Police and witnesses said Abu Taher, 45, chairman of No. 11 Pashchim Gujara union parishad under Raozan upazila, was going to a local market close by his residence at Raghunandanhut when he came under attack by a group of armed miscreants at around 4.30pm.

The ruling BNP-leaning UP chairman was rushed to nearby Noapara Health Complex but was declared dead on arrival there.

Armed cadres of Murad-Delu group of the local chapter of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student front of main opposition Awami League, were blamed for the killing, sources said.

The other victim is Didarul Alam alias Kala Didar, 32, of Uttar Madrassah area under Hathazari upazila.

Three armed miscreants of a rival Jubo Dal group gunned Didar down, reportedly a cadre of Jubo Dal, BNP's youth wing, on way to his father-in-law's residence at Baidyerbazar at around 5:00pm, police and sources said.

Didar was himself a criminal and involved in extortion, they added.