the commission will not have the authority to recommend the recruitment, promotion, or posting of officers, including the inspector general.

"Illegal firearms, weak policing, and reactivation of top criminals released after last year's political changeover are mainly driving the killings"