Photo : BSS

KHULNA, Aug 22, 2026 (BSS) - Two people were killed within a few hours in the city’s Harintana area over establishing dominance in the locality and rivalry between two criminal groups for  control  of drug trade, said Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

RAB arrested top-listed criminal Al-Amin Hasan Saifi of Tutpara of Khulna city and his associate Rafiqul Islam Rakib from  Majhigati Bazar Union Parishad area  in Gopalganj on Friday. 

Later, another associate, Sagar Ahmed, was arrested.

At a press briefing at the RAB office here on Saturday morning, RAB commander Nistar Ahmed said Saifi gave important information about the killings during interrogation.

He said, two major criminal groups control drug trading in Tutpara, Harintana and Labanchara areas. One is the ‘B Company’ led by notorious criminal Grenade Babu, while the other is the Rohan-Palash group. 

Saifi works as an associate of Grenade Babu, while victim Rafiq was involved in drug trading in the area on behalf of the Palash-Rohan group.The rivalry between the two groups has continued for a long time.

On August 19 afternoons, Nazmul was standing on the road after having his hair cut at a local salon when members of Rafiq’s group allegedly abducted him at gunpoint. They then made a video call to a member of the rival group and, while keeping the victim on the video call, hacked and shot him dead.

After witnessing the killing through the video call, members of the rival group became enraged and sought revenge.

Later, Saifi and around 15-16 members of his group went to the Ashibigha area of Harintana under Labanchara Police Station with locally made weapons. They found rival group member Monjurul there and shot and hacked him to death in front of his father.

RAB commander Nistar Ahmed said Monjurul was killed in the evening, while Nazmul was killed around 8:30pm and his body was left at Ashibigha. The twin killings triggered panic among local residents.

RAB members, with assistance from locals, conducted raids around the scene on the day of the incidents and recovered several weapons.

Later, based on information provided by Saifi after his arrest, they conducted further raids and recovered a shotgun, cartridges, a pistol and a sharp weapon.

Nistar Ahmed said Saifi had been carrying out criminal activities in the area under the direction of Kaua Miraj, a close associate of Grenade Babu. Four cases, including a murder case, have so far been found against Saifi.

A police source said Saifi had been arrested several months ago but was later released on bail.

Officer-in-Charge of Labanchara Police Station Syed Mosharraf Hossain said the two killings took place at the same location and separate murder cases have been filed over the incidents.