Staff Reporter :
Ducsu Vice President Md Abu Sadik Kayem has termed the shooting of Dhaka-8 aspiring candidate Sharif Osman Hadi – which took place barely a day after the national election schedule was announced – as a highly disturbing warning sign ahead of the polls.
In a Facebook post on Friday, he cautioned that the incident casts serious doubt on the fairness of the upcoming election and the safety of candidates nationwide.
“The defeated fascist elements have already begun issuing threats and undertaking various activities to disrupt the election process.
Their domestic and international allies are similarly unwilling to see the polls proceed,” he wrote.
Kayem urged the interim government to promptly identify the shooter and inform the nation whether the attack had any political motive.
He also called for robust security arrangements to ensure the protection of all candidates, regardless of political affiliation, as the election campaign gains momentum.
Earlier in the afternoon, unidentified assailants on a motorcycle shot Hadi – spokesperson of Inqilab Mancha and a potential candidate for Dhaka-8 – in the head in the capital’s Paltan area, according to police and witnesses.
He was immediately taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where he underwent surgery around 3:50pm.
The attack came just a day after the Election Commission declared the schedule for the 13th national parliamentary election.
