In Dumuria upazila of Khulna, two helmeted men on a motorcycle entered a tea stall and shot dead Tarikul Islam Sheikh (35), the son of local BNP leader Abdus Salam Sheikh, on Thursday afternoon — the same day Prime Minister Tarique Rahman visited the district.
Tarikul, a shrimp enclosure (gher) businessman and son of the convener of Rangpur Union BNP (No. 12), was sitting at Gaffar’s tea stall in the Ambhita-Ramakrishnapur Jora Bottala area around 1:45 pm when the assailants arrived. After a brief exchange, they shot him in the head. He died on the spot. Local sources and the Rangpur Union Parishad chairman, Somaresh Mondal, said Tarikul had left home earlier to attend the Prime Minister’s programme in Khulna but returned after failing to get a bus seat and stopped at the tea stall.
His father, Abdus Salam Sheikh, told reporters: “I have nothing to say. Politics has destroyed everything for me.”
Dumuria Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khandaker Hafizur Rahman said police reached the scene, an investigation is underway to identify those involved, and the body was sent to the morgue at Khulna Medical College Hospital.
Broader Collapse in Law and Order Since August 2024
This killing has intensified long-standing concern over the sharp deterioration of law and order in Khulna city and district since August 5, 2024. Police data show that in nearly the first 10 months of 2026 alone, 77 people have been killed (39 in the metropolitan area and 38 in the district). In the metro area, 37 murder cases were recorded up to November 5, claiming 39 lives — already matching or exceeding the full-year figures of recent years (15 cases in 2021, 19 in 2022, 17 in 2023, 29 in 2024 and 34 in 2025).
District police figures are similarly grim, with dozens of killings and at least 35 attempted murders involving firearms and sharp weapons. Earlier reports noted around 71 deaths in roughly 10 months up to late October, with an average of one murder case every four days. Firearms have been used in a significant share of these cases (around 23 shootings in earlier tallies), and nine criminal gangs remain active, fighting over drugs, extortion, and territorial control. Many of those involved were released on bail or returned to the streets after the political changeover in August 2024.
Killings have occurred in public places in broad daylight, and ordinary residents, businesspeople, and even some political activists have been targeted. Previous high-profile visits have also coincided with violence: on or around October 22, when the Prime Minister visited the region, at least two people (including Tawhidul Islam and housewife Khushi Akter) were shot dead in the city within hours of each other.
The brazen shooting of a BNP leader’s son in a tea stall on the very day Prime Minister Tarique Rahman was in Khulna for the inauguration of Notun Kuri Sports (Season 2) at the district stadium has underscored how little the presence of high-level security arrangements appears to have deterred criminals. Residents and civil society voices have repeatedly described a climate of fear, with criminals operating openly and police struggling to restore control despite arrests and weapon recoveries.