AL leader killed in South Africa: Bulletproof glass, bodyguards couldn’t save him

Abu Naser, 50, former joint secretary of the South Africa Awami League, had long feared he could come under attack. As a precaution, he installed bulletproof glass at his shop and hired security guards as bodyguards.

In the end, however, he was killed in gunfire by assailants. The shooting took place in Soweto, near Johannesburg, South Africa at around 5:00 pm on Tuesday.

Family members said Abu Naser was shot dead by armed attackers in front of his business premises in Soweto. Relatives insist this was not an ordinary robbery, but a premeditated killing. They allege he was murdered by hired killers.

Members of the local Bangladeshi expatriate community said that despite strengthening his security, Abu Naser was gunned down outside his own business.

The attackers reportedly fired six to seven rounds of bullets at him, ensuring his death. His family suspects the killing stemmed from a long-running business dispute with another Bangladeshi expatriate.

Abu Naser was from Badamtali area in Ward No. 8 of Char Kakra Union in Companiganj upazila of Noakhali. He owned a shopping mall in South Africa.

His eldest son, Abu Rafsan, said his father had moved to South Africa in 2007 and had since operated various businesses there. He said a dispute had recently arisen between his father and another businessman from Noakhali over a partnership in a large shop, and that his father was killed after that conflict emerged.

Rafsan also confirmed that Abu Naser had served as joint secretary of the South Africa Awami League.

According to Abu Rafsan, the family had been concerned ever since the dispute began. For his protection, his father had installed bulletproof glass at the shop and hired bodyguards. Even so, he could not be saved.

He said his father was shot dead in front of the shop yesterday, when assailants lying in wait opened fire, shooting six to seven rounds. He died at the scene.