UP chairman shot dead

A union parishad chairman was shot dead, while his assistant suffered bullet wounds, in Kafra Bazar area of Barishal's Uzirpur upazila, on Friday night.

Shishir Kumar Paul, officer-in-charge of Uzirpur Police Station, confirmed the incident and said the dead was identified as Bishwajeet Halder Nantu, 42, president of Jalla Union Awami League. He was elected as chairman of Jalla union parishad for the first time two years ago.

Nantu's assistant and political activist Nihar Haldar, 40, was shot and injured in the lower abdomen, added the OC.  

Speaking to the The Daily Star, Opu Mondal, Nantu's nephew, said that around 9:00pm, while the chairman was at his own shop at Kafra Bazar with his assistant, around 12 men wearing masks suddenly appeared on motorbikes and opened fire on Nantu and Nihar. Police reached the spot immediately, but the criminals had fled the scene by then.

Both victims were rushed to Uzirpur Health Complex, and later transferred to Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) where Nantu was declared dead around 10:00pm, he added.

The whole of Kafra Bazar, a market, was supposed to be under CCTV surveillance, but both the market and Kafra village were disconnected from their electric supply about four days prior to the incident due to a damaged transformer, said Opu, adding that the killers took advantage of the situation. 

The chairman was working to fix the electricity problem in the area before he was murdered, he said.

Md Ikbal Hossain, chairman of Uzirpur upazila parishad, said, “I believe the murder was pre-planned and expert killers took part in it. The first bullet pierced through his forehead and every bullet was hit right on target in the chest and abdomen.”

He added that Nantu was in a conflict with Md Sayeed, personal secretary to local law maker Talukder Mohammad Yunus. Alleging that Sayeed was behind the killing, Ikbal said he assumed that MP Talukder knew about the murder but pretended otherwise.

Sayeed was a patron of a drug-peddling group that was operating in the area and was led by Pannu, a former union parishad member, Ikbal claimed, adding that Nantu was working to stop the crime from prevailing in his area.

Just three days before the incident, Pannu had threatened Nantu with murder saying it would be done in three days and in front of people, the upazila parishad chairman said, adding that Pannu was already arrested and, if interrogated properly, the police would be able to find all those responsible for the murder.

Ikbal further alleged that MP Talukder was informed about the conflict many times, but he did not take any action to resolve it.

However, when contacted, Sayeed denied being in any conflict with Nantu and refused to make any more comments.

After autopsy at SBMCH, Nantu's body was taken to Kafra village, said OC Shishir Kumar, adding that a case would be filed in connection to the murder after the funeral procession and cremation were completed.

“Five people that we suspect of being involved in the murder have been taken in for interrogation,” said Md Saiful Islam, superintendent of police in Barishal.

He added that the conflict could be the possible reason behind the murder and that Sub-inspector Mizan of Jalla Police Outpost, situated close to the spot where the murder took place, was closed to police lines for negligence of duty and not being able to provide adequate security in the area.

Denying the upazila parishad chairman's allegations, MP Talukder said he had no idea about the killing and had never had the intention to harm anyone.

“Instead, I directed police officials to investigate the case freely and thoroughly,” the MP said, adding that Ikbal had been disturbing him and creating conspiracies against him.

He also said that while a group of Nantu's supporters was against him, majority of the locals admired him.

Yesterday afternoon, Barishal's Hindu-Bouddha-Christian Oikya Parishad formed a human chain in front of Aishini Kumar Town Hall demanding justice for the chairman's murder.