Police have arrested two people, including a Chhatra Dal leader, in connection with the fatal shooting of Jubo Dal activist Khorshed Alam in Lakshmipur over a dispute linked to the soil trade.
The victim’s wife, Aklima Akter, filed a murder case with Lakshmipur Sadar Police Station on Thursday, accusing 10 people, eight named and two unidentified.
The arrestees are Ibrahim Khalil Chhuttu, son of the late Syed Ahmed Bhuiyan of Dilshadpur village in Parbatinagar Union, and Masud Rana, president of Ward 9 Chhatra Dal in Bangakha Union and son of Tofayel Ahmed of Radhapur village.
Police arrested the two during a drive in Dilshadpur on Wednesday night. They were shown arrested in the case and sent to jail through a court on Thursday afternoon.
Khorshed’s body was handed over to his family after an autopsy at Lakshmipur Sadar Hospital around 2pm on Thursday.
He was buried at the family graveyard after the janaza.
Family alleges planned killing
Khorshed’s daughter, Prema Akter, alleged that several people called her father out of their home on Wednesday and shot him.
She said a vehicle carrying coconuts was passing in front of their house around noon when her father followed it home. She alleged that Morshed Alam, Majid Hossain, Bacchu and Hiru then called him outside and took him to a spot beside the house, where he was shot three times in the chest.
Hearing the gunshots, family members rushed to the scene and found him lying in a pool of blood. He died before he could be taken to hospital, she said.
Prema also claimed that the alleged attackers had been friends with her father.
Khorshed’s son, Tanvir Hossain, alleged that his father was killed over a dispute related to the soil business. He said the attackers had previously threatened his father with death and demanded Tk4 lakh in extortion money.
Tanvir claimed that police had failed to take action despite being informed about the threats. He demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible.
Khorshed’s wife, Aklima Akter, also called for justice, saying she had been left to raise their daughter and two sons without her husband.
“The soil business has cost me my husband,” she said.
Soil trade, local influence suspected as motive
Several local residents, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Khorshed was involved in supplying soil to brick kilns and that disputes over the business and local influence might have led to the killing.
They alleged that he bought soil from farmers at low prices and sold it to brick kilns at higher rates.
Local residents also said Khorshed had several cases filed against him, including murder, arms and drug-related cases.
Lakshmipur Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Wahid Parvez said investigators had identified two people allegedly involved in the killing and arrested them. Police were conducting operations to arrest the other accused, he added.
Khorshed was involved in BNP politics and had been imprisoned in several cases during the Awami League government, which his family described as false. He was released on bail after 5 August and later became involved in the soil trade.
According to local accounts, a dispute had been ongoing between Khorshed and groups led by Morshed Alam and Majid Hossain over the soil business.
