Mohammad Abu Hanif, 45, was the joint general secretary of Karwan Bazar Baboshaye Kalyan Samity (KBBKS) Super Market and the president of ward 39 unit of Sramik League, workers front of the main opposition Awami League (AL).

Witnesses said the criminals shot Hanif when he was saying his Zohr prayers alone inside the prayer room on the first floor of KBBKS Super Market at around 2:30pm.

He died on the spot as 13 bullets hit different parts of his body.

"Hearing gunshots I looked at the prayer room and saw four to five youths running away," said a nearby shop owner adding that the criminals melted into public within moments.

The body was later taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) morgue for autopsy.

Police could not arrest anyone as of 8:30pm yesterday.

Hanif often received death threats over cellphone from criminals and rivals after he was elected joint general secretary of KBBKS Super Market about a year ago, said his brother Jonaid Hossain.

Some local traders said that Shahadat, an accomplice of top criminal Pichchi Hannan, was among the assailants.

Shahadat was angry with Hanif as he (Hanif) drove Shahadat off Karwan Bazar and barred him from collecting jhut (garments by-products) from a garments factory of the area, a source said.

Some other sources said the accomplices of Pichchi Hannan might have killed Hanif as he helped police arrest Pichchi Hannan in 1998. He was in jail for eight months. Coming out of the jail on bail Hannan announced Tk 10 lakh reward if anyone could bring him the head of Hanif, the sources added.

As the news of Hanif's murder spread, leaders and workers of AL and its front organisations along with several hundred traders brought out a procession at Karwan Bazar demanding immediate arrest and punishment of the killers.