Gunmen kill AL leader, another

Two people, including an Awami League leader, were killed and two others injured in a gun attack at the city's Badda last night.

The dead are Shamsuddin Molla, 53, and Feroz Ahmed Manik, 42, police said. 

Shamsuddin was a vice president of ward-6 of Badda union while Manik was the manager of a private hospital in the area, relatives told The Daily Star.

Condition of one of the injured, Mahbubur Rahman Gama, 35, assistant cultural affairs secretary of Dhaka city (north) Swechchhasebak League, was "very critical," said authorities of the United Hospital where he was being treated.

Critically injured Shamsuddin and Manik were also taken to the same hospital, but doctors said they were already dead.

The other injured is Abdus Salam, 40, owner of a rickshaw garage. He was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. His condition could not be known immediately. 

Abdul Jalil, officer-in-charge of Badda Police Station, said it was not clear who shot them or why. But another police source suspects it was the result of an internal feud.

The shooting happened around 9:00pm at the Badda Adarsha Nagar Panir Pump area.

Eyewitness Harun-Ar-Rashid, also a local AL leader, said he and six to seven others were discussing the programme of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's death anniversary (August 15).

"Three to four people came out of the blue and started shooting. I jumped aside and escaped unhurt," Harun, organising secretary of ward-6 AL, told this correspondent.

The gunmen shot seven to eight times and left the scene on foot, he said.

He said he could not identify any of the shooters. All the victims were friends and were involved with AL and its various associated organisations.

Police and locals said a number of criminal groups were active in the area and they had rivalry over extortion, land grabbing and jhut (garment waste) business.

Gama's father Matiur Rahman said his son was the chief executive officer of a local NGO, Sonar Bangla Somaj Kalyan Sangstha. But locals said he was involved in jhut business.

Sheikh Maruf Hasan, additional police commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said they started investigating the shooting taking into consideration all the possibilities.