In Jhenidah, four people including the former general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League's (BCL) district unit were injured in a blast at a construction firm in Chaklapara Wednesday night.

Amirul Islam, 42, chairman of Gangni municipality and a BNP leader, and rickshaw-puller Abdul Ali, 36, were going to Gangni Bazar mosque to say prayers for the Shab-e-Barat.

Police said some cadres of the Janajuddha stopped his rickshaw and opened fire on Amirul in Sishirpara at around 7:45pm. They also hurled bombs at the rickshaw that left Ali dead on the spot.

Amirul died on way to Kushtia General Hospital with eight bullets in his body. His right arm was severed in the blasts, police said.

A person introducing him as Pavel claimed responsibility for the killings on behalf of Abir Hassan, who termed Amirul a sidekick of police and class enemy.

The businesspersons of Gangni Bazar kept their shutters closed and wore black badges to protest the killings. They will also observe seven days' mourning.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police are on special drive to nab the killers.

Subodh Kumar Kundu, 50, former BCL general secretary of the district,

Asaduzzaman Asad, 30, Abu Sayeed Babu, 40, and Mantoo, 35, were hurt in a bomb attack on a construction firm in Chaklapara in the town of Jhenidah.

Six criminals in two motorcycles appeared and hurled six bombs at the firm owned by Subodh at around 9:00pm, police said. This was the fifth attack on the same firm, sources said.

Babu's one hand and leg was severed and Subodh was also critically wounded. They are now receiving treatment at National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (Nitor), while Asad and Mantoo were admitted to Jhenidah General Hospital.

Subodh's family said extortionists had demanded Tk 2 lakh from him as toll and threatened to kill him if he failed to give the sum. They also realised toll from him many times, they added.