Road blocked over killing of AL men

People block Dhaka-Pabna highway at Dharmagram with logs yesterday protesting the attack and killing of Awami League men in Pabna. Photo: Star

One more Awami League activist, shot by armed men in Pabna Sadar upazila on Saturday night, succumbed to his injuries early yesterday.
With the death of Rafiqul Islam, 36, the number of casualties from the attack on the ruling party men in Pushpopara Bazar rose to four.
Protesting the killing, activists of AL and locals put up barricades on roads at Dharmagram, Pushpopara and Jalalpur by placing logs.
Vehicular movement on the Dhaka-Pabna highway remained halted for eight hours, beginning at 6:00am, yesterday.
Eight suspects were detained from different areas of the district in connection with their alleged involvement in the killing, police said.
    All shops and business houses in the bazaar remained closed since Saturday night's incident.
A gang of armed men shot three activists of the AL dead and injured a few others in Pabna Sadar on that night.
The victims were identified as Abdus Salam, 35, Fazlur Rahman, 32, and Sultan Mahmud, 30. Rafiqul and Mamun sustained bullet injuries in the attack.
They all hailed from Dharmagram village and were members of the ruling party, Russell Ali Masud, organising secretary of Pabna Sadar AL, told The Daily Star.

Relatives of deceased Sultan Mahmud mourn after his body was taken to his home in Pabna. Photo: Star

Local AL leaders have blamed the BNP-Jamaat for the attack. A ward-level AL meeting was in progress at the bazar of Atailkula when the attack was made.
Akram Hossain, officer-in-charge of Atailkula Police Station, said Rafiqul breathed his last on his way to Dhaka from Rajshahi Medical College Hospital around 6:00am yesterday.
"Some 20 to 25 armed men attacked us when we were in a meeting with party men at Pushpopara Bazar," Md Moznu Mia, who escaped unhurt, told The Daily Star.
Criminals of an outlawed faction backed by the BNP-Jamaat made the attack to take revenge, he added.
AKM Musa, president of Pabna Sadar upazila unit of BNP, refuted the allegation that BNP men were involved in the attack. "There is a longstanding dispute among the AL men over controlling businesses at the bazar, and this feud might be the reason behind the attack," he added.  
During preliminary investigation, police found that the outlawed operatives conducted the attack over previous enmity with the AL men, said SM Mostain Hossain, additional superintendent of police of Pabna.