A former union council member and accused in a rape-and-murder case was shot dead by a group of assailants in Pabna’s Atgharia upazila on Monday. Police said the victim, identified as Adam Ali, 60, was attacked with firearms and sharp weapons while returning home on a motorcycle.
The incident took place on Monday afternoon, 7 September, in the Chandipasha area of Ekdanta Union. On the same day, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested a man named Eradul Islam, 55, in connection with the murder case.
Adam Ali was the son of the late Nurul Islam of Shatgachha village in Ekdanta Union. According to Selim Hossain, president of the Ekdanta Union unit of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, Adam had served as president of the party’s ward-1 unit in the area.
Police said Adam had been linked to an extremist group and had several criminal cases against him.
According to police and eyewitness accounts, Adam was travelling home from Ekdanta market on his motorcycle on Monday afternoon. When he reached a paved road in front of the house of Ahmed Ali in Chandipasha village, a group of assailants intercepted him.
The attackers allegedly opened fire and then assaulted him with sharp weapons. Adam sustained fatal injuries and died at the scene.
Police later recovered his body from the spot and sent it to the morgue for a post-mortem examination. Officers have since begun investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing, including the identity and possible motive of those involved.
Following the incident, Adam’s son filed a murder case with Atgharia Police Station. The case names 14 individuals and includes another five to seven unidentified suspects.
Within 24 hours of the case being filed, a RAB-12 team from Pabna conducted an operation in the Gopalpur Tatipara area of Atgharia and arrested Eradul Islam. He is the son of the late Abdul of Chandipasha village.
RAB said a mobile phone, two SIM cards and Tk1,750 in cash were recovered from Eradul following his arrest. Investigators are expected to examine his alleged involvement in the killing and determine whether other suspects were connected to the attack.
Atgharia Police Station officer-in-charge Nazmul Haque said the killing may have stemmed from an internal dispute within an extremist group. He stressed that the motive was still being investigated.
Adam was also the prime accused in a rape-and-murder case involving a young woman from Shatgachha village. The incident was reported on 24 December 2024.
According to the officer, RAB had arrested Adam in connection with that case. Police said he admitted during interrogation to raping the woman and strangling her to death. After completing its investigation, the case’s investigating officer submitted a charge sheet to the court on 31 December 2025, naming Adam as the principal accused.
Adam had spent nearly a year in custody before being released on bail recently and returning to his home area. His return was followed by Monday’s fatal attack.
The latest murder has therefore brought renewed attention to the earlier rape-and-murder case, while police and RAB continue investigating the circumstances of Adam’s death. The arrest of Eradul is expected to form part of the wider inquiry into the alleged attack and the roles of those named in the new murder case.
