Unidentified miscreants shot BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s adviser Reaz Rahman, injuring him seriously, and set fire to his car in Gulshan of the capital last night.
Reaz was returning from Khaleda’s Gulshan office. When his car reached close to the Doreen Tower at Gulshan 2 intersection around 8:45pm, the criminals pounced on him, said Lutful Kabir, deputy police commissioner of the Gulshan division.
He was taken to the United Hospital in Gulshan where physicians said he had taken four bullets on the back of his waist and left leg. Doctors said he was now out of danger.
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia harshly condemned the “deadly” attack on Riaz, who was her state minister for foreign affairs, and alleged that it was instigated by the government high-ups.
In protest, the BNP has called a 24-hour hartal starting 6am Thursday. BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the hartal announcement in a press statement late last night.
Reaz went to meet “confined” Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office around 8pm. His car was parked at approximately six minutes’ walking distance from the office. He came out of the office shortly after 8:30pm.
Witness Khokon Mia, security in-charge of Doreen Tower, said a sedan car was parked inside an alley behind the tower. It slowly started moving towards the main road after a man got in.
“Suddenly six young men in three motorbikes appeared. One motorbike came from behind, went past, and and stopped right in front the car, forcing it to pull over,” he said.
“Two young men from another bike got down and pulled the passenger [Reaz] out of the car. He was sitting on the left side of the back seat,” he said.
“The driver fled the scene in fear. The young men started vandalising the car and torched it pouring some kind of liquid. In the meantime, the other young men shot the man four times.
“It was dark and I could not figure out whether they shot him from point-blank range,” Khokon Mia said.
After the incident, the young men sped towards Mohakhali on their motorbikes. They fired two blank rounds while leaving the area. Some security guards of nearby buildings tried to go close to the car but could not because of the fire, and also out of fear that they might get shot.
Wounded Reaz then crawled towards the adjacent seven-storey Seba House, looking for help. “He was trying to say something using gestures because he could not talk,” Khokon described.
By then, hearing the gunshots, a patrol team of Gulshan police led by SI Mahbub came to the spot and took him to the hospital. Locals doused the fire in the car and another police team took it to the local police station, Khokon said.
Dr Aminul Islam from the orthopedics department of United Hospital told the Dhaka Tribune that Reaz was bleeding from the wounds, and they were preparing for a surgery to take the bullets out.
Amena Rahman, daughter of Reaz, said the driver informed them over phone about the incident.
She said, “We do not want to name any suspects in the incident.”
Several incidents of shooting and exploding crude bombs have been reported in the past few days.
Yesterday, four crude bombs were exploded near the stage of a programme at Sir Salimullah Medical College and Hospital in the capital where Health Minister Mohammad Nasim was the chief guest.
On January 11, two shots were fired at the house of BNP leader Moin Khan in Gulshan while miscreants hurled four crude bombs at another leader of the party Khandaker Mahbub Hossain’s residence at Chamelibagh.
Three crude bombs were found concealed inside books at two courtrooms of the High Court on the same day.
On January 10, the car of BNP chief’s Adviser Sabih Uddin Ahmed came under an arson attack near the party’s Gulshan office.
On the same day, two rounds were fired at BNP leader Abdul Awal Mintoo’s residence at Gulshan.
On January 9, a bomb was hurled at the Banani residence of Law Minister Anisul Haque, damaging a car parked nearby.
