Two police constables were also injured in the incident.

With this the death toll in 'cross fire' by police and Rab stands at 237 since June last year.

The dead was identified as Ijjat Ali, 38, son of Azmot Ali of village Ratulpara in sadar upazila, and a regional leader of the outfit.

According to police, a team led by Officer-in-Charge of Sadar Police Station Gias Uddin raided Ratulpara and arrested Ijjat from his house on Monday night.

During the interrogation, Ijjat admitted his involvement with the underground party and possessing firearms hidden at Char Milpara on the outskirts of the town, police said.

Following his leads, police went to the area to recover the firearms at about 4:00am. On their arrival, GMF activists fired on them resulting in an hour-long gunfight.

While trying to escape from the police van Ijjat got caught in 'line of fire', the law enforcers said. He died on the spot. His accomplices, however, fled.

Police said Ijjat was an accused in eight cases, five for murder, filed with Sadar and Islamic University police stations.

Police filed a case against regional GMF leaders Mukul, Sahin and Gama for firing on police.