Tutul, son of BNP-backed ward commissioner candidate Abdur Rashid, shot Shamsher Ali,35, point blank following a brawl. Shamsher was hit in the chest and died on the spot.

Witnesses said a motorcycle, which Tutul and two other youths were riding, hit Shamsher near Tara Mosque when he was returning home after attending a procession at about 12 noon.

The procession was brought out by a local ward commissioner candi date prior to filing of nomination papers. Yesterday was the last day for filing nomination papers for the pourasabha (municipal) elections slated for August 31.

The incident triggered an argument between Tutul, a student of Savar College, and Shamsher and at one stage Tutul shot him, sources said.

Local Awami League (AL) leaders claimed that Shamsher Ali was one of their activists.

Hearing the gunshot, locals chased the criminals and caught the three when they took shelter inside a house. Later, they were turned over to Savar police.

Police said they arrested five youths -- Tutul, Swapan Mian, Zahurul Islam, Ujjal and Sharif -- for interrogation.

Meanwhile, Haji Mohammad Aminur Rahman, general secretary of Bangladesh Inter-district Truck Drivers Union and a ward commissioner candidate, said Shamsher was his supporter. He alleged that former ward commissioner Abdur Rashid's son Tutul and his hired criminals killed him.

Savar police said no case was filed in this connection till 7:30pm yesterday.

Shamsher's body was taken to Savar after autopsy at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Terming the Savar incident as a prelude to what might happen in the August 21 parliamentary by-elections in Netrokona-3, AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil, at an impromptu press briefing at the Dhanmondi party office, observed that the "real character of the government will be unveiled with the elections drawing nearer".

Ashrafuddin Imu, incumbent chairman of Savar Pourasabha and the AL-backed candidate for August 31 election, narrated how Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal cadres, ridding three motorbikes, attacked his supporters near Savar Upazila Complex yesterday noon after he (Imu) submitted his nomination paper in a peaceful manner.

Imu said people caught four Jubo Dal men and handed them along with the motorbike to Savar police. "[But] the local MP had a closed-door meeting with police administration there (Savar) and the crew from electronic media were not allowed to enter the Savar Police Staion."

Imu complained that the MP of the Savar constituency used a first floor room of the Savar upazila headquarters as his political office and the returning officer concerned, in this case the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO), had no alternative but to go by the dictates of the lawmaker.

Abdul Jalil came down heavily on the government for barring the main opposition party and its front organisations from bringing out mourning processions and using mikes in observance of the anniversary of assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Jalil also criticised the government for letting loose its student front on the general students and journalists.

AL leaders Motia Chowdhury, Obaidul Kader, Mukul Bose and Abdul Mannan Khan were present at the press briefing.