A day after a union parishad chairman in Jhenaidah was killed, police said no arrests had been made and that there were no leads they could follow to trace the killers or figure out their motives.
Ruhul Amin, a local Awami League leader and chairman of the Naldanga union parishad in Jhenaidah sadar upazila, was murdered on Sunday.
He was first bombed then stabbed to death by a gang of unidentified killers.
Following the incident, State Minister of Fisheries and Livestock Abdul Hayee, also an MP from Jhenaidah-1, visited the hospital where Ruhul’s body was being kept.
So far, police managed to seize five crude bombs and five machetes from the spot, but no suspects were arrested and no case was filed in connection.
Sources said, 52-year-old Ruhul lived in Bagutia village in Jhenaidah sadar upazila and was the present chairman of Naldanga union parishad. He was known to have a private gang of his own, named Ruhul Bahini.
Additional Superintendent of Jhenaidah police Mohammad Hasanuzzaman said, Ruhul was having a meeting with his men near the town’s Al Falah Clinic at 7:50pm, when a gang of miscreants threw bombs in his direction.
He got injured and tried to retreat into a nearby lane, but the attackers caught him and stabbed him to death.
As locals rushed to the spot, the gang members got away by throwing bombs and shooting at them.
Sources said, Ruhul had a chequered history as a politician. He successfully participated in the last union parishad polls after serving time in prison.
In the 90s, he used to be a member of the outlawed Biplabi Communist Party (ML-Haque group), from which he was expelled after he allegedly killed four party activists.
After which he formed a gang, Ruhul Bahini, and became involved in various criminal activities because of which he went to prison several times.
Jhenaidah police station’s officer-in-charge Kazi Jalal Uddin Ahmed said Ruhul was a ruling Awami League leader when he died. There was at least 13 cases against him with the police station, including cases for four murders, extortion etc.
