A union parishad (UP) chairman, who is also an Awami League (AL) leader, was gunned down by unknown miscreants on his way to home from a political programme in Dumuria upazila of Khulna on Saturday night, said police.

Deceased Rabiul Islam, 42, was chairman of Sarappur UP and member of the upazila unit of the ruling AL committee.

The victim’s brother-in-law Monir Hossain said Rabiul came under gun attack while returning home by a motorbike from a workers’ meeting of the AL at night.

The miscreants opened fire targeting him when he arrived in the East end of Gutudiya Wapda Bridge around 10 pm, causing him to fall on the ground from the bike, he said.

Sensing the presence of locals, the gunmen fled the scene immediately while the locals first took him to Upazila Health Complex and later shifted to Khulna Medical College Hospital where physicians declared him dead, the brother-in-law said.

Quoting the physicians, he said the excessive bleeding led to his death as he received three rounds of bullets on the back.

Dumuria police station’s Officer-in-Charge Sukanta Saha said they have already collected samples from the spot and a team has been working to identify the accused involved with the murder.

Locals said Rabiul was elected UP chairman twice in 2015 and 2021 as a rebel candidate of the ruling AL. He came under attack by miscreants in 2015.