No case has been filed and no suspect has been arrested even after 22 hours following the fatal shooting of a journalist in Durgapur of Netrokona.
 
The incident occurred at around 8:15pm on Thursday at Utrail Bazar on Shyamganj-Birishiri road in Durgapur Municipality, where assailants shot dead Lutfuzzaman Alif Fakir.
 
Lutfuzzaman Alif Fakir, 44, the Netrokona district correspondent for private IP TV channel “Rooposhi Bangla Television,” left his in-laws’ residence in Telonjia, Durgapur Municipality on Thursday night after handing his 1.5-year-old son, Aiyan Safwan, to his wife, Anandita Sangma.
 
Before leaving, he asked his wife to feed their children and put them to sleep, saying he would be slightly late as he was busy covering a news story. Shortly after leaving, miscreants shot him dead in front of a village shop, marking their final interaction.
 
Lutfuzzaman, son of Mohabbat Ali Fakir of Shunoi village under Pogla Union in Kalmakanda Upazila, lived at his in-laws’ home in Telonjia. He also operated a Facebook page named “Detective Article,” where he published articles and videos highlighting various irregularities and crimes.
 
Anandita Sangma, who was waiting at home with their four-year-old daughter Pranthi and infant son Aiyan Safwan after dinner, broke down in grief upon hearing the news.
 
Sitting beside her husband’s body while holding her son, she expressed disbelief that someone could shoot him dead in an instant.
 
Recalling the moment, she said she initially mistook the gunshots for firecrackers while feeding her children, only to learn shortly after from local residents that her husband had been killed.
 
Demanding justice, she urged the police to trace and arrest those who rendered her two innocent children fatherless, calling for exemplary punishment under the law.
 
According to eyewitnesses and police sources, Lutfuzzaman had tea at a stall owned by Robin Rangsa in Telonjia at around 8pm before leaving for Birishiri Utrail Bazar. Realising he had left his mobile phone at the stall, he returned to retrieve it.
 
As he was collecting his phone and leaving, two young men aged between 30 and 35 – one wearing a lungi and the other trousers – approached the shop and asked the shopkeeper for cigarettes.
 
The assailants then shot Lutfuzzaman multiple times at point-blank range. Robin Rangsa reported hearing four consecutive gunshots before fleeing home in fear. Hearing the gunfire, local residents rushed to the spot, causing the attackers to flee.
 
Family members, who were sitting on the veranda talking shortly before the incident, rushed to the stall after hearing a loud noise and found Lutfuzzaman lying on the ground, bleeding profusely from his head, neck, and chest.
 
Local residents rescued him and brought him to Durgapur Upazila Health Complex, where the attending doctor declared him dead.
 
Police subsequently sent the body to Netrokona District Sadar Hospital morgue, where a post-mortem examination was completed.
 
Notably, on 10 November last year, miscreants had hacked and injured Lutfuzzaman near Teribazar Ghat area of Someshwari River in Durgapur Upazila.
 
When a colleague accompanying him tried to intervene, the attackers brandished weapons and chased him away.
 
Following Thursday’s killing, Netrokona Superintendent of Police (SP) Md Tarikul Islam, Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Mahfuza Khatun, Additional Superintendent of Police (DSB) Hafizul Islam, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Durgapur Police Station Khondokar Shaker Ahmad Khan, and Durgapur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ahmed Sadat visited the crime scene on Thursday night.
 
Police recovered spent pistol cartridge casings and one unexploded bullet from the spot.
 
Speaking to journalists at the scene, SP Md Tarikul Islam said the murder is initially suspected to be a planned killing.
 
He added that multiple police units are working to apprehend the perpetrators, while all police stations in the district have been placed on alert, checkpoints set up at key points, and local CCTV footage collected for review.