Regional News Roundup: Bangladesh-India Ties, CJP Campaign Attack, Punjab Shutdown, and Hyderabad Road Fatality

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is expected to visit India from August 23 to 25, The Indian Express newspaper reported on Friday.

This will be his first trip to the country since taking office in February.

However, the PM's Press Secretary Saleh Shibly said that there has been no decision yet on Rahman's visit to India.

"The Prime Minister is not going to visit India until a response is received to Bangladesh's requests to the Indian authorities for the return of Sheikh Hasina and other absconding offenders, as well as the extradition to Bangladesh of those accused in the murder of Sharif Osman Hadi," the press secretary said.

Hadi, a former student leader of the 2024 protests, died after being shot by masked gunmen in 2025.

The ties between the neighbors were strained by the ouster of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2024, whose extradition Dhaka has sought from New Delhi.

Hasina fled to India in 2024 after student-led protests ended her tenure as prime minister. In 2025, a Bangladeshi court convicted her in absentia of crimes against humanity for her role in the violent crackdown on protesters.

The governments across the border have been in talks for long for Rahman's possible visit to India, as Bangladesh seeks good relations with its neighbor.

Ashutosh Ranka, co-convener of the Cockroach Janta Party, posted a video on X on Friday showing a CJP team being assaulted in Rajasthan's Rampura Kanwarpura village. He described the alleged attackers as "outsiders sent by the BJP to kill CJP workers."

The Cockroach movement, after successfully campaigning for the resignation of India's education minister over exam irregularities, recently announced an accountability campaign targeting government schools.

The CJP launched a nationwide campaign urging citizens to inspect government schools, document deficiencies and pressure local authorities to address basic infrastructure needs.

It was during one such school inspection that the CJP team was allegedly attacked on Friday.

In his post, Ranka said: "For the past several years, the school in Rampura, Kanwarpura has been running in a buffalo shed. But when we arrived there for inspection, we were openly assaulted, pelted with stones. Car windows were smashed, stones were rained down on the team. Clothes were torn. Stones were thrown into tubes to attack the team. My clothes were torn."

Ranka alleged that the incident took place under Rajasthan Education Minister Madan Dilawar from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who, he claimed, "finds it acceptable for children to keep studying in a buffalo shed. But fixing the school? That's not acceptable."

Ranka said he would not be deterred by the alleged "goons" and vowed to continue the CJP's campaign.

"The school will be fixed, one way or another," he said.

A seven-hour shutdown called by a group demanding the release of Sikh prisoners who have completed their sentences is being observed across Punjab on Friday.

The shutdown call by Qaumi Insaaf Morcha (QIM) was backed by religious, social, farmers' and employee organizations as well as Sikh political parties, is scheduled from 7 am to 2 pm.

Protesters had said they will block highways and railway tracks and close commercial establishments.

In Moga district, police deployed heavy security, while emergency services, ambulances and people travelling for weddings and funerals will be allowed to pass, police said.

QIM has also appealed to schools and colleges to remain closed. According to media reports, all private schools remained closed.

QIM has been holding an indefinite sit-in at the Mohali-Chandigarh border since January 2023, demanding the release of Sikh prisoner still in prison despite completing their statutory sentences.

On August 15, police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters after they attempted to march towards the Punjab governor's residence, following which the shutdown was announced.

Essential services, airport travel and examinations were exempt from the shutdown, reports said.

The 21-year-old son of a parliamentarian has been booked for allegedly driving an Aston Martin that struck and killed a 26-year-old woman in Hyderabad, media reports said.

Lingamaneni Sanjush allegedly hit a pedestrian while she was crossing the road in the Madhapur area of the city on Sunday. She suffered severe head injuries and was taken to a hospital, where she was declared dead.

Sanjush is the son of Rajya Sabha member Lingamaneni Ramesh of the Jana Sena Party, which is part of the ruling alliance with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Andhra Pradesh.

Police booked Sanjush for rash and negligent driving, an offense that carries a maximum sentence of five years. He has not been arrested because the police said the offense is bailable, and authorities have issued him a notice, reports said.

The case is reminiscent of the 2024 Pune Porsche case, in which a 17-year-old driver allegedly under the influence of alcohol killed two people.

The teenager was granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board within hours of the crash and ordered, under other conditions, to write a 300-word essay on road accidents.

The decision triggered widespread public outrage over what was seen as lenient treatment.

The Pune case also led to allegations of attempts to cover up the accident, including claims of efforts to influence the investigation and manipulate evidence.