A 33-year-old man has been shot by two masked assailants who approached him on a motorcycle and asked for the address of a Bangladeshi expatriate in Mohanganj, Netrokona district. The incident took place at around 5.30am on Sunday in the Mailora area, raising fresh concerns about public safety following a fatal shooting elsewhere in the district just days earlier.
The victim, Sujon Pal, sustained a gunshot wound to his back and is receiving treatment at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital. He was initially taken to Mohanganj Upazila Health Complex before being referred for more advanced medical care.
According to police and local residents, the shooting occurred on a paved road beside a pond, approximately 100 metres east of the Ramakrishna Mission in Mailora.
Pal is the son of Jitendra Pal and comes from Mendipur village in neighbouring Khaliajuri upazila. He works at Monoroma Mishtanna Bhandar, a sweet shop in Mohanganj, and lives with his wife in a rented house in the Mailora area.
Assailants opened fire as victim tried to flee
Police and local sources said Pal had risen early on Sunday morning and gone to a pond near his home to wash his hands and face. As he returned to the adjoining road, two men wearing masks arrived on a motorcycle and asked him for the address of Palash Saha, a Bangladeshi expatriate living in Dubai.
The situation took a violent turn when one of the men produced a firearm. Alarmed by the weapon, Pal attempted to run away. The assailant then fired at him from behind, leaving him on the ground with a gunshot wound.
After the shooting, the two men fled on their motorcycle towards Deothan Kali Temple, according to local accounts.
Residents rushed to the injured man’s aid and took him to Mohanganj Upazila Health Complex. His subsequent referral to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital was necessary to ensure access to more advanced treatment.
The motive for the attack remains unclear. Investigators have yet to establish why the assailants were seeking the expatriate’s address or whether Palash Saha was directly connected to the shooting.
Victim’s wife recounts the incident
Tumpa Pal, the victim’s wife, said her husband had gone to the pond beside their home to wash his hands and feet. Shortly afterwards, she heard gunfire and found him lying on the ground.
Local people subsequently helped take him to hospital.
According to Tumpa, her husband told her that the two masked men had approached him on the road and asked for the address of an expatriate. When one of them pulled out a firearm, he panicked and tried to escape, only to be shot from behind.
Her account broadly corresponds with the details provided by local residents and the initial information gathered by police. However, the circumstances surrounding the attack and the identities of those responsible remain under investigation.
Police examine CCTV footage
Mohanganj Police Station officer-in-charge Hafizul Islam said residents had reported that the assailants’ faces were covered. He confirmed that Pal was receiving treatment at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital and that doctors had reported a gunshot wound to his back.
Police are examining CCTV footage from cameras installed at and around the scene in an effort to identify the suspects.
Netrokona Superintendent of Police Tarikul Islam said the authorities were working to determine the circumstances of the shooting and establish the identities of those involved. Efforts to identify and arrest the suspects were continuing, he added.
Police have not yet announced any arrests or confirmed a motive for the attack. It also remains unclear whether the shooting was intended to target Pal or whether he became a victim after encountering the armed men.
Fresh shooting heightens concern in Netrokona
The incident has added to concerns over security in Netrokona, where a journalist was killed in a separate shooting only days earlier.
On Thursday night, journalist Lutfuzzaman Ali Fakir was shot dead by assailants in Durgapur upazila of the district. The latest attack in Mohanganj, coming within days of that fatal incident, has heightened public anxiety about armed violence in the area.
There is currently no confirmed evidence linking the two incidents, and investigators have not suggested that they are connected.
Nevertheless, the succession of shootings has placed renewed attention on the need to identify those responsible and establish the circumstances behind each attack. For residents, the latest incident is particularly troubling because it occurred early in the morning on a road near a residential area, where Pal had gone about an ordinary daily activity.
The investigation in Mohanganj is now focused on identifying the masked assailants, tracing their movements and determining why they sought the expatriate’s address before opening fire.
Until those questions are answered, the motive for the shooting remains uncertain. Police say their efforts to identify and apprehend the suspects are continuing.
