A local leader of Jubo Dal, a youth wing of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), was shot to death in broad daylight in Chattogram’s Raozan upazila on Sunday.
The incident took place at Ishaan Bhatter Hat area in the upazila around 12:00 PM.
The deceased, Md. Selim, 42, son of Amir Hossain, a resident of Samserpara area in the upazila, was a former member secretary of Kadalpur union Jubo Dal. He was also a follower of BNP’s North Chattogram convener Ghulam Akbar Khondakar.
According to locals, a group of 4 to 5 assailants, including two disguised in burqas, attacked Selim while he was returning from a nearby funeral prayer with his wife and daughter.
They, at one point, opened fire on Selim before fleeing the scene. One bullet struck him in the head, leaving him seriously injured on the spot.
Later, locals rescued him from the spot and took him to Raozan Upazila Health Complex where the attending doctors pronounced him dead upon arrival.
His wife, Ferdous Akhter, who was riding on the motorcycle with him, claimed one of the attackers was a known local criminal named Dama Elias.
“They came wearing burqas, she claimed.
One of them shot my husband in the head. I fell off the motorcycle with my daughter,” she said, adding that she could recognize the rest if seen again.
Being informed, a team of police recovered the body from the spot and sent it to Chattogram Medical College Hospital for a post-mortem examination, said Raozan Police Station officer-in-charge Monirul Islam Bhuiyan.
“We are investigating the matter and trying to identify the attackers,” the OC said.
Police suspected that the killing may be linked to ongoing political rivalries and turf wars in the area.
Raozan has seen a sharp rise in political violence in recent years. Since August 2023, at least 13 people have been killed in similar incidents—10 of them believed to be politically motivated. Clashes between rival BNP factions alone have occurred more than a hundred times, leaving over 300 people injured by gunfire.
Police are yet to make any arrests as of filing this report.
HKJ
