Dhaka, Dec 22: A senior student leader was critically injured after being shot in the head by unidentified assailants in Bangladesh’s Khulna city on Monday, marking the second such attack on leaders of last year’s student-led uprising within days.
Muhammad Motaleb Sikdar, Khulna division head of the National Citizen Party and a central coordinator of its workers’ front, was taken to Khulna Medical College Hospital for emergency treatment, party officials said.
“He was shot and rushed to hospital in a critical condition,” said NCP joint principal coordinator Mahmuda Mitu in a social media post.
Hospital sources told Kaler Kantha that Sikdar suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of his head and was bleeding profusely when he arrived at the facility.
The shooting comes shortly after the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi, a leading figure in the student-led protests that swept Bangladesh last year and led to the fall of the Awami League government.
Hadi was shot by masked gunmen on December 12 while campaigning in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. The 32-year-old later died in a Singapore hospital, where he was flown for advanced treatment.
The interim government headed by Muhammad Yunus observed nationwide mourning after Hadi’s death and pledged a thorough investigation, as fresh unrest broke out in Dhaka and other major cities following the attack.
