School teacher shot dead in Baghaichari

chtnews.com News No. 12/2012, February 25, 2012 AN armed gang loyal to Santu Larma has shot dead a school teacher in Khedarachara under Baghaichari Upazila in Rangamati district, sources has said. The deceased has been identified as Purnimoy Chakma, 48, son of late Kalachan Chakma. He is an assistant teacher of Khedarachara Regd. Primary School. The incident took place on the night of 24 February or at 2am, 25 Feb, to be exact. According to sources, a group of 15 – 20 Santu group men (JSS) led by Rajeeb Chakma surrounded the house of Purnimoy Chakma in the village of Khedarachara,, woke him up and then shot him dead. It is unclear why the miscreants killed him. However, his brother Sukhomoy Chakma is an active member of the United Peoples’ Democratic Front (UPDF), a political party of the Jumma people campaigning for full autonomy. An elected representative, requesting anonymity for security reasons, told chtnews.com that about one hour after the incident Major Mehedi from Korengatoli army camp had informed him and some other Jummas about the incident. He quoted Mehedi as saying: “I asked you to reopen Baghaihat bazaar long ago, but you haven’t reopened it yet. I say incidents like this will happen again if you continue to refuse to reopen Baghaihat bazaar, and none of you will be spared.” A few days ago the commander of Baghaihat army zone called elected Jumma representatives of the area to his camp and told them that if they failed to reopen the bazaar by 26 February he would get it done with the help of the Santu group. The Jummas have been boycotting Baghaihat bazaar since the February 2010 attacks that left at least four Jummas dead and 500 houses burnt.