A district BNP leader and his close associate were injured after miscreants opened fire at Choumuhani Bazar in Noakhali’s Begumganj Upazila late Thursday.
The attack took place at around 11:45 pm in front of Obaidul’s tea stall in the main alley of the Hawkers Market. Police and the victims could not immediately say what prompted the shooting.
The injured are Haji Abul Kashem, 60, former religion affairs secretary of the district BNP, and his close associate Yasin Sentu, 45, a pharmacy businessman at Choumuhani Hawkers Market. Alongside his political involvement, Kashem serves as president of the Noakhali National Hawkers Cooperative Society.
According to police and local sources, Kashem was sitting at the National Hawkers Market office in Choumuhani Bazar on Thursday night. At around 11:45 pm, he left the office with Sentu. As they reached Obaidul’s tea stall in the market’s main alley, miscreants opened fire, apparently targeting Kashem.
Sentu tried to push Kashem out of the way. A bullet grazed Kashem’s hand, while Sentu was shot in the left side of his chest. Locals immediately rescued Sentu and took him to the 250-bed Noakhali General Hospital. After receiving primary treatment there, he was sent to Dhaka for advanced treatment.
Begumganj Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Md Habibur Rahman said one person was shot while the other suffered an injury to his hand.
Police were working to uncover the circumstances behind the incident and further details would be provided later, he added. Noakhali Additional Superintendent of Police (Begumganj Circle) ANM Imran Khan said police visited the scene immediately after the shooting.
Initial findings suggested that the attackers had targeted BNP leader Kashem, but the shot missed him and struck his associate in the chest, he said.
