Woman burnt to death in Natore

A woman was burnt to death in a reprisal attack following the killing of a man on Wednesday night in Singra upazila of Natore.

The deceased are Sabiha Begum, 75, and Md Rejaul Karim, 53, a teacher at Bil Haloti Trimohoni College. Both were residents of Kodomtola Kumarpara village, police said.

According to police, unidentified assailants attacked Rejaul, a member of the Singra upazila unit of Zia Parishad, outside his residence around 11:00pm on Wednesday, hacking him to death on the spot.

“Hearing his screams, locals rushed to the spot and found Rejaul lying there, but the attackers had already fled by then,” said Md Abdun Nur, officer-in-charge of Singra Police Station.

About 30 minutes later, a group of agitated people attacked the house of Abdul Wahab, a local shop owner, the OC said.

Most of the residents managed to flee, but Wahab’s mother, Sabiha Begum, was burnt alive inside the house, he added.

According to Prothom Alo, Wahab is nephew of Alauddin Munshi, former general secretary of Kalom union unit Awami League.

Rejaul’s nephew Haider Rashid, former general secretary of the union unit BNP, told Prothom Alo that supporters of Alauddin Munshi killed Rejaul.

However, police are yet to say anything about the motive behind the killings. 

The OC said no case had been filed in connection with the incidents as of 8:30pm last night. Both bodies were handed over to their respective families after autopsies.

Additional law enforcement personnel have been deployed in the area to prevent further untoward incidents, he added.

Contacted, BNP Natore district unit member secretary Md Asaduzzaman confirmed that Rejaul was a supporter of BNP, but held no party post.

“We cannot yet confirm whether the incident occurred due to political rivalry or personal enmity,” he said.