The Janajuddha and Janajuddha (Marxist and Leninist) factions of outlawed Purbo Banglar Community Party (PBCP) claimed responsibility for the bloodletting in the wake of which highly placed government sources hinted at an anti-crime joint drive in the regions from midnight last night.

Manzur Morshed Khan Labu, 32, general secretary of Sonadanga unit of the main opposition AL, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) after suffering serious injuries in bomb attack by assailants on Haji Ismail Road in Khulna city on January 29.

Alleged operatives of an outlawed outfit savagely stabbed Kubbad Shaikh, 36, a leader of Terokhada upazila unit of ruling alliance leader BNP and member of Ajogarha union, until death soon after Friday midnight after his abduction.

Unknown assailants killed fish trader Iqbal Biswas, 24, in a staccato burst of gunfire in Khalishpur on Friday night.

HIGH-PROFILE DEATH

Manzur, who suffered serious injuries in the abdomen when assailants hurled three handmade bombs on him on his way to the district judge's court by motorcycle, died at the intensive care unit of the DMCH at 1:30am.

He was flown in Dhaka by helicopter after the attack and was operated upon in the hospital on January 30.

His cousin SM Rezaul Hasan received the body and carried it to the AL central office on Bangabandhu Avenue before taking it to Khulna for burial.

Addressing an impromptu rally after he was brought to the DMCH, AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil blamed the attempt on the life of Manzur, general secretary of Sonadanga AL since January 1, on the 'ruling party hit-men'.

Manzur's killing took place after a series of high-profile killings in Khulna including that of city unit AL president Manzurul Imam on August 25 last year, journalist Manik Chandra Saha on January 15 and Batiaghata BNP leader Amir Azam Khan on January 29.

REVENGE KILLING

Police retrieved Kubbad's body from Despare WAPDA road yesterday morning and the superintendent of police, Khulna said the murder was committed at the house of alleged underground operative Shahidul Islam.

Alleged outlaws abducted the BNP leader from his Anandanagar village home hours before the killing, said his younger sister Chantara Begum, who lodged the first information report with the police.

The motive for the killing could not be known immediately, but locals alleged outlawed operatives killed him to avenge his cooperation with law-enforcers in an anti-outlaw drive in the upazila.

Some alleged the Janajuddha (Marxist and Leninist) murdered him as he severed ties with the outfit after being elected to the union parishad.

Two suspects were picked up for questioning after the killing, but the local officer-in-charge refused to give their names.

Leaders and activists of Terokhada BNP brought out a procession in protest against the murder and demanded exemplary punishment to the killers.

VICTIM OF TURF WAR

Iqbal received bullets in his head and chest in front of Kashipur Primary School at about 9.30pm on Friday on his way home from a sister's house.

Son of Hashem Biswas of Royermahal in Khalishpur, Iqbal had been living in the Kashipur house of his sister for the last three months after receiving death threats from drug-runners associated with outlaws, family sources said.

Locals said he was a victim of turf war between two gangs of drug traders close to outlaws, but his brother-in-law Akram Molla said he was killed for opposing drug pushing in the locality.

STUDENT LEADER DEAD

Organising Secretary of Faridpur district Chhatra League Biswajeet Dasgupta, 26, who was stabbed by assailants in Faridpur on January 15, died from his wounds at the DMCH yesterday afternoon.

A gang of 14 assailants stabbed him repeatedly with sharp weapons when he was drinking tea at a stall near his house.

He was rushed to Faridpur hospital and later shifted to the DMCH a day after the incident.

RESPONSIBILITY

In a message faxed to the press club and a few newspapers in Khulna yesterday, the Janajuddha faction of the PBCP claimed responsibility for the killings of Manzur and Amir Azam Khan, local BNP leader and chairman of Amirpur union in Batiaghata upazila.

In a similar message, Janajuddha (Marxist and Leninist) faction took responsibility for killing Kubbad and Iqbal.

The claims could not be probed independently.

ANTI-CRIME DRIVE

A fresh anti-crime drive was likely to be launched in the troubled Khulna region from midnight last night to hunt down terrorists, highly placed sources told The Daily Star yesterday.

All preparations were taken and a high-level meeting of superintendents of police in the violence-torn southwestern region was held at the office of the deputy inspector general of police, Khulna range yesterday to discuss the drive, they added.

The government has ordered the drive to stem the tide of killings in the region, they said, adding the army might be called out to assist the law-enforcers.

VALLEY OF DEATH

Long described as a city of tranquility for peaceful life in the confluence of Rupsha and Bhairab rivers, Khulna city has now emerged as the 'valley of death' for its violent present.

At least 45 people have been killed in Khulna division from January 1 to January 30, mostly in Khulna city which is at the heart of the bloodbath, blamed largely on a raft of leftist outfits.

"People fear to go out of house after sunset and relatives call one another after nightfall to know their wellbeing in the violence-scarred city," said a Khulna journalist, requesting anonymity.

"It's like a plague outbreak."

The list of the dead is growing every day with the death of political leaders, journalists, law enforcers and even innocent bystanders caught up in the raging chaos.

About 580 people, including 12 police constables, were killed in 2003, up from 285 in 2002, 333 in 2001 and 380 in 2000 in the southwest, showing a clear sign of rising death count.

The outlaws, used to employing sniper attacks in their war against 'class enemy', are now largely using crude bombs to take life, plunging existence in the city into utter uncertainty.

"After we leave home for work, we cannot say who will return home at the end of the day," said a civil servant.

"It's a homeland of horror," he said, adding, "Only major incidents get play in the press, scores of others go unreported as journalists fear to cover them."

The Janajuddha issued a death threat to nine journalists in Satkhira on January 23 for covering their activities.

Several clandestine arms factories work full-time in the 'wild southwest' to manufacture weapons for the outlaws, said a Khulna-based journalist.

The government ordered several anti-crime drives in the region to cut violence, but the operations failed to make headway.

The much-talked-about joint drive Operation Clean Heart and Operation Spider Web could not stem the free fall of order.