Md Nayeem Uddin Sentuk, 60, chairman of Philipnagar Union Parishad (UP) at Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia, has been shot in broad daylight in front of his colleagues in his office.
The brazen daytime shooting took place at about 11:00 am on Monday when the UP Chairman was working in his office. Assailants fired at him through the window behind his chair. Law enforcers were still searching for the suspect.
Sub-Inspector (SI) of Daulatpur police station Khosru Alam said, “Md Nayeem Uddin Sentuk was shot dead at about 11:00 am in his office. On information, we rushed to the scene. We are trying to identify the miscreants and arrest them.”
According to police and witnesses, Nayeem Uddin was working in his office when assailants fired several rounds at him. Locals who heard the gunshots and rushed to the scene were also fired upon by the assailants, creating panic in the area.
Following the attack, tension escalated in the area as news of the chairman’s death spread soon after the incident. Members of the police and Army were deployed to control the situation.
Palash Kanti Nath, additional superintendent of police (ASP) of Kushtia; said that the UP chairman was sitting in his office when the attackers shot him from behind through the window, killing him instantly. The situation in the area is extremely tense, and both police and army personnel are working to control it, he added.
Md Rashidul Islam, secretary of Philipnagar Union Parishad, said that he was not at the Union Parishad when the incident happened. “The locals informed me that the chairman was shot dead through the back window of his ground-floor office,” he added.
Some locals said that Nayeem Uddin Sentuk, son of Motaleb Sarker of Bazarpara area under the union, was involved in BNP politics, but he had been politically inactive for some time. Later, she supported Awami League politics.
Reza Ahmed Bachchu Molla, president of Daulatpur Upazila BNP and former MP from Kushtia-1, confirmed that the UP chairman had previously served as vice president of the upazila BNP but he had distanced himself from politics for a long period.
Some locals said that the murder incident took place over establishing supremacy and due to previous enmity.
Earlier on August 9, another UP chairman named Sirajul Islam Chhana was shot death at Madhur Bazar of Rajnagar upazila in Moulvibazar. Sirajul Islam Chana, 50, chairman of Panchgaon Union Parishad, was shot dead in a clash between two groups of villagers. The incident had taken place just four days after fall of Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime.
