Journalist Alif shot six times, post-mortem finds

Journalist Lutfozzaman Fakir Alif was shot six times before he was killed in Durgapur, Netrokona, a post-mortem examination has found.

Five bullets passed through his body. Another remained lodged in his back. The bullet was recovered during the post-mortem at Netrokona Sadar Hospital on Friday.

Dr Shroddhananda Nath, who conducted the examination, told Daily Waadaa that three bullets struck Alif in the chest. Two passed through his body. The third was found lodged in his back.

Another bullet entered through the right side of his forehead and exited through the back of his head. A fifth bullet grazed the skin on the top of his head. The sixth passed through the skin near his right shoulder.

“From the entry and exit wounds, the preliminary assessment is that Alif was shot from the front,” Nath said.

Alif was shot at around 8pm on Thursday at Uttarail Bazar on the Shyamganj–Birishiri road.

Police said two young men arrived on a motorcycle and opened fire.

Durgapur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khandaker Shaker Ahmed said Alif suffered gunshot wounds to several parts of his body, including his head, neck and chest. Local residents rushed to the scene after hearing gunshots. The attackers had already fled.

Alif was taken to Durgapur Upazila Health Complex in critical condition. The duty doctor declared him dead. Police have yet to identify the attackers or establish a motive.

ASP Circle Al-Imranul Alam told Waadaa that investigators were examining several possible motives. Alif’s journalistic work is among them.

Asked whether Alif had previously filed a general diary seeking police protection, Alam said the journalist had been injured in an attack in November last year. He could not immediately recall the exact date.

Waadaa also asked whether Alif’s family had named anyone they suspected of involvement in Thursday’s killing. Alam said Alif’s wife had fainted after seeing her husband’s body.

Local police records show Alif survived another attack on November 10 last year near Teribazar Ghat, on the bank of the Someshwari River in Durgapur.

Unidentified assailants allegedly attacked him with sharp weapons, leaving him injured. A colleague who tried to intervene was also reportedly threatened at knifepoint.

Police have not yet said whether investigators believe that attack was connected to Thursday’s killing.