Thirteen shootings in 22 days leave nine dead in Khulna as extortion gangs spread panic
At least 13 shooting incidents took place across Khulna city and district in just 22 days, from October 22 to November 12. Six people were shot dead and six more were injured by gunfire during this period. Criminal groups are opening fire in public — sometimes on roads, sometimes at tea stalls, sometimes in front of businesses — and ordinary people are not being spared from the gun violence driven by turf wars and drug trade disputes.
Three more killings took place in Khulna during the same period, two by sharp weapons and one by beating, taking the total to nine killings in 22 days. Five of them occurred in Khulna city, three in Rupsa upazila and one in Dumuria. Up to November 12 this year, 39 murders were recorded in the city and 40 in the district, 79 in total. In one incident, extortionists fired blank shots at a clinic to demand money.
The latest killing occurred on Thursday at around 10:15 p.m., when criminals entered a shop in Swalpa Bahirdia village of Rupsa upazila and shot dead BNP leader Md Zakir Hossain, 43. Zakir, a brick and sand trader, was a member of the TSB union BNP's search committee.
Zakir's funeral prayers were held on Friday afternoon at the Uttar Khajadanga Government Primary School field in Rupsa. Khulna City Corporation administrator and BNP leader Nazrul Islam Monju told reporters afterwards that Khulna is now submerged in terror, that killers are murdering people, extorting money and running a drug market, and that anyone who protests is killed — 8 to 10 of their leaders and activists have been killed so far, he said. Demanding that a list of terrorists be drawn up and joint drives carried out to arrest them, he said no one's life could be protected unless strong steps are taken now.
People who were not the intended targets are also being hit. On the night of November 8, Mashiur Rahman, an accountant at the Rupsa upazila education office, was injured by gunfire in the city's Miyapara area while walking from Paip's Mor to PTI Mor to buy food for his daughter. Describing the incident, he said the criminals had aimed at someone else, but the bullet missed and struck below his left ribs, adding that moving around the city has become unsafe for ordinary people.
On the afternoon of November 5, criminals entered a tea stall at Jora Bottala in the Amvita-Ramkrishnapur area of Dumuria upazila and shot dead a young man, Tariqul Islam Sheikh, a fish enclosure trader and the son of Abdus Salam Sheikh, convener of the Rangpur union BNP in Dumuria. Police recovered two revolver bullet casings from the scene. Tariqul's father said his son farmed fish on 42 bighas of leased land at the northern beel of Bill Dakati, and that some local people had been demanding a large sum in extortion from him, though Tariqul never told the family who they were.
Earlier, on October 27 at noon, a laptop bag was snatched at gunpoint in front of a tobacco company dealer point on Road 17 of the Nirala residential area, injuring a company employee. On the evening of October 24, college teacher Dhananjay Kundu, also known as Akash Kundu, was shot at his own shop in the Gachtala area of South Tutpara; he ran the shop alongside his teaching job. Police say an extortion dispute may be behind the incident, and Dhananjay's family declined to comment.
On November 2, police recovered the bullet-riddled bodies of two young men from a char of the Atharobeki River at Singher Char in Rupsa's Aichgati union. They were Mehedi Hasan, son of Abdullah of the Rajapur area, and Rezaul Karim. Rupsa police station officer-in-charge Masum Khan said both were members of the criminal gang known as 'B Company' and that the killings may have stemmed from the group's internal feud and drug trade disputes. Mehedi faced two cases under the narcotics law, along with allegations of extortion, kidnapping and mugging.
Two Jubo Dal leaders were shot in Batiyaghat upazila on October 27: Sohel Sheikh in front of Boro Koria Government Primary School at around 12:30 a.m., and former leader Ohidul Islam, also known as Badal, near the Chakrakhali bazar area the same evening. Batiyaghat police station officer-in-charge SM Mizanur Rahman said both men are still under treatment in Dhaka, no case has been filed yet, and the investigation is continuing. Investigation sources say disputes over the drug trade, dominance and land buying and selling have surfaced in the initial probe.
The string of shootings began on October 22, when Tawhidul Islam and Khushi Akter were shot dead in separate incidents in the city. Police investigation sources claim Tawhidul was a member of the 'Palash Group' and Khushi Akter sold drugs for B Company; police say disputes over the drug trade and dominance lay behind both killings.
Several police sources say most of the recent killings in Khulna stem from the arms and drug trades, control of extortion, past enmity and feuds among terrorist groups. The sources say nine terrorist groups keep coming up in connection with the recent crimes: Rony Chowdhury alias Grenade Babu's B Company, Sheikh Palash's Palash Group, the Nur Azim group, Ashik Bahini, Humayun Kabir's Huma Bahini, Sheikh Saidur Rahman alias Shaon's Tenki Shaon group, Arman Sheikh's Arman group, Shakil Sheikh's Shakil group and the Nasim group, whose chief Nasimul Gani was shot dead in Dighalia upazila on October 4. Mohammad Ahaduzzaman Mia, deputy commissioner of the Khulna Metropolitan Detective Police, said disputes among terrorist groups over the drug trade and dominance were behind most of the killings and shootings.
Healthcare institutions are also being targeted by extortion and attacks. Nationalist doctors, nurses, officers and employees held a human chain at Sat Rasta Mor on Tuesday to protest attacks, vandalism and extortion at private hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centres. They gave the police and administration seven days to visibly improve the law and order situation, warning of tougher programmes including a work stoppage. Khulna Medical College Hospital director Mostafa Kamal said healthcare workers are living in panic, that terrorists attack and vandalise establishments and shut them down when extortion is not paid, and that no immediate help is available even after calling the police.
Medicine traders, too, have been forced to shut their shops amid extortion demands and death threats. The Chemists and Druggists Association submitted a memorandum to the Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner on Thursday saying large sums in extortion and death threats had been issued to pharmacies including Choyonika Pharmacy in Tutpara and Mallik Brothers in Rupsa, and warned that all pharmacies in Khulna would be shut down if action is not taken against those involved within three days. Mallik Brothers on Rupsa Stand Road remained closed from Monday to Wednesday, and owners shut seven to eight other medicine shops in the same area; they reopened on Thursday after police assurances, but Choyonika Pharmacy on Tutpara Central Road has been closed for more than two weeks.
The repeated shootings have created anxiety among the general public. Although police drives have recovered firearms and arrested criminals, the shootings and killings are not stopping. Khulna Metropolitan Police Commissioner Md Sajjadur Rahman declined to comment when asked why the extortion and killings cannot be stopped. Meanwhile, the SRB arrested Shahariar Islam Rocky, brother of top terrorist Nur Azim, from Shibchar in Madaripur on Thursday night; according to the agency, the Nur Azim gang's name came up in connection with a recent armed attack and vandalism at the New Apollo Diagnostic and Consultation Centre in Khulna over an extortion demand.
