BNP leader shot dead

A local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was shot and hacked to death by unidentified assailants at Atgharia upazila of Pabna on Monday afternoon. The deceased, Adam Ali Molla, 60, of Shatgachha Schoolpara area under the upazila, is the president of Ekdanta union's ward number 1 unit of the BNP. The police said that Adam, also a former Union Parishad member, was accused in three cases filed on various charges, including murder, rape and explosives. The police and locals said that the BNP leader was returning home from Ekdanta Bazar riding on a motorcycle. When he reached Chandipasha village at about 4:00pm, a group of assailants lying in wait opened fire at him. As he tried to flee, the attackers chased him and shot and hacked him, leaving him dead on the spot. The assailants fled the scene when local people rushed there, locals said. Pabna superintendent of police Abu Ashraf said that they were investigating the incident. 'We have launched drives to arrest those involved in the killing,' he said.