Janajuddho leader killed in 'crossfire'
Our Correspondent, Kushtia
A top leader of outlawed Janajuddho, a faction of Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), was killed in a 'shootout' between the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) members and his cohorts at Nilmoniganj village in Chuadanga early yesterday. The dead was identified as Ikhtiar Hossain, 31, son of late Samad Ali. He was the second-in-command of Janajuddho in the district. According to a statement issued by Rab-6, a team from Nagda camp arrested Ikhtiar at his village home at Amirpur on Sunday evening and handed him over to Chuadanga Rab at night. During an interrogation at Chuadanga Rab office, Ikhtiar confessed to his involvement with the PBCP faction and said he has many firearms concealed throughout Chuadanga. Later, a Rab team along with Ikhtiar went to Amirpur village to arrest his accomplices and recover the firearms. When they reached Nilmoniganj Girls' High School at around midnight, the PBCP men started firing at the Rab team, prompting the elite force to retaliate with fire. Rab claimed that Ikhtiar, during the shootout, tried to escape but he was caught in crossfire and died on the spot. Rab also claimed that they retrieved a revolver and six bullets from the spot. Chuadanga police said Ikhtiar was an accused in 12 cases, including six murder cases.
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