A 55-year-old man with alleged ties to an outlawed left-wing extremist group was shot dead in broad daylight on Sunday morning at a roadside tea stall in the Dighalia sub-district of Khulna.

The deceased has been identified as Mohammad Nasimul Karim. According to eyewitnesses and local sources, the incident occurred around 11:30 am when Karim was seated outside Tayeb Ali Shikdar’s tea shop in the Farmaishkhana area. Two unidentified assailants arrived at the scene on a motorbike, drew firearms, and discharged multiple rounds directly at him before speeding away.

Family members rushed the critically injured Karim to Khulna Medical College Hospital, where attending physicians declared him dead on arrival. His body has been moved to the hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Police swiftly responded to the crime scene, recovering three spent cartridge casings, three live rounds, and a magazine. Sanowar Hossain, Officer-in-Charge of Dighalia Police Station, confirmed that a comprehensive investigation is underway to track down the perpetrators and establish the exact sequence of events.

Preliminary police assessments suggest the targeted killing stems from internal rivalries within underground outlaw factions or a turf war over territorial dominance in the region. Abir Siddique Shuvro, Additional Superintendent of Police in Khulna, revealed that initial records link Karim to the Purbo Banglar Communist Party (Janajuddha), a banned extremist organization. Law enforcement agencies further noted that Karim had a history of criminal allegations, with at least eight police cases previously filed against him involving armed violence, attacks on police officers, and obstructing public servants in the line of duty.

South-western Bangladesh, particularly the Khulna division, has historically witnessed periodic violence connected to radical left-wing outfits. Though large-scale insurgent activities have diminished significantly over recent years due to sustained law enforcement operations and government rehabilitation schemes, splinter groups and former operatives occasionally resurface in violent clashes over local extortion rings and factional supremacy. Police patrols in Dighalia have been reinforced to prevent further reprisals while intelligence units gather information on the fleeing gunmen.