A senior local leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party’s (BNP) youth wing, Juba Dal, has died in Chittagong following a physical altercation triggered by a feud over illegal street vending. The fatal dispute occurred when the victim challenged the unauthorised positioning of mobile rickshaw-van stalls along a heavily congested thoroughfare in the city’s Chandgaon district.
The deceased, identified as Fazal Amin, served as the senior joint secretary for Ward No. 6 of the Chittagong Metropolitan Juba Dal. The fatal encounter took place on Friday afternoon along Omar Ali Matbor Road. Following a formal petition submitted by the victim’s family, Chandgaon Police Station registered a homicide case naming a local resident, Mohammad Shahjahan, as the principal accused, alongside several named associates. Shahjahan reportedly claims local political standing within the BNP, though party leaders and neighbourhood residents strongly dispute his credentials.
Grief and anger mounted outside the Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue on Saturday afternoon as pathologists conducted an autopsy. Assembled relatives and neighbourhood residents claimed Shahjahan had been running an illegal extortion scheme by collecting illicit fees from mobile vendors in exchange for allowing them to occupy public thoroughfares. Local residents had recently convened a formal community meeting where they unanimously resolved to ban all mobile stalls directly outside a nearby school to keep footpaths clear and ensure safety for pupils.
Despite this clear neighbourhood consensus, several vendors returned on Friday to set up stalls outside the school gates. The victim’s son, Jobayer Haq Inan, explained to journalists that the parked vans severely restricted vehicular movement and forced young children into the flow of traffic. When Amin approached to ask why the stalls had reappeared in violation of the community agreement, Shahjahan and his son confronted him. Inan reported that the men shoved his father violently in the chest and subjected him to a physical assault.
The violent shock proved catastrophic due to Amin’s delicate medical history. His son disclosed that Amin had previously undergone open-heart surgery. Approximately ten minutes after being shoved forcefully in the chest, the politician collapsed onto the pavement. Relatives rushed him towards the nearest hospital, but medical staff confirmed he had died before arrival.
Inan condemned Shahjahan’s claimed political affiliations, describing him as an opportunistic “hybrid” activist who surfaced only after the political shifts of 5 August, having played no role in party activities over the preceding seventeen years. Addressing the situation, Mohammad Shahed, General Secretary of the Chittagong Metropolitan Juba Dal, confirmed Amin’s official standing within Ward No. 6. Shahed stressed that political affiliations must never serve as a shield against criminal accountability, calling for strict enforcement of the law regardless of political claims.
Law enforcement agencies are awaiting post-mortem findings to determine the precise legal chain of causation. Kazi Mohammad Bidhan Abid, Assistant Commissioner of the Chittagong Metropolitan Police (Panchlaish Division), confirmed that Amin collapsed shortly after the altercation on Omar Ali Matbor Road and died while being transported to medical facilities. He noted that pre-existing cardiovascular conditions may have contributed to the sudden collapse, a factor the full autopsy report will clarify. Regarding the extortion allegations, police officials acknowledged that the conflict originated over illegal road obstruction, confirming that investigative teams are actively pursuing leads to arrest Shahjahan and his co-accused.
