Dhaka, Feb 23 (IANS) A Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader was injured after unidentified assailants opened fire in Dhaka’s Kalabagan area, local media reported.
This incident on Sunday night came just days after the BNP, led by Tarique Rahman, formed the government following its decisive victory in the 13th Parliamentary elections.
The 55-year-old injured Shafiqur Rahman, who serves as the joint general secretary of Kalabagan Ward-16 BNP, was shot outside the shoe market opposite Bashundhara Shopping Complex under Kalabagan Police Station, Bangladeshi media outlet UNB reported.
According to a local shopkeeper, Shahparan, who rushed Shafiqur to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the injured BNP leader supplies shoes to several local shops.
“Suddenly, a bullet hit his left hand. I cannot say who or what shot him,” UNB quoted the shopkeeper as saying.
Confirming the incident, Inspector Md Faruk, in charge of the police camp at the hospital, said a businessman with gunshot injuries was brought from Kalabagan and is receiving treatment at the emergency department.
“We have informed Kalabagan Police Station about the matter,” he added.
Last week, at least nine people were injured, and a house was set ablaze amid escalating incidents of post-election violence in five districts across Bangladesh, local media reported.
As violence intensified, six individuals sustained injuries after two groups of BNP workers clashed in Lalpur upazila of the Natore district on the night of February 14.
“At least six people were injured during the clash,” Bangladesh’s leading newspaper The Daily Star quoted Md Mojibar Rahman, officer-in-charge of Lalpur Police Station, as saying.
He stated that two suspects were arrested and a firearm was recovered from the scene, adding that a case was filed in connection with the incident.
In a separate incident, a BNP worker, Giasuddin Rasel, was injured in an attack allegedly carried out by members of Jamaat-e-Islami in Sherpur district’s Sadar upazila.
In another act of violence, a gang reportedly torched the house of Jamaat supporter Shokor Akunji in Mashiali village under Phultala upazila in Khulna district.
“We could not identify the attackers,” said Shokor’s son Abdur Razzak.
In its latest report, Dhaka-based Human Rights Support Society (HRSS) revealed that at least 10 people were killed and 2,503 injured in election-related violence between October 2025 and February 14, during the 13th national parliamentary election, local media reported.
As per the findings, HRSS recorded more than 700 incidents of violence across the country, leaving 10 people dead and more than 2,500 injured.
It added that as many as 34 people suffered bullet injuries, while more than 500 houses, vehicles, businesses, election offices and polling centres were vandalised, looted or set on fire.
With Tarique Rahman at the helm, experts warn that Bangladesh faces a formidable challenge in overcoming the unrest and rising Islamist extremism that marked the 18-month tenure of the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.
–IANS
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