Police recovered the bullet-hit body of a man from a speedboat floating at Charjajira point of the Padma river in Lalpur upazila of Natore this afternoon.

The victim, Azizul Haque Jhoru, 35, was of Pabnapara village in Bagatipara upazila of the district, said police.

Jhoru worked at a sand quarry operated by the "Kakon gang" in the Charghat area of Rajshahi, police added.

Md Shafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Laxmikunda River Police Camp, said a river police team spotted the body inside the speedboat around 3:30pm. The body was recovered and sent to Natore General Hospital morgue for autopsy.

According to police, there had been a longstanding rivalry between the "Belal gang" and the "Kakon gang" over control of a sand quarry in the Padma river.

A gunfight reportedly broke out between the two gangs at Habir Char, a riverine border area between Daulatpur in Kushtia and Bagha in Rajshahi, centring the dispute.

Police suspect that Jhoru may have been killed during the gunfight and his body was later transported by speedboat to the Lalpur area.

Law enforcers are investigating the incident, the OC added.