Motaleb Sikder was shot in the head in southwestern Khulna city on Monday. Unidentified gunmen on Monday shot at another youth leader in Bangladesh, days after the death of Sharif Osman Hadi – a prominent radical student leader who died at a hospital in Singapore last week after being shot in Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. Motaleb Sikder was shot in the head in southwestern Khulna city on Monday.
Sikder was reportedly rushed to Khulna Medical College Hospital in a critical condition. Sikder was shot on the left side of his head, and he was bleeding profusely when he was brought to the facility, where the doctors started emergency treatment. Motaleb Sikder is a leader of National Citizen Party (NCP) and heads the Khulna Division head of party and also serves as its workers front’s central coordinator, as per the statement released by the outfit after the shooting incident.
“The Khulna Division head of NCP (National Citizen Party) and central coordinator of the party’s workers front, Motaleb Sikder, was shot a few minutes ago,” NCP said in a Facebook post. Sikder, 42, reportedly was a key part of Bangladesh’s violent student-led 2004 uprising. Sikder is a resident of Sheikhpara Palli in Sonadanga, The Daily Star reported. Miscreants opened fire at around 11:45 am, targeting Sikder’s head, near Gazi Medical College Hospital in the city, the report quoted Md Rafikul Islam, officer-in-charge (investigation) of Sonadanga Model Police Station.
Citing doctors, the officer-in-charge said Motaleb is out of danger. The bullet entered through one side of his ear, pierced the skin, and exited through the other side, he said. The attack came days after Sharif Osman Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area. The 32-year-old Inqilab Mancha spokesperson died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on Thursday. Hadi was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
