2 restaurant staffs shot

Local traders stage a demonstration at Mirpur in the city yesterday protesting attack on two hotel managers of A K Mazar Co-operative Market by the criminals. PHOTO: STAR

The injured Qazi Motaleb, 38, and Fakhrul Alam, 35, were undergoing treatment at Chest Disease Hospital at Mohalkhali and Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) respectively. Motaleb is a nephew and Fakhrul is a brother-in-law of Shahidullah.

Witnesses said two youths entered Prince Hotel and Restaurant at Mirpur Cooperative Market at 7:15am in the morning and took tea.

"After some time, they approached the cash counter and one of them took out a pistol from back pretending to pull out the purse for paying bill and shot six times targeting the two managers sitting in the cash counter," said a hotel staff.

Motaleb and Fakhrul received two bullets each. Motaleb suffered bullets in the chest and abdomen while Fakhrul in the right hand and back.

After the shooting, they fled away in a CNG three wheelers firing blank shots. Two other gang members standing guard outside the restaurant also followed them in a motorbike.

Earlier on August 12 last year, the same gang gunned down the owner of Prince Group Shahidullah soon after he came out of a local mosque after offering Juma prayers.

Besides, the gang had killed several businesspersons including business leader Aftab Ahmed, traders Monu Mia, Ripon Chowdhury, Mahbub and Shanto in the last two years.

Shahidullah's family members alleged that members of Shahadat group were pressing the family to withdraw names of the already arrested gang members from the First Information Report (FIR).

The gang members called several times over mobile phone to Shahidullah's family and asked them to withdraw names of their fellows from the FIR after Detective Branch (DB) of Police arrested 10 members of the gang around 20 days ago, alleged one of the family members.

"You will have to face the fate of Shahidullah if you do not carry out our command," a family member said seeking anonymity.

Stories about the well-organised Shahadat-Khorshed gang, which has about 250 paid cohorts in areas under Mirpur, Kafrul, Pallabi and Shah Ali police stations, came to light after the DB police arrested its 10 cadres.