A top JMJB leader yesterday gave the names put on a hit list and said his group would continue 'vigorous outlaw cleansing operations with continued police assistance' for an indefinite period.

The leader claimed the list was finalised after Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) operative Badshah admitted to them that he killed up to 50 people at the directive of a state minister's brother and the chairmen in Raninagar.

The JMJB operatives on Thursday allegedly killed Badshah, Bashar and Khejur, but the fate of their co-activist Alauddin could not be known.

Villagers found one of the bodies hanging upside down from a roadside tree in Bamongram village in Nandigram upazila of Bogra, not far away from the northwestern district of Naogaon.

Local residents say a gang of dreaded JMJB vigilantes picked up the four from Sharia village in Atrai Wednesday and held them hostage at the outfit's Vetigram camp in Raninagar before killing three of them after public announcement.

But Naogaon police yesterday claimed they rescued Bashar from Belgharia village in Raninagar and kept him at the police station. They did not give details of the rescue or the condition of Bashar.

Residents of Sharia said they found the severed hand of a man in the village yesterday and some suggested that the hand might be of Khejur, whose body was not found until yesterday.

A witness told reporters yesterday that he saw a JMJB man torturing Alauddin at the outfit's Vetigram camp in Raninagar, while JMJB Amir Abdur Rahman looked on.

"The JMJB activist said he was punishing Alauddin to avenge the murder of his father Fayez by Alauddin," the witness said.

Fazlur Rahman, superintendent of Naogaon police, yesterday termed the reports of the killing of three PBCP activists by the JMJB as false.

Additional SP Harunur Rashid said police rescued a man from some people who were beating him up in Raninagar.

Harunur said some local residents of Atrai and Raninagar were carrying locally made firearms after evening for their security.