Two BNP men killed on 11th day of blockade

The eleventh day of the indefinite blockade, enforced by the BNP-led 20-Party Alliance, passed off amid killings, arson attacks, blasts and crackdowns in the capital and elsewhere in the country on Friday.
A BNP activist was killed in Chapainawabganj and a Chhatra Dal activist in Noakhali.
In the early hours of the day, an alleged arsonist was killed in a 'gunfight' by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Kansat in Shibganj upazila under Chapainawabganj district.
The victim was identified as Matiur Rahman (35), son of Unsar Ali from Shibganj, according to Maj Kamruzzaman, camp commander of RAB-5.
He said the elite force members detained three arsonists from Kansat Bazar on Thursday afternoon. Following their confessional statements, the RAB members launched a drive with the arrested people to recover firearms.
Sensing the law-enforcers' presence, their other associates opened fire on them forcing them to retaliate, triggering a gun-battle.
"Matiur was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot, while his other cohorts managed to flee."
A pistol, a revolver, two shooter guns, two LGs, five bullets, three magazines, 17 crude bombs, 10 petrol bombs and five locally-made sharp weapons were recovered from the spot, he added.
However, the local BNP leaders turned down the RAB statement, and claimed that the deceased was an activist of their party and fell victim to extrajudicial killing.
The local unit of the BNP-led alliance on Friday called a 36-hour hartal in eight districts of Rajshahi division from Sunday morning protesting the 'killing of the Jatiayatabadi Chhatra Dal leader by Rab men' in Chapainawabganj.
The decision to enforce the shutdown came at an emergency meeting of the combine held in Rajshahi city in the evening.
Confirming the lockdown programme, Rajshahi City Corporation (RCC) mayor Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul, also a member of BNP central executive committee, said the hartal would begin at 6am on Sunday (today) and end at 6pm tomorrow (Monday).
Meanwhile, reports of violence were also reported from various districts, including Dhaka, Gazipur, Joypurhat, Rajshahi, Jhenaidah, Gaibandha and Noakhali.
In Dhaka, two vehicles were torched at Rampura, while crude bombs were exploded at Dhaka University, Kakrail, Bijoy Nagar, Dhanmondi and Badda.
In Joypurhat, a goods-laden truck was set on fire, while the vehicle was running under escort by the law enforcers.
In Nilphamari, police in a drive arrested 19 men of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, including chief and second-in-chief of its municipal unit from Sayedpur upazila, while they were preparing for 'subversive activities'.
UNB adds: In separate incidents, a college student and a Kuwait expatriate have been murdered in Sonaimuri upazila under Noakhali district.
The deceased were identified as Morshed Alam Parvez, 20, a BA student of Sonaimuri College and son of Alamgir Hossain of Sonapur village, and Saleh Ahmed, 42, son of Abdul Hossain of Manikya village in the upazila.
Meanwhile, BNP purported Morshed to be a Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal activist.
Locals said a group of masked criminals swooped on Morshed at Sonapur around 9:45pm on Thursday while he was standing on a road.
The attackers opened fire on him, leaving him dead on the spot.
On information, police recovered the body and sent it to hospital for autopsy.
Meanwhile, Saleh who went missing on Thursday was found slaughtered on Friday afternoon.
On information, police recovered the body of the expatriate from Manikya village.
Family members claimed that identified local criminals killed him after kidnapping him.
Officer-in-charge of Sonaimuri Police Station Asaduzzaman confirmed the murders, saying they were trying to unearth mystery behind the incidents.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com