Azharul Haq, 45, UP chairman of Ekhlaspur in Chandpur, was gunned down at Pallabi as he was returning home in the evening after Maghrib prayers, victim's family sources said.

"A group of unidentified young men who lay in ambush in front of Azharul's house opened fire from behind as he neared the house," said a relative of the victim who witnessed the incident.

Azharul received six bullets and collapsed on the ground. His relatives took him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where doctors pronounced him dead.

Owner of Rupashi Bangla Housing Society and three garment factories in Mirpur, Azrahul had a longstanding dispute with a lawmaker from Chandpur and his nephew over possession of a large shoal in Chandpur's Matlab, relatives of the victim told reporters at the DMCH.

They said the murder could be a sequel to that dispute, while another source said Azharul might have been killed due to a conflict with a real estate businessman of Bhasantek.

No case was filed with Pallabi police when this report was filed at 9:00pm yesterday.

In another incident, unidentified assailants gunned down a listed criminal of Tejgaon area yesterday.

Police identified the victim as Monir, 25, a drug addict and member of the local 'Ata group'. They said he committed many crimes in the area identifying himself as a police informant. Monir had three cases and two general diaries filed against him.

Monir was walking down Hamdard Lane near Peerma Jam-e-Masjid at 7:30pm when gunmen opened fire on him. He died on the spot.

On-duty policemen in the area sent the body to Tejgaon Police Station.

A source said Monir might have been killed either due to an internal feud within Ata Group or by members of the rival 'Raipura Shellya Group' over drug money, extortion and dominance at the Tejgaon Railway Station area.

No-one was arrested till filing of this report at 10:00 last night.