The victim, Yasin Ali Mridha, 22, was publicity secretary of Maria union AL.

The JMJB had earlier put Yasin along with three others on its hit list, terming them outlaws.

A group of operatives of the dreaded Bangla Bhai abducted him from his cousin's house in the locality at around 8:00pm, took him to Kudapara Ahadia Dakhil Madrasa and beat him dead, witnesses and police sources said.

Later, they took his body to Bagmara Police Station to hand it over to police. But police asked them to take it to Bagmara Upazila Health Complex.

Dr Abdullah Al Mamoon of the health complex said Yasin had expired about 25 minutes before his body was brought to the hospital at about 10.30am. His hands and legs were found fractured, the doctor added.

Yasin hailed from Shikdari Sakua village and was a close relative of Abdus Sobhan, district AL information and research secretary.

Yasin's brother Ibrahim Ali Mridha said a group of five men -- JMJB Hamirkutsa camp in-charge Abdul Kuddus, Abdul Kuddus-2 of Kathalbaria, Zamal Uddin of Shitlai and two other masked men -- came to their house at around 11:00pm on Tuesday night and looked for Yasin.

They left the house as Yasin was not there. " We will kill you and your whole family if you do not bring Yasin before us within two days", Ibrahim quoted Abdul Kuddus as saying while leaving their house.

They searched some other houses to trace Yasin and at last found him at his cousin's house. A madrassah teacher, Sohrab Hossain, accompanied them to that house.

While beating Yasin, the cadres pressed him to confess to his involvement in the killing of two persons -- Azhar and Afsar -- and in a clash in Kushtia. But Yasin did not, said an witness.

Two JMJB operatives at Kudapara village claimed Yasin admitted he was involved in the two murders.

A JMJB leader and Yasin's neighbour Nazrul Islam told this correspondent Mahabur Rahman of the outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party, who had surrendered at Hamirkutsa JMJB camp in the first week of May, named four persons including Yasin as PBCP cadre.

Yasin's brother filed a case with Bagmara Police Station accusing the five, including the two masked men he could not identify.

Officer-in-charge of the police station Ruhul Amin Siddiki denied that JMJB men had brought Yasin to them before taking him to hospital.

Meanwhile, local AL brought out a procession and held a rally at Bagmara upazila headquarters protesting the killing of Yasin. They also laid a siege to the office of the upazila nirbahi officer and submitted a memorandum to him demanding a judicial probe into the killing and arrest of the killers and their leader Bangla Bhai.

The rally was also addressed by acting upazila AL President Motiur Rahman and General Secretary Zakirul Islam.