A BNP leader was shot dead in Chandraganj area of Lakshmipur in an intra-party conflict over establishing dominance in the area on Saturday night.
The deceased, Abul Kalam Zahir, 50, was the general secretary of Ward No. 8 BNP under the Chandraganj Union unit.
The attack took place around 8:30pm in Paschim Latifpur village of Chandraganj, said Chandraganj Police Station Officer-in-charge (OC) Faizul Azim.
Locals said unidentified assailants shot Zahir dead and left him on the road near Mustafa Shop in Paschim Latifpur. He died on the spot. They also claimed that Zahir had earlier been involved in drug and soil trading but had recently been distancing himself from those activities.
OC Faizul said the motive behind the murder is yet to be determined by police.
According to a report last month by the Human Rights Support Society, a total of 104 BNP men had been killed since the fall of the previous Awami League-led regime till 14 October. As many as 88 of those deaths had been at the hands of their own party’s members, even as most observers and the party itself anticipates returning to power after two decades in the wilderness, through elections now set for February next year.
