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Three rounds of gunfire were fired at a restaurant and an adjacent pharmacy in the capital’s Shyamoli area on Friday night, allegedly after the business owner refused to pay extortion money.
The incident took place shortly after 11:00pm on November 13 in front of Anurag Restaurant and an adjacent pharmacy, opposite the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and Hospital.
No casualties were reported in the shooting, police said.
According to eyewitness accounts, two unidentified men wearing black clothes and helmets opened fire before fleeing on a motorcycle.
One of them reportedly brandished a large machete while escaping, creating panic among pedestrians and local residents.
The gunfire shattered the large glass front of the pharmacy, prompting people in the area to run for safety.
An eyewitness told a national daily that the suspects fled through an alley near City Garden Restaurant towards Khilji Road.
Mohammad Sharif, a sub-inspector of Mohammadpur Police Station, said unidentified assailants had opened fire and fled the scene.
Police were reviewing CCTV footage to identify those involved.
The owner of Anurag Restaurant and the adjacent pharmacy, Syed Hasan Nur Islam Raston, a former councillor of Ward 32 under Dhaka South City Corporation, alleged that he had received an extortion demand of Tk 50 lakh on November 5.
According to him, the callers used the name of alleged criminal Pappu, known as ‘Killer Pappu’, to demand the money.
He also claimed that a crude bomb was subsequently exploded targeting his business establishment.
However, police have not yet confirmed whether Friday night’s shooting was directly linked to the alleged extortion demand.
No official information about arrests was immediately available.