Police have recovered three bullet-riddled bodies in Shailkupa, Jhenaidah. Police believe that the three people were shot dead by miscreants. The incident took place at around 8 pm on Friday (February 21) in the Ramchandrapur Tribeni crematorium canal area of the upazila. It is learnt that all three deceased were associated with a terrorist group.
Immediately after the incident, a text message from an anonymous number reached media personnel. There, the sender of the text message claimed to be Kalu, the leader of the 'Jsd Gano Bahini', and claimed responsibility for the killing of the three. However, it could not be confirmed whether the sender of the text message was actually Kalu.
The identities of two of the three deceased have been found. They are Abu Hanif alias Hanif Ali (56) of Ahadnagar village in Harinakundu upazila of Jhenaidah and his brother-in-law Liton Hossain (35) of Srirampur village. Among them, Hanif is the regional leader of the East Bengal Communist Party (Janajuddha). It is initially known that the other two deceased were associated with the terrorist group.
The statement sent by the terrorist leader Kalu, in the form of a text message, said, "This is to inform the residents of Jhenaidah, Chuadanga, Magura, Kushtia, Jashore, Khulna that Hanif, a resident of Harinakundu, accused of numerous murders, disappearances, encroachments, robberies, and rapes, was killed by members of the Jsd Gano Bahini along with his two associates." Hanif's associates in this area have been ordered to rectify themselves; otherwise you will face the same fate.'
Local resident Masud Rana said that at around 8:30 pm, the locals heard three to four gunshots. After that, no one came out of their houses out of fear. Panic spread throughout the area. A few hours later, at around 11:30 pm, the locals gathered and went to the spot and saw three bodies and two motorcycles lying there. They then informed the police.
Matiar Rahman of Ramchandrapur Police Camp in Shailkupa Upazila said that the locals heard gunshots at night and informed the police. When they reached the spot, the bodies of three people were found lying there. All three had been shot in the head.
Shailkupa Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Masum Khan confirmed the incident and said, "We reached the spot after receiving the news and found three bodies. Looking at the bodies, it seems that they were shot dead. One of them is named Hanif. He was a leader of the East Bengal Communist Party. The other is Hanif's brother-in-law Liton. However, the identity of the other one has not been found yet.
The OC also said that two black Pulsar motorcycles, a magazine and bullets were found at the scene. The reason for the incident cannot be said before the investigation.
Police and locals said that for a long time, there has been a dispute between two extremist parties, the Purba Bangla Communist Party (Janajuddha) and the Jsd Gano Bahini, over the dominance of Kushtia, Jhenaidah and Chuadanga. On Friday night, the opponents received news of a secret meeting of Purba Bangla Communist Party leaders in the Ramchandrapur crematorium area. There are various cases against the deceased Hanif, including at least 13 murders. Five people were killed at the same place on December 5, 2003.
The deceased Hanif was a death row convict. He was sentenced to death in the murder case of Abdur Rahman of Kulbaria village in Harinakundu upazila. Although the death sentence was upheld by the High Court, Hanif returned to the area with a special pardon from former President Abdul Hamid.