An Awami League politician and a female college student were killed while his driver was injured when an assailant allegedly opened fire at them in the Shahjahanpur area on Thursday night. The deceased were identified as Zahidul Islam Tipu, former general secretary of AL Motijheel police station committee, and Samia Afrin Priti, a 22-year-old student of Begum Badrunnesa Government College. The crime occurred in front of Islami Bank Hospital around 10.15pm when Zahidul was returning home in his car and Samia on a cycle rickshaw with her friend, police said. Also read: Bangladeshi shot dead ‘by BSF’ along Lalmonirhat border "They were all stuck in a traffic jam in the area when a biker wearing a helmet and a mask appeared from nowhere and fired at them. He soon sped away," said SM Gaffarul Alam, inspector (operations), Shahjahanpur police station. The three sustained bullet injuries and were soon rushed to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, where Zahidul and the student died of their injuries hours later. "Munna is battling for his life at the hospital," he said. Also read: 10 shot in Magura clash Inspector Gaffarul said that the target was probably only Zahidul. "Anyway, a massive manhunt has been launched to nab the killer," he added. While Zahidul was a resident of Shahjahanpur, Priti was from the Tilpapara area of Khilgaon.

A local Awami League politician, who was severely injured in an attack by a group of assailants in Alampur village of Sadar upazila, succumbed to his injuries on the way to a hospital in Dhaka early on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Harunur Rashid, general secretary of Awami League's ward unit number 6, and son of Hossain Ahmed of the village. Read: AL activist hacked dead in Khulna AHM Kamruzzaman, superintendent of Laxmipur Police, said a group of four-five men attacked Harunur while he was sitting at a local tea stall around 8pm on Wednesday.  "The assailants attacked Harunur with sharp weapons, leaving him critically injured. While fleeing, the criminals fired shots in the air and even hurled a bomb to create panic among local people," he said. Harunur was rushed to Laxmipur Sadar Hospital, but doctors there referred him to Dhaka in view of his worsening condition. Harunur died on the way to Dhaka around 3am. Read:1 dead, at least 5 shot in Noakhali as Quader Mirza’s supporters, rival AL activists clash "Police are trying to identify and arrest those involved in the gruesome crime," said the SP. Meanwhile, Nur Uddin Chowdhury, MP of Laxmipur-2 constituency and general secretary of the district unit of the Awami League, blamed Jamaat-e-Islami for the attack. He gave a 24-hour ultimatum to cops to arrest the attackers.

An Awami League (AL) leader in Bogura’s Fapor union was allegedly hacked to death on Tuesday night. The deceased was identified as Mominul Islam Rocky, 33, the general secretary of Bogura Sadar's Fapor Union Awami League unit, and son of Sirajul Islam of Mandalpara village in the union. Read: Covid claims 15 more lives in Bogura He was also a probable candidate for the post of Awami League chairman in the upcoming union parishad elections. According to locals, Rocky did not live in the area but would often come here for various party programmes. Around 9.30pm on Tuesday, Rocky was talking to some people in an open field in the Hatkhola area when a group of miscreants surrounded him and attacked him with sharp weapons. Read: Journalist held under DSA in Bogura Locals rushed him to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College and Hospital, where he died around 10.30pm during treatment. Though the cousin of the deceased, Shahadat Hossain Gani, said that Rocky was killed by drug peddlers active in the area, locals claimed that he might have been killed by rival group members ahead of UP elections. There were several cases lodged against the deceased at Sadar police station, including that of murder. Read:Bogura youth hacked to death in a clash Bogura Sadar Circle Additional Superintendent of Police Faisal Mahmud said that a search operation was launched in the area soon after the murder. However, the police could not immediately identity those behind the gruesome murder and ascertain the reason behind the crime.