Shaktiman Chakma, the chairman of Rangamati’s Naniarchar Upazila, was killed on Thursday in broad daylight.
Witnesses said the assailants shot the MN Larma-faction leader of Parbattya Chattogram Jana Sanghati Samiti (JSS) at point blank range.
The next day, five of his mourners were gunned down in an ambush while on their way to the funeral.
The victims of Friday’s killing included Tapan Jyoti Chakma Barma, a leader of the United People’s Democratic Front (Ganatantrik), which is a breakaway faction of the United People’s Democratic Front, commonly known as the UPDF.
At least eight others were injured in the attack. Four of them have been transferred to Chittagong Medical College Hospital in critical condition.
The UPDF (Ganatantrik) said that the attack on Tapan Jyoti was planned well ahead and based on tip-offs.
A doctor at the Khagrachhari hospital, where the bodies were taken, said that the victims had gunshot wounds on the heads.
“All of them were shot in the head to ensure death,” said Nayanmoy Tripura of the state-run hospital in Khagrachhari.
Several UPDF (Ganatantrik) leaders, seeking anonymity, said the assailants had been waiting the motor convoy to reach Kengrachhari on the Naniarchar-Mahalchhari Road.
According to them, the car’s driver Shajib Hawlader was shot first, when the car veered off the road.
Armed with automatic firearms, the assailants then moved near to the vehicle and opened bursts of gunfire, said the UPDF (Ganatantrik) leaders.
The attackers shot Tapan Jyoti on the head to make sure he died before leaving the scene, they said.
Shantiranjan Chakma, who was in the car that was attacked, said “We were travelling with a convoy of 13 vehicles. Tapan Jyoti Chakma, the convener of UPDF (Ganatantrik) was riding in the first vehicle.”
He said the last thing he remembered before finding himself in hospital with gunshot wounds was as soon as they reached Kengrachari, shots were fired at the car from a hill.
Litton Chakma, a key organiser of the UPDF (Ganatantrik), said the target of Friday’s attack was Tapan Jyoti. “He was the prime target. The vehicle which was carrying him was attacked among the several others in the convoy. And it’s clear that he was killed on a tip-off.”
According to witnesses in Thursday’s killing of Shaktiman Chakma, the PCJSS (MN Larma) vice president was shot at point blank range as soon as he arrived at the Naniarchar Upazila Council complex.
He died on the spot while his aide Rupom Chakma has been hospitalised with gunshot wounds.
The PCJSS (MN Larma) has blamed the UPDF leadership for the murder.
In a statement released the same day, it claimed that the Shaktiman was murdered at the behests of UPDF President Prasit Biksah Kheesha, General Secretary Rabi Shankar Chakma, and senior leaders Ananda Prakash Chakma and Ranjan Mani.
It said that UPDF activist Lakkoch Chakma and his accomplice murdered the Naniarchar Upazila Chairman Shaktiman.
The UPDF, however, described the claims as ‘false and fabricated’.
Denying of involvement in any killings, its spokesperson Michael Chakma said, “Tapan Jyoti Chakma alias Berma did not belong to any organization. He was a terrorist and it’s only natural he had enemies, who we suspect were behind it.”