None held over AL Badda gunfight death

Police could not make any headway in arresting anyone in 36 hours into the death of a man during an Awami League factional clash in the capital's Badda until last night.

Two factions -- one loyal to Jahangir Alam, general secretary of Badda AL unit and chairman of Beraid Union Parishad, and the other to local Awami League lawmaker AKM Rahmatullah -- clashed on Sunday over control of local business. 

Kamruzzaman Dukhu, 35, younger brother of Jahangir, was shot dead and at least seven others injured, as the lawmaker's men attacked Jahangir's supporters, said locals.

Jahangir claimed that the lawmaker's men including his two nephews opened fire on his men leading to the death of his brother, as he had a feud with the lawmaker over Dukhu's business with a cement mixture plant in Beraid.

Apart from business feud, the lawmaker also wanted to get his son elected as local ward councilor in place of Jahangir, who would no longer remain Union Parishad chairman, as the area is now part of Dhaka North City Corporation.

Lawmaker Rahmatullah, however, claimed that those who attacked Jahangir's men were the latter's local opponents, who have business interest in the cement mixture plant.

During a visit to the village yesterday, the locals told this correspondent that the feuding parties had been at loggerheads over supplying raw materials to a concrete mixing company and local politics. Both the factions were competing for brokering land procurement and earth filling for private real estate developers in the locality, they said.

Kazi Wazed Ali, officer-in-charge of Badda Police Station, said last night that a process for filing a case was underway, and they were yet to apprehend anyone.