RAB arrests man who opened fire during polls day

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested  Shamim Azad, alias Black Shamim, who allegedly opened fire during a clash in Chattogram's Pahartali area.

The weapon used by Shamim has also been recovered during a raid conducted by RAB.

Members of the elite force arrested him from Kumira area in Sitakunda on Monday (8 January) night and recovered a foreign pistol and two rounds of ammunition, RAB-7 Senior Assistant Director (Media) Mohammad Nurul Abshar told media.

Jahirul Alam Jasim, ward councillor of Uttar Pahartoli and joint convener of the Awami League, told The Business Standard that Shamim is a Chhatra League activist.

Shamim, a former student of MES College, is known as a follower of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) Ward Councilor (Pahartali) and MES College Student Union VP Wasim Uddin Chowdhury. Local people also identified him as a Chhatra League activist although he does not hold any position in the party.

When contacted, Wasim Uddin Chowdhury said, "I have been the VP of MES College for a long time, thus, I have a lot of followers. Shamim can be one of them.

According to RAB, Shamim is involved in various types of unlawful activities such as extortion, betting, and exerting influence in Khulshi and its surrounding areas in Chattogram.

Shamim Azad was sued more than five times for weapon-related and other cases and served three prison terms in these cases.

Reportedly, a group led by Shamim Azad tried to create panic among the public by firing shots to disrupt the election environment in the Pahartali Degree College of Chattogram-10 Constituency on 7 January. Shamim was seen firing indiscriminately with a foreign pistol. 

Two persons namely voters Shanto Bara and Jamal were seriously injured in the firing incident.