Witnesses said an armed gang of seven tied to a criminal outfit, Abed Bahini, stormed Gopal Hotel and Restaurant in Khoksa at about 9:30pm and left its owner Surojit Kumar Saha fatally injured in a hail of bullets.

The 24-year-old son of Dulal Chandra Saha from Kamlapur village bled to death at Faridpur Medical College Hospital after he was shifted from Khoksa Health Complex for better treatment.

His family linked the killing to his refusal to give the extortionists Tk 1 lakh in illegal toll they demanded from him seven days ago.

The killing came barely 30 hours after Matiur Rahman, joint convenor of Kushtia district Awami Sechhashebak League, was gunned down on Monday.

Local businesspeople shuttered shops and other businesses and moved out into streets in procession to protest the murder and demand arrest of the killers.

District police authorities suspended five policemen, including Assistant Sub-Inspector Santosh Kumar of Khoksa Police Station, apparently over law and order downslide underlined by the latest killing.

Rivals killed eight underground operatives in a turf war in Baghdanga village in Sadar upazila, 40 kilometers off the district headquarters, on Sunday. At least 23 people were murdered in the district last month.