A 25-year-old man was hacked to death by a group of miscreants in front of the regional passport office in the Maskanda area of Mymensingh city on Thursday.

The deceased was identified as Rabbi Ahmed Riyad, son of Mobarak Hossain Bhutto of Dakkhinpara on the Maskanda High School Road.

Police and locals said Rabbi was standing in front of the regional passport office around noon when several youths carrying locally made weapons swooped on him.

Rabbi ran into a nearby shop for shelter, but the attackers followed him inside and hacked him indiscriminately with sharp weapons before fleeing the scene, leaving him critically injured.

Locals rescued him and took him to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

Hossain Ali, an uncle of the deceased, said Rabbi went to a shop in front of the passport office. “He was hacked in broad daylight while hundreds of people were there. Nobody protested, and now people are afraid to speak. We want justice for this killing,” he said.

Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Model Police Station Shibirul Islam said police initially learned that Rabbi had a dispute with Khalek and Sabbir over the supply of rods, cement, sand and other construction materials for a house being built in Mistri Para.

The two sides had reportedly agreed to share the supply of construction materials, but Khalek and Sabbir were unhappy with the arrangement.

“Based on our preliminary findings, Khalek, Sabbir and their associates carried out the killing out of this resentment,” the OC said, adding that they were working to arrest those responsible.