Juba Dal leader killed in 'shootout'

A union level Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal leader was killed in “shootout” incident early yesterday, two days after he was picked up from his residence at Begumganj upazila in the district.

Md Alam, 35, son of Abul Quashem of Dhitpur village, was the joint convenor of Alaipur union unit Jubo Dal.

Police said the dead man was wanted in at least 10 cases of robbery, extortion and possessing firearms etc though his wife Pushpa Begum claimed that he was innocent.

Pushpa claimed police killed him after arresting him because of his affiliation with BNP politics and cooked up the story of “shootout”.

Narrating the incident, Sajedur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Begumganj Police Station said they picked up Alam from his house Wednesday morning. After that police took him along with them when they raided an area in Purba Joynarayanpur village in the night to recover firearms from Alam's associates there.

The miscreants opened fire at the police team when they arrived forcing them to retaliate with gunshots. As the miscreants fled the area, police discovered Alam's dead body riddled with bullets, the OC said.

He said that police recovered a pistol and a pipe gun from the spot.

Victim's wife Pushpa Begum, however, said a group of plain clothes men picked up her husband on Tuesday morning.

Pushpa said she and other family members went to Begumganj police station, detective offices at Noakhali and Laxmipur districts and Rab camp at Laxmipur in search for Alam but law enforcers denied picking him up.

On Tuesday night she held a press conference at Chowmohani Press Club, seeking help from the administration for her husband's safe return.