Staff Reporter :A former president of Jubo League Kaliakoir upazila unit was killed by the members of rival faction in front of Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Hoque during a mourning day programme in Gazipur on Friday. The victim was identified as Rafiqul Islam, 40, son of Abdul Jalil, who hailed from Tengrabari under Kaliakoir upazila.It was a terrible scene which panicked the people attending the meeting and they ran for shelter in fear.Police suspected that the killing might has taken place as a sequel of long-standing feud with other party leaders in the area. Confirming the incident, Officer-in Charge of Kaliakoir Police Station Omar Faruk said, “We are trying to identify the killers. The meeting was cancelled after the attack on Islam. The body has been kept in the health complex.””Local Awami League arranged a food distribution programme on the premises of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu College at Chandra yesterday afternoon marking the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 11th anniversary of 21 August grenade attack,” he said. The OC also claimed that the overall situation was under control.Sources said, the incident took place at Bangabandhu College ground in the afternoon where Gazipur Municipal Awami League had organized a discussion meeting to commemorate the National Mourning Day and the Aug 21 grenade attack victims. The meeting was presided over by president of ward 5 of Kaliakoir Municipal AL Abdul Aziz. The miscreants beat the victim mercilessly and later chopped him indiscriminately to confirm the death. An angry chief guest of the programme Minister AKM Mozammel Hoque left the spot without addressing the function. The meeting was also postponed after the killing.The victim Rafiqul Islam addressed the meeting just few minutes after the meeting had started. After finishing his address, he went to a tea stall adjacent to the college for having a cup of tea. Suddenly, a gang of 10-12 assailants attacked him and stared chopping him indiscriminately with machetes. At the same time, some other beat him with sticks ruthlessly.Hearing the cream of the victim, locals rushed to the spot and sent him to Upzila Health Complex where the doctors declared him dead at about 5:00pm.Dr Shamshul Huda Naim of the Health Complex said that the victim was brought dead to the hospital. “There were three marks of knife injuries in the abdomen and one in chest. There was also marks of injuries in the head.”Local AL activists said Islam was at loggerheads with Md Mostafizur, President of the Upazila Sramik League, the ruling party’s labour front.They suspected that the attack on Islam and the subsequent clash could have taken place as a result of the dispute.
