Staff Correspondent :
Two activists of the BNP- Abdul Kuddus (60) and Mehedi (38)-, have been killed in separate intra-party violent clashes in Narayanganj’s Bandar Upazila on Sunday over taking control of a local auto-rickshaw stand.
Abdul Kuddus, a supporter of the Roni-Jafar group, hailed from Hafizibagh area of the upazila. He was the son of late Sadek Ali. Mehedi, a member of the Babu-Mehedi group, was the son of Jalil Munshi from Salehnagar village of the same upazila.
The first murder occurred around 9:30 PM
on Saturday near Shahi Mosque area and the other in the early hours of Sunday near Sirajuddoula Club Being informed, Narayanganj District Police Superintendent Pratyush Kumar Mojumdar visited the crime scenes and asked the law enforcement to launch a manhunt.
According the police conducted raids and arrested three suspects: Shanto (26), son of Nannu Miah; Robin (26), son of Alamchan; and Sohel Chowdhury (28), son of Selim Chowdhury. All are residents of Bandar upazila.
A tense atmosphere has been prevailing in the area since the killings. Even on Sunday afternoon, additional police forces were deployed around the Bandar Railway area to maintain law and order.
The rivalry had intensified between two local BNP factions: the Roni-Jafar group, aligned with former ward-23 councillor and BNP Metropolitan Joint Convener Abul Kawsar Asha, and the Babu-Mehedi group, aligned with former ward-21 councillor and BNP leader Hannan Sarkar. The factions had clashed just two days earlier, injuring at least eight people.
On Saturday night around 9:30 PM, supporters of the Babu-Mehedi group allegedly attacked Abdul Kuddus, a Roni-Jafar loyalist, with sharp weapons, leaving him critically injured. He was taken to the local health complex where doctors declared him dead. In response, Kuddus’s supporters blocked a road near the railway area.
Later, at around 3:00 AM, Mehedi and his associates were passing through the Sirajuddoula Club field when members of the Roni-Jafar group reportedly chased them down, caught Mehedi, and subjected him to a brutal mob beating and stabbing. Locals rescued the seriously injured Mehedi and took him to Khanpur 300-bed hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to Mahfuzul Sourav, Mehedi’s brother-in-law, “At the time of the first murder, Mehedi was at home, in the Amin Residential Area, about a kilometer away. While searching for opposition members after the first attack, they spotted Mehedi on the road, abducted him, and tortured him at Sirajuddoula Club. His chest, head, and face were completely smashed. We found his body at the hospital.”
Former councillor Abul Kawsar Asha stated, “Roni and Mehedi were once like brothers, involved in student politics together. They were even jailed together during the Awami League regime.” However, he acknowledged rising tensions between the two over the past six months centering establishing control over teenage gangs, drug trade, and local dominance.
Denying any involvement in the current conflict, he said, “Both Roni and Mehedi were closer to Hannan Sarkar. This is a local rivalry being twisted into a political issue. I have no conflict with Hannan either. I’m being politically targeted.”
Attempts to reach Hannan Sarkar for comment were unsuccessful. He did not respond to calls or text messages.
Police Superintendent Pratyush Kumar Mojumdar stated, “These killings stemmed from a local power struggle. Everyone involved whether directly or behind the scenes will be brought to justice. No one will be spared.”
