A nursery business owner was shot in broad daylight in the capital’s Gulshan-1 lake area on Tuesday allegedly for refusing to pay extortion money.
The victim, Md Shariful Alam Karim, aged 35, was critically injured and is currently undergoing treatment at the emergency unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
The incident occurred at around 2:30pm, when Shariful was walking near the lake, according to his relative Md Zahid, who later brought him to the hospital.
Zahid said that a local extortionist known as ‘Pichchi Rubel’, along with 3–4 others, confronted Shariful and demanded Tk 20,000, which had allegedly been demanded over a month ago.
“When Shariful refused again, an argument broke out. At one point, one of them pulled a pistol and shot him in the left side of his abdomen,” Zahid told reporters.
The victim was initially taken to a nearby hospital, but as his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to DMCH at around 5:30pm.
Confirming the incident, Inspector Md Faruk of the DMCH Police Outpost said, “A man with a bullet wound from the Gulshan-1 lake area has been brought in. He is being treated at the emergency unit, but his condition remains critical.”
Talking to this correspondent, Shariful said he is a resident of Gawair in Dakshinkhan and runs a nursery business along the Gulshan-1 lake.