Alam Pramanik, 15, an employee of a dredging company, was shot in the chest and legs. He was rushed to Suhrawardy Hospital at about 12:15am and succumbed to his injuries at 1:00am.

Alam was sleeping in a cargo vessel in the swampy area of Badda with another worker of the dredging company. The assailants numbering 10 to 12 came near the vessel in a trawler at about 11:15pm on Monday and fired indiscriminately on him through an open window.

"After the first attack, one criminal said that their target had been missed, and soon they attacked the sleeping workers on another cargo vessel, injuring Shahjahan,'' Shah Alam, who was on board the first vessel, said.

In the second attack, a day labourer Shahjahan, 22, sustained bullet wounds in the hands and knees and is undergoing treatment at the orthopaedic (Pangu) hospital.

Police are yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing. However, they suspect that disputes over earth-filling might have led to the murder.

Owner of the dredging company, Mohammed Monirul Islam, filed a case with Badda Police Station, accusing two.

None, however, was arrested till filing of this report at 8:30 last night.

In another incident, a garment worker, Monsur Ali, 15, died yesterday when his colleague punched him in the head, police said.

The two came out of their workplace, Mastak Sweater at Road No. 6 in Pallabi, during the lunch-break and were again locked in a quarrel at Mollah Market, Pallabi. At one stage, Ismail, 14, punched Monsur on the head.

Monsur was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

Police detained Ismail and a case has been lodged with Pallabi Police Station in this connection.