Netrokona Correspondent:
 
The wife of journalist Lutfuzzaman Fakir Alif has filed a murder case against seven to eight unidentified people over his shooting death in Durgapur upazila of Netrokona, as police continue efforts to identify and arrest those involved.
 
Anandita Sangma filed the case on Friday night (October 16). An autopsy found six bullet entry and exit wounds on Alif’s body, with one bullet lodged inside his back after five bullets passed through his body.
 
Confirming the case, Durgapur Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Khandaker Shaker Ahmed Khan told reporters over the phone at around 9:15am on Saturday that police were working to identify and arrest the suspects.
 
Alif’s autopsy was conducted at the morgue of Netrokona Modern Sadar Hospital on Friday afternoon. He was later buried at his family graveyard in Sunai village under Pogla Union of Kalmakanda upazila.
 
Dr Shraddhananda Nath, who conducted the autopsy, told journalists that Alif had sustained three bullet wounds to his chest. Two bullets passed through his body, while another remained lodged in his back.
 
Another bullet entered through the right side of his forehead and exited through the back of his head. Of the remaining two bullets, one passed through the skin on the upper part of his head and the other through the skin near his right shoulder.
 
Based on the nature of the wounds, the doctor initially suspected that Alif had been shot from the front with a pistol.
 
According to eyewitnesses and police sources, Alif had tea at a roadside shop in the Telonjia area of Durgapur at around 8pm on the day of the incident before heading towards Birishiri Uttarail Bazar. After realising that he had left his mobile phone at the shop, he returned about three minutes later.
 
As Alif was leaving the shop with his phone, two young men arrived and asked the shopkeeper for cigarettes. They then fired several shots at Alif before fleeing on foot as locals rushed to the scene after hearing the gunshots.
 
Alif was rescued and taken to the upazila health complex, where doctors declared him dead.
 
After the killing, Superintendent of Police Tarikul Islam visited the crime scene and said the incident was initially suspected to be a planned murder. He added that multiple police units were working to arrest those responsible.
 
Police recovered pistol cartridge casings and an unexploded bullet from the scene.
 
Alif was the Netrokona correspondent of private IP television channel Ruposhi Bangla. He also ran a Facebook page called “Detective Article”, where he published reports and videos about alleged irregularities and crimes.
 
He was the son of Mahabbat Ali Fakir of Sunai village under Pogla Union in Kalmakanda upazila. His in-laws lived in the Telonjia area of Durgapur.
 
Alif had previously been attacked in Durgapur. On November 10 last year, assailants hacked and injured him near the Teribazar ferry ghat on the Someshwari River. When a colleague accompanying him tried to intervene, the attackers chased the colleague while threatening him with a weapon.
 
Alif subsequently filed a case over that incident. Police later arrested two named suspects, who are currently out on bail.
 
His elder brother, Shahid Islam Fakir, said Alif had made many enemies because of his journalism. He demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible for his brother’s brutal killing.
 
Alif’s wife, Anandita Sangma, also called for the swift arrest and exemplary punishment of the perpetrators. The couple have two young children, and she expressed concern about how she would raise them following her husband’s death.
 
The motive behind the killing and the identities of those involved remain unclear. Investigators are yet to establish whether the murder is connected to the previous attack on Alif.