Jatiyatabadi Swechchasebak Dal President Shafiul Bari Babu died of cancer at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka early Tuesday. He was 49.

“He breathed his last at 4:00 am at the hospital,” said BNP chairperson’s media wing member Sayrul Kabir Khan.

He left behind one son and one daughter and a host of well-wishers to mourn his death.

Swechchasebak Dal General Secretary Abdul Quader Bhuiyan Jewel said Babu was shifted to Evercare Hospital from Anwar Khan Modern Hospital and moved to its intensive care unit (ICU) at 1:52 am where he died at 4 am.

BNP acting Chairman Tarique Rahman and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam expressed shock at the premature death of Shafiul Bari.