Prime minister pays last respects to slain Gaibandha MP Liton

The Prime minister, Speaker, ministers and lawmakers have paid their last respects to slain MP Manjurul Islam Liton.

The ruling party lawmaker was shot several times in his Gaibandha home on Saturday evening. He succumbed to his wounds in a hospital about an hour later.

The body was flown to Dhaka on Sunday.

A funeral prayer was held at the Parliament's South Plaza on Monday for Liton, who was elected as an MP for the first time from the Gaibandha-1 constituency.

Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah, ministers Syed Ashraful Islam, Mosharraf Hossain, Obaidul Quader, Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, Mujibul Haque, Shajahan Khan, state ministers Shahriar Alam, Mirza Azam along with other Cabinet members, MPs and Awami League leaders joined the funeral prayer.

Deputy Speaker Miah, Chief Whip ASM Firoz and Liton's brother-in-law Abdullah Hil Bari spoke before the funeral prayer.

A lawmaker from Gaibandhda, Deputy Speaker Miah said, "Liton died too early. He is a victim of a Jamaat-e-Islami plot. It was Liton who stopped Ghulam Azam (Jamaat Guru) from entering Sundarganj." 

On behalf of President Md Abdul Hamid, his military secretary paid the last respects to MP Liton.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina then placed a floral wreath and observed a minute's silence followed by Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury.

Flanked by senior party leaders, Hasina then placed another floral wreath on behalf of the Awami League.

Liton's mortal remains will be flown back to Gaibandha and will be buried at his family graveyard in Sundarganj Upazila.

Sundarganj Awami League has been observing a general strike for two days to protest the killing.

The police are as yet not conclusive about the identity of those responsible for the murder.

But it says the probe is focusing on five factors -- a planned murder by JMB or another militant group, a Jamaat attack, political rivalry, family foes, and the fallout of the recent Zila Parishad elections.

The home minister has said that so far 18 people have detained for their suspected involvement.

The slain MP's family has started a police case on Sunday accusing five unidentified men.