UPDF leader shot dead, protesters block road in Rangamati

A leader of United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) has been shot dead in Rangamati Sadar upazila, and his two sisters were injured in the same attack, report agencies.
The shooting took place around 7:00 am on Friday in the Kutukchhari residential area, said Rangamati Superintendent of Police Muhammad Abdur Rakib.
The deceased, Dharma Sing Chakma, was the central vice-president of the Democratic Youth Forum, an associate organisation of the UPDF.
In a statement, the Democratic Youth Forum's President Jiko Tripura and General Secretary Barun Chakma condemned the killing.
According to the statement, Dharma Sing was at his home when a group of armed men surrounded the house.
It said he tried to flee after sensing danger, but the attackers opened fire, killing him on the spot.
His sisters, Kripa Sona Chakma and Bhagya Shobha Chakma, were also hit by bullets and injured, the statement said.
The UPDF blamed the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), led by Shantu Larma, for the killing.
The allegation was rejected by Sajib Chakma, assistant information and publicity secretary of the PCJSS.
"I learnt from social media that a UPDF activist has been killed. But there is no question of Jana Samhati Samiti being involved in or responsible for it," he said.
Dharma Sing had previously survived another shooting on March 18, 2018, during the abduction of two leaders of the Hill Women's Federation, another UPDF associate body, from Kutukchhari in Rangamati Sadar.
Though he escaped with his life then, he was killed in Friday's shooting eight years later.
Following the killing, UPDF activists staged protests by burning tyres and blocking the Rangamati-Khagrachhari regional highway for about an hour.