Dhaka: In yet another case highlighting the out of control law and order situation in Bangladesh, a Jatiyatabadi Swechasebak Dal leader was shot dead by gunmen in Dhaka Wednesday night, the police officials confirmed on Thursday.
Azizur Rahman Mosabbir, a Joint Convener of the Swechasebak Dal’s Dhaka North unit, was reportedly having tea with a party colleague at a stall behind the Bashundhara City Shopping Mall in the Karwan Bazar area when several assailants arrived on motorcycles, opened fire indiscriminately, and fled.
Local media quoted Additional Deputy Police Commissioner (ADC) Fazlul Karim of the DMP’s Tejgaon Division as saying that both leaders were rushed to BRB Hospital in Panthapath first and later to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the on-duty doctors declared Mosabbir dead.
The other individual, identified as Abu Sufian Bepari Masud – the General Secretary of Tejgaon Police Station Van Workers Union – was injured in the incident and is currently admitted in Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
“After the incident, a group of angry people blocked the SAARC Foara intersection in Karwan Bazar at night. This disrupted traffic through the intersection. Later, around 10:30 pm, the army arrived and removed the protesters, allowing traffic to resume,” leading Bangla daily Prothom Alo reported.
On December 12, Islamist student leader Sharif Osman Hadi was shot in the head when assailants fired from a moving motorcycle at the rickshaw he was riding on Paltan Road in Dhaka. He was later airlifted to Singapore for medical treatment but succumbed to his injuries on December 18.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh police claimed that killing of Hadi was a “politically motivated murder”, with investigators saying that the conspiracy behind the attack was planned in Singapore.
The Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s (DMP) Detective Branch has filed a chargesheet against 17 individuals in connection with the case before a metropolitan court in Dhaka.
Bangladesh has witnessed escalating protests and a deteriorating law and order situation since the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government assumed power in August 2024.