A local Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader was shot to death in Chandraganj area of Lakshmipur on Saturday night, in what is being seen as yet another intra-party conflict over establishing dominance in the area.
The victim, Abul Kalam Zahir, 50, was the general secretary of Ward No. 8 BNP under the Chandraganj Union unit.
The attack took place at about 8:30pm in village Paschim Latifpur of Chandraganj.
Local people said that unidentified assailants shot Zahir dead and left him on the road near Mustafa Shop in Paschim Latifpur. He died on the spot.
They also claimed that Zahir had earlier been involved in drug and soil trading but had recently been distancing himself from those activities.
It is suspected that rivals killed him over a power struggle in the locality.
Chandraganj Police Station officer-in-charge Faizul Azim said they rushed to the spot after receiving information.
He added that the motive behind the killing is yet to be determined by police, pending an investigation.
Intra-party feuding within the BNP has witnessed an alarming spike since the political changeover on August 5, 2024.
According to a report last month by the Human Rights Support Society, a total of 104 BNP men had been killed since the fall of the previous Awami League-led regime till October 14.
As many as 88 of those deaths had been at the hands of their own party's members, even as most observers and the party itself anticipates returning to power after two decades in the wilderness, through elections now set for February next year.