A gang of miscreants threw bombs at a local activist of the ruling Awami League and then hacked him to death in Ramchandrapurhat area in Sadar upazila here yesterday.
The victim Azizur Rahman Azu, 38, was the ringleader of Azu Bahini which allegedly works for local AL, and the son of Lal Mohammad Lalu, of Dihirmat village of the upazila.
Witnesses said some miscreants attacked Azu by hurling crude bombs in the area around 12pm and then hacked at him indiscriminately with lethal weapons when he was having tea at roadside tea stall, leaving him dead on the spot.
On being informed, a team of policemen from Chapainawabganj sadar police station recovered the body and sent it to the district hospital morgue for an autopsy.
Infuriated by the killing, Azu Bahini followers started sporadically vandalising and looting all shops of Ramchandrapur bazar around 2:30pm. At one stage, the unruly supporters set fire to the shops, said Nawabganj police station OC Md Jasim Uddin.
Upon receiving information, the local fire fighting unit rushed to the spot and doused the blaze.
Meanwhile, a good number of police, RAB and BGB members went to the spot and stopped the vandalism, the OC continued.
Chapainawabganj SP Basir Ahmed said AL-backed Azu Bahini and BNP-blessed Kalam gang have been at loggerheads for a long time over the establishment of their dominance in the area and this might have been the motive for the murder.
The situation was under control and necessary law enforcing members were deployed in the area to prevent any further untoward incident, said Chapainawabganj DC Sardar Sorafat Ali. The DC and the SP visited the spot.
