A man was killed in an attack on the convoy of Jatiyatabadi Shechchasebak Dal President SM Jilani in Gopalganj on Friday.

Witnesses and BNP sources said local Awami League men carried out vandalism and attacks on the convoy of central leaders of BNP and Shechchasebak Dal.

One person named Shaukat Ali Didar (38) was killed, and around 35 others including  SM Jilani, his wife, Gopalganj District Mahila Dal President Roshan Ara Ratna, and their two sons, were injured in the attack.

The injured were rushed to various clinics and hospitals including Gopalganj 250-bed General Hospital. Later SM Jilani was sent to Dhaka for better treatment.

The activists of the BNP and its front organisations came under the attack on their way to SM Jilani's house in Tungipara after completing a meeting at Vedagram junction of the district town around 5pm on Friday.

At that time, district BNP convenor Sharif Rafikuzzaman, BNP central leader Selimuzzaman Selim and local BNP leaders and activists were also present.

In a written statement, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that Awami League miscreants brutally attacked SM Jilani's convoy, killing the organisation’s Sports Affairs Secretary Md Shawkat Ali Didar.

“The incident is the manifestation of a deep domestic and foreign conspiracy,” he said.

Mirza Fakhrul said there is no alternative to cracking down on these terrorists.

“All democracy-loving people, including the students, must continue united resistance against the forces of evil so that the conspirators cannot profit by following the path of attacks and bloodshed,” he added.