Four killed in ‘gunfights’

Three people, including two brothers, were killed in so-called gunfights with Rab in Chattogram and Gazipur while another person died in an alleged gun-battle between two groups of drug traders in Meherpur yesterday.

In Chattogram, a gunfight took place around 12:30pm when a team from Rab-7 raided Banshkhali upazila’s Saral area. They went there to arrest two robber brothers -- Zafar Member, 48, and his younger brother Khalil Ahmed, 45, of the same area, according to Rab sources. 

“As Rab members reached there, the robbers and their cohorts sensed their presence and opened fire on them. The Rab members retaliated by firing back,” said Mashkur Rahman, assistant director of Rab-7 (media wing).

After a brief “gun-battle”, the law enforcers found two bullet-hit bodies on the spot. The other attackers managed to flee, he claimed.

Mashkur also claimed to have recovered a foreign pistol, eight other firearms, bullets, and sharp weapons from the scene.

Zafar was a notorious criminal and his gang used to unleash terror in the coastal areas of Banshkhali, he added.

Officer-in-Charge of Banshkhali Police Station Kamal Hossain said Zafar was facing 27 cases filed with his police station in connection with murder, robberies, and other crimes.

On several occasions in the past, police had tried to arrest him but failed, he added.

In Gazipur, Babul Mia, 28, of Sreepur upazila’s Jahangirpur village, was killed in a similar “gunfight” with Rab, reports our correspondent in the district.

According to Rab’s Assistant Police Superintendent Kamruzzaman, Babul was accused in 24 cases, including narcotics and robbery cases.

He was killed in a “gunfight” when some Rab members were carrying out a raid in Dombari area of the upazila around 3:15am, he said.

After the “gunfight”, Rab personnel found the body and recovered a pistol and 5,000 yaba pills from it, claimed the official.

However, Babul’s father Afaz Uddin said that his son had been arrested by Rab from a hospital in the capital’s Khilkhet area on Thursday noon.

Asked, Kamruzzaman rejected the allegation. “This is not true,” he said.

In Meherpur, Enamul Haq, 42, was killed in a “gunfight” between two groups of drug traders in Gangni upazila’s Kazipur village in the early hours of yesterday, police said.

Acting on a tip-off that two groups of drug peddlers were exchanging bullets in a bordering area of the upazila, a police team rushed to the spot around 3:00am. Later, they recovered the bullet-hit body from there, said Obaidur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Gangni Police Station.

The other criminals managed to flee, the OC claimed, adding that Enamul was wanted in six cases.

He also claimed to have recovered a pistol, two bullets, and one kilogramme of marijuana from the spot.

[Our correspondents in Chattogram, Gazipur and Kushtia contributed to this report]