April 29, 2024
DHAKA – Two Bangladeshis were shot dead in New York’s Buffalo on Saturday.
The dead were identified as Babul Mia from Cumilla, and Abu Saleh Md Yousuf from Sylhet, Bishwajit Shaha, general secretary of Muktodhara Foundation, a New York-based non-profit literary-cultural platform of Bangla speakers, said quoting a member of the Bangladesh community in New York.
The two were shot around 12:30pm (local time) yesterday at Babul’s home on Jenner Street.
According to local news reports, police and a SWAT team arrived at the scene shortly after the incident. The area was then cordoned off for around six hours.
Police said both victims were male, but did not disclose their identities. They also did not say whether a suspect was arrested.
Just a year ago, Yousuf, 42, from Tinchoti village in Sylhet’s Kanaighat upazila, had moved to the US with his wife and two daughters, aged seven and three, in search of a better life.
His family members, who live in Sylhet city’s Majortila, are still reeling from the shock of the news.
Yousuf’s father Nurul Haque was a member of the upazila’s Jhingabari union parishad.
According to the victim’s uncle Badrul Haque, Yousuf, the eldest of four siblings, worked at a private company in Dhaka before going to the US, where he joined a painting company.
Badrul alleged Yousuf was shot dead while painting the house of Babul Mia on Jenner Street.
“We were told that Babul got into trouble with local goons … When these people attacked him that day, Yousuf tried to save him. The goons shot them both.
“We still can’t believe he died this way. Every one of us, including his parents, are in shock.”
The other victim, Babul Mia, 50, son of Abdul Aziz of Cumilla’s Nangalkot upazila, went to the US after winning the DV lottery years ago, said Mohammad Sumon, councillor of Nangalkot municipality’s ward-4.
Contacted, Babul’s nephew Abdul Mazid said, “He had been living there for 31 years with his wife and seven children.”