Dhaka, June 08: Unidentified assailants killed a ruling party member and an opposition politician in separate attacks in northern Bangladesh this week, police said. Belal Hossain, a local leader of ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party, was stabbed to death yesterday outside his house in Pabna district, 120 km north of the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, said a police officer on condition of anonymity. No one has been arrested for the attack.
In the other incident, about a dozen masked attackers waylaid Momtazuddin, a local leader of the main opposition Awami League Party, outside his home in Natore district Friday night and hacked him to death with axes, police said.
Momtazuddin, 55, a former member of Parliament, was riding a motorbike back home from a wedding reception when the attack happened in Natore, 160 km northwest of Dhaka.
Police said a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has been arrested as a suspect in the murder of Momtazuddin, who uses on e name. They refused to provide further details.
Bangladesh's political opposition and human rights groups have criticised Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's government for failing to prevent a wave of assaults that has killed more than 400 people last month, including politicians and police officers.
Some critics say the attacks are linked to a political rivalry mainly between Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League, the largest opposition group, of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Bureau Report