Gunmen played tricks before shooting

As dusk fell on Haripur in Bogra's Shibganj upazila on Thursday, most male members of both Shia and Sunni families of the village went to local markets like any other day. At home, women and girls got busy preparing dinner. Around the same time, some 15 Shia Muslims went to pray at Al-Mustafa mosque, popularly known as Shia mosque.

It was at this very hour that the attackers opened fire on the worshippers who were in the middle of their Esha prayers.

But before going on the shooting spree, the assailants played a masterly trick to divert people's attention elsewhere.

According to locals, the gunmen gave firecrackers to local boys and girls, who then started playing with those in front of Bangladesh Imamia Jana Kalyan Foundation, situated on Bogra-Joypurhat road opposite the mosque.

As the children played, locals focused their attention to them. In the meantime, the gunmen entered the mosque and started shooting at random, killing one and injuring three more. Apparently, locals confused the sound of the gunfire with that of the firecrackers.  

As an extra precaution, the attackers locked the main gate of the mosque, and shot eight to ten bullets from 0.22 bore gun, targeting the imam and muezzin, Shahinur Islam, vice-chairman of the foundation, told The Daily Star.

Shahinur, also a lecturer of economics at Shibganj MH Degree College, said the officer-in-charge of Shibganj Police Station had warned them about a possible attack on the mosque following the October 24 attack on an Ashura gathering of the Shia community in the capital, but they did not pay any heed to the warning.

Quoting some children, Abdur Rashid, 45, who lives near the mosque, said two to three unknown youth entered the mosque from the front side looking for toilets. After the shooting, they jumped over the semi-constructed boundary wall and fled, heading towards Haripur-Aliarhat road.

Sabina Begum, 25, said that before the attack she saw three unknown youths sitting and gossiping in an abandoned brick kiln on the far southwest side of the mosque.

A sense of panic still prevails in Haripur and Chokani villages.

 Locals said Shia and Sunni Muslims had been living peacefully together for years there, and dismissed there were militants in the area.

Police so far arrested three people over the shooting. Two of the arrestees, Anwar Hossain and Jewel, were placed on remand.