Two people were killed and two others critically injured on Monday as suspected members of the armed ‘Kakon Bahini’ gang opened fire during a turf war over the control of a char land on the Padma River in Bagha upazila of Rajshahi.
Police and locals said that the shooting occurred at around noon in the Nichkhanpur char area in a dispute over dominance on the river island.
The deceased were identified as Aman Mondal, 36, and Nazmul Hossain, 33, both from Khanpur char area.
Aman was declared dead at Bagha Upazila Health Complex, while Nazmul succumbed to his injuries on the way to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
Two others — Muntaz Mondal, 32, and Rakib Hossain, 18 — were admitted to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in a critical condition.
Md Asaduzzaman, officer-in-charge of the Bagha police station, said that four injured men were taken to the upazila health complex, where doctors declared Aman dead and referred the others to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital.
Shankar K Biswas, in-charge of the RMCH emergency department, said that two people with bullet wounds were admitted on Monday evening, adding that one dead body, referred from Bagha, was kept in an ambulance outside the hospital.
Family members claimed that the victims had gone to the char to clear a piece of land that had recently emerged from the Padma River.
‘Armed men from the notorious Kakon Bahini opened fire without warning,’ said Minhaz Mondal, father of the deceased Aman, adding that he would file a case over the killings.
Belal Hossain, a resident of Khanpur village, said that several locals were clearing the land when the gunmen made the attack to seize the control of the land.
According to locals, Kakon Bahini operates across nearly 40 kilometres of the Padma River — from Nazirganj in Pabna’s Sujanagar to Charghat in Rajshahi — and is known for extorting money from sand traders, fishermen, and farmers along the river, often brandishing firearms to assert dominance.
