Police suspect Chattogram-8 shooting was ‘targeted hit’ on slain man, not BNP candidate

Preliminary evidence suggests gunmen aimed at Sarwar, who was killed in the incident

Police say the shooting incident during the campaign of BNP’s Chattogram-8 candidate Ershad Ullah was a planned attack, and that the slain man Sarwar Hossain Babla was the intended target.

Chattogram Metropolitan Police (CMP) Commissioner Hasib Aziz said on Wednesday that preliminary evidence suggests the gunmen aimed at Sarwar, who was killed in the incident.

“From our initial assessment, it appears that Ershad was not the target. The target was Sarwar, who has died,” he told reporters at Evercare Hospital.

He added, “This was Sarwar’s area. The attackers came from outside. Ershad had come here to offer prayers. There are also allegations of criminal activities against Sarwar.”

The shooting took place around 5:30pm near Chalitatoli East Mosque under Bayezid Bostami Police Station while Ershad Ullah was campaigning.

Five people, including Ershad, sustained bullet wounds.

They were taken to Evercare Hospital, where Sarwar was pronounced dead around 6:30pm, said CMP Deputy Commissioner (North) Amirul Islam.

Police said Sarwar was a listed top criminal who had recently begun identifying himself as a BNP activist.

Among the injured were Irfanul Haque Shanto, joint convenor of Ward-3 Swechchhasebak Dal, and Aminul Haque and Mortuza Haque, both involved in BNP.

Earlier, on Mar 30, a similar attempt on Sarwar’s life occurred in the Chandanpura area under Chawkbazar Police Station, when gunmen chased and opened fire on a car he was riding in.

Two people: Bakhtiar Hossain Manik and Md Abdullah, were killed in that attack, while Sarwar managed to escape.

Abdullah’s mother Rasheda Begum later told reporters that several months before that incident, her son had been shot in the leg by “followers of Sajjad” while trying to save Sarwar, who was the intended target at the time.