An NBR member might have been mistakenly targeted by unidentified gunmen – who shot and injured 56-year-old Barrister Jahangir Hossain Howlader at Banani on Monday evening, investigators have said.
After receiving a bullet wound to his waist, surgeons operated on Jahangir and was able to bring out the bullet. Doctors said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) member was now out of danger, but was still under monitoring at the ICU of the capital’s United Hospital.
At around 7pm on Monday, some criminals opened fire on Jahangir as we was walking near the customs officers quarters on Banani Road Number 2.
Ashraf Hossain, nephew of Jahangir, said some four to five people arrived in the area in a car on Monday and shot at Jahangir, who Ashraf claimed had no enemy.
A case was filed with Banani police station on this regard against unidentified persons.
Meanwhile, investigators said they suspect that the attackers might have intended to target another senior NBR official who had similar physical features as Jahangir, and lived in the same place as well.
They said the other NBR official had led several large-scale gold hauls at Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet airports during the last two years which eventually resulted in the arrest of many smugglers; this might have been a motive behind Monday’s attack, investigators said.
They suspect that Jahangir was inadvertently shot by members of a smuggling syndicate who had originally intended to hit the other official, whose name was not disclosed because of ongoing investigation.
Sheikh Shaheen Miah, a sub-inspector of Banani police station and the investigation officer of the case, said the police were communicating with Jahangir’s family and other NBR officials to identify the attackers.
Sources at the police told the Dhaka Tribune that an armed policeman has been assigned to protect the NBR official who the police believe was the original target for the attack.
