A 32-year-old man was shot dead by a group of assailants on Monday night in Jashore city.
The victim, identified as Meer Samir Sakib Sadi, was gunned down near his home on Murrib Road in the city, said additional police superintendent Noor-ul-Alam Siddiqui.
According to eyewitnesses, a group of armed assailants ambushed Sadi, first stabbing him from behind with a knife before shooting him multiple times in the courtyard of his home behind Jayanti Society at around 11:45pm.
Despite one of the rounds misfiring, the attackers fired several more shots, hitting Sadi in the neck and chest.
He was taken to Jashore General Hospital but was declared dead shortly after arrival.
Rakib, Sadi鈥檚 cousin, said that the victim had been targeted after rejecting the demands of local miscreants involved in illegal activities, including extortion and smuggling.
Sadi had strong ties to Mansell, the expelled joint convener of the Awami League-backed Juba League and a top terror in Jashore.
Mansell, who has been on the run since the fall of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024, had his associates, including Sadi, involved in a range of illicit activities in the region, said the police.
It was believed that the assailants, also former associates of Mansell, may have seen Sadi鈥檚 return as a threat to their own criminal interests, ultimately leading to his murder, said the police official.
People of the area said that Sadi was injured in a road accident at Palbari Sculpture intersection in the town on December 9, 2013 after killing Kabir Hossain Polash, the then vice-president of Jashore district Chhatra Dal. One of his legs had to be amputated in the accident.
