UP chairman aspirant shot dead in Bandarban

Masked criminals killed an aspirant for the post of chairman of Galengya Union Parishad under Bandarban's Ruma upazilla early yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Shanti Priyo Tripura, 40, a  member of Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samity (PCJSS) of the upailza.

Voting in the union will be held in the third phase of the union parishad polls on April 23.

A gang of five to six masked gunmen broke into Shanti's house at Ramdu para around 3:30am and fired blank shots to scare away the locals, deceased's brother in-law Jogesh Tripura told this correspondent.

They took Shanti to a nearby jungle and shot him dead, Jogesh said, adding that the gang threatened him with death as he tried to save Shanti.

Jogesh said Shanti had a longstanding enmity with a Tripura terrorist gang and they killed him.

Anachandra Tripura, a ward member of the area, said the group has been involved in criminal activities, including killing and abduction, in the area for a long time. Shanti might have been killed by them as he protested against their criminal activities, he added.

Sources said the gang consists of around 15-18 members of the Tripura community of the district. The gang is active in Ruma, Thanchi and Alikadom upazillas of the district.

KS Mong Marma, central  member of PCJSS, demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of his killers.

Away in Pirojpur, supporters of Jatio Party (JP-Manju) hacked an Awami League (AL) nominated chairman candidate at Nesarabad  upazila of the district yesterday noon.

The victim is Ashish Kumar Baral from Jalabari union of the upazila, reports our correspondent.

Witnesses said Ashish went to Aramkathi village of the union at around 1:00pm yesterday with over 20 people. They engaged in a clash with JP-Manju nominated chairman candidate Touhidul Islam's men.

Touhidul's men beat up Ashish's men and hacked him on the head. They also threw the motorbikes of Ashish's men in the nearby canal.

Critically injured Ashish was taken to Nesarabad Upazila Health Complex and then shifted to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital as his condition deteriorated.

Md Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Nesarabad Police Station, said police visited the spot and took five injured people to hospital.