Jubo Dal Leader Shot Dead Inside Bus Counter in Magura, Wife Files Murder Case

A murder case has been filed against unnamed suspects over the shooting death of municipal Jubo Dal leader Shaker Hossain in Magura. His wife, Sharmin Nahar Ruma, filed the case at Magura Sadar police station on Wednesday night. Officer-in-charge Abdullah Al Mamun confirmed the filing on Thursday morning.

Shaker Hossain was a joint convener of the Magura municipal unit of Jubo Dal. He had long worked as a counter master for Royal Express Paribahan at the Magura central bus terminal. He was shot dead inside that counter at around 5:30am on Wednesday.

According to eyewitness accounts, two men arrived in front of the Royal Express counter on a motorcycle early on Wednesday. When a woman passenger who had been in the counter went to a nearby bathroom, the pillion rider entered the counter. He allegedly opened fire on Shaker Hossain and fled quickly.

When the woman returned from the bathroom, she found Shaker lying face down. As word spread, people from nearby counters rescued him and took him to the 250-bed hospital in Magura, where the doctor on duty declared him dead.

Emergency department doctor Khandaker Mainul Hasan said those who brought Shaker to hospital initially said he had suffered a stroke. In fact, he had died before reaching hospital, and an electrocardiogram test confirmed the death. No visible bleeding was found in the initial observation, the doctor said.

Magura superintendent of police Molla Azad Hossain said it was first assumed Shaker had died of a stroke or heart disease. After a wound mark was found on his head, the body was sent to the morgue for an autopsy. It was that mark that brought the killing into focus.

The superintendent added that several police teams are working to uncover the motive and identify those involved. Evidence has been collected from the scene and the investigation is following several leads. Even after the case was filed, however, police have not yet confirmed the identities of those involved.

His wife Sharmin Nahar Ruma has been left distraught with two young children. She has broken down in tears since hearing of her husband's death, repeatedly fainting as she asked who would look after her two daughters now and how the family would survive without him.

Shaker Hossain was the family's sole earner, and his income supported his wife and two daughters. The elder daughter, Samia, is 11, and the younger, Muntaha, is only six. With their father's death, the children's future has been thrown into uncertainty.

Relatives are demanding that the killers be identified and arrested quickly and given exemplary punishment. The killing of a man inside his own workplace in a busy terminal area at dawn has created fear and anger locally.

All eyes are now on the police investigation. Whether the autopsy result, evidence from the scene and eyewitness accounts can identify the killers will determine what happens next in the case. Police say several teams are already working in the field.