Stray bullet kills schoolboy in Chittagong

A 12-year-old boy died from a fatal gunshot wound after taking a stray bullet to the chest at Lohagara upazila in Chittagong district.

The ill-fated boy identified as Maruful Islam, was a sixth-grader at a local school.

The incident took place at Chunati union of Paschim Narichyar Chanda Battoli area under Lohagara upazila around 7pm on Wednesday.

According to the locals, the boy was reading a book in the front yard of his house at the time of the incident.

All of a sudden, his family members heard the sound of a gunshot. Immediately they rushed out of the house and found the boy lying flat on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest.

The boy was whisked off to Lohagara Upazila Health Complex where the on-duty emergency doctor pronounced him dead on arrival.

Later that night, police recovered the boy's body from Lohagara Upazila Health Complex and sent it to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) for autopsy.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Zakir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Lohagara police station said that the boy was killed by a stray bullet fired from an unlicensed firearm owned by one Jiten Barua.

“Jiten was checking his firearms which was loaded. A shot accidentally fired from the gun had hit the boy in the chest,” said the OC.

The deceased’s family lodged a case with Lohagara police station in this regard accusing Jiten Barua.

As of writing this report, police were still trying to apprehend the accused.