A local fish trader was killed in an attack by assailants in Saltha upazila of Faridpur early Friday.
Utpal Sarkar, 35, of Ronkoil village under Kanaipur Union in Faridpur Sadar was attacked and killed near the Kalitala bridge area in Gaurdia of Atghar Union around 4:45 am today.
During the incident, the miscreants blindfolded the van driver accompanying him and tied him to a bridge.
Local residents spotted the bloodied body and informed the police. At around 9:00 am, police recovered the body and sent it to the morgue of Faridpur Medical College Hospital.
According to Saltha police and witnesses, residents noticed a body lying in a pool of blood in an open field beside the road at dawn. Nearby, van driver Firoz Molla, from the same village, was found tied to a bridge. His eyes were blindfolded. Later, he recounted the events of the early morning to local residents.
Quoting the van driver, Kazi Shaheen of Ronkoil village said that the deceased was a fish trader. As on every other day, he was on his way to Muksudpur in Gopalganj to purchase fish, travelling in a battery-powered van. On the way, three to four unidentified robbers blindfolded the van driver, Firoz, with a gamchha (towel) at knifepoint and tied him to the railing of the bridge. They then looted the money Utpal was carrying and hacked him indiscriminately, killing him before fleeing the scene.
Saltha police station officer-in-charge KM Maruf Hasan said that two to three assailants were involved in the incident, according to preliminary findings.
He, however, added that the incident cannot be categorised as a robbery at this stage. “An investigation is under way. The actual motive will be known once the inquiry is complete,” he said.