Boy shot 'by MP'

A 10-year-old boy was shot allegedly by a ruling party lawmaker at Sundarganj of Gaibandha early yesterday.

Sourav Mia, 10, of Gopalcharan village was undergoing treatment at Rangpur Medical College Hospital (RMCH) with bullet wounds in both legs.

Manzurul Islam Liton, Awami League lawmaker from Gaibandha-1, shot the boy for no reason, victim's family alleged.

The MP, however, denied the allegation.

The incident took place at Brac Intersection in Gopalcharan around 6:00am.

According to the victim's family, Sourav went for a walk with his uncle Shahjahan Ali. The MP was then returning to his home in Bamandanga from Sundarganj and stopped his car at the intersection.

"When he saw us, he in a hand gesture called me," Sourav's uncle told the media. "But I got scared and started running away from there."

The lawmaker got angry at this and started firing at him from his personal gun, Shahjahan said.

Two bullets tore through Sourav's right leg and one through the left.

Sourav was initially rushed to Sundarganj Upazila Health Complex. He was later shifted to the RMCH as his condition deteriorated.

Sourav's father Saju Mia alleged that the MP also tried to prevent them from taking his critically wounded son to the RMCH.

"On our way to Rangpur, we saw a car on the road in Bamandanga. We saw the MP sitting in the car and his men signalled our ambulance to pull over."

Liton pulled the driver out of the ambulance at gun point and fired some blank shots, warning them against going to Rangpur, he claimed.

"I had to lie our way out of the situation and come to Rangpur," Saju added.

Lying in the hospital bed, Sourav, a fourth-grader of Gopalcharan Govt Primary School, said: "I did not say or do anything. He [MP Liton] just shot me."

His mother Selina Akter said when she came to the spot hearing gunshots, she saw Sourav lying on the road and bleeding profusely.

"Have we voted for the MP so that he can kill my child? ... I want justice," she said.

Liton, also president of the AL's Sundarganj upazila chapter, refuted this. "It is a blatantly false allegation" is all he said when local journalists approached him.

Babul Kumar Saha, an RMCH doctor of Ward-18 where Sourav was being treated, said the boy was now out of danger.

Superintendent Ashraful Islam of Gaibandha police visited the boy at the RMCH. There, he told journalists that the police were investigating the incident.

Meanwhile, locals brought out processions and blocked the road in Sundarganj, protesting the shooting. They also formed a human chain demanding punishment of the lawmaker.

They alleged that MP Liton often roams around different areas of the upazila at night with guns in an inebriated state, causing panic among the locals.

Rights body Ain o Salish Kendra condemned the incident.

In a statement, it demanded a fair probe into the incident and "stringent action" against those responsible.

It also urged the government to take effective steps to prevent such incidents in future and to ensure proper treatment of Sourav.