The victim, Mofizul Islam alias Dudh Mian, 50, was the joint convenor of Meghna upazila AL.

A top Rab official seeking anonymity said Mofizul was accused in 15 criminal cases including four for murder.

Tipped off that Mofizul and his cohorts had gathered at Chondigaon and were planning to commit a crime, Rab members conducted a raid in the area at about 8:00pm, the official claimed.

In line with the typical course of crossfire events, "Sensing the presence of Rab men the gang opened fire on them forcing the law enforcers to counter-fire. During the half-an-hour firefight, Mofizul was shot and died on the spot," the Rab official said.

He described Mofizul as a dreaded criminal of Lalbagh, Kotwali, Ramna and Kamrangirchar.

But, former AL lawmaker from Dhaka 8 constituency Haji Md Selim said Rab members arrested Mofizul on the Judge Court premises at around yesterday noon, as he came out from the Speedy Trial Tribunal 1 after appearing in a case.

Mofizul was an AL leader and his business partner, Selim said, "He was not a criminal and all cases against him are false and filed from political motivation."