3 killed in ‘gunfights’ with law enforcers

Three suspects were killed in what law enforcers said were gunfights in the capital, Cox's bazar and Bogura early yesterday.

Company Commander Salauddin of Rab-1 said drug peddler Ripon Hawlader, 35, was shot dead during a "shootout" between gang members and officers in the capital's Dakshin Khan area around 1:30am.

Tipped off about the presence of suspects at Asian City Gate-2, Rab men raided the area and got shot at by the suspects.

The officers then retaliated, causing a "gunfight", Salauddin added.

Ripon got shot while the others fled, he said, adding that doctors declared him dead when he was taken to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital.

Ripon was accused in at least 16 cases, Salauddin claimed.

Two firearms, some bullets and yaba pills were found at the scene, the officer said.

A Rab man was "hurt" during the so-called gunfight, but Rab didn't say whether he got shot.

In Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar, Rashidullah, a 27-year-old Rohingya, was killed in a "gunfight" with Rab.

He was the member of a gang of robbers known as "Khalek Group", Rab said. 

He lived in a Rohingya camp in Leda, our Cox's Bazar correspondent reports.

Two Rab members were injured during the gunfight in the hilly area of Domdomia Jahajghat, said Operation Commander Bimol Chandra Karmakar of Rab-15 and gave an account of the gunfight strikingly similar to the one given by the officer in the capital.

In Bogura, police claimed a suspect was killed in a gunfight between two gangs.

Al-Amin Sheikh, 37, was a resident of Sultanganj Para area of the town, reports our correspondent.

Sonaton Chakroborty, additional superintendent of police, said a police team led by himself went to Nishindhara Ckokorpara area after the incident and found the bullet-hit man.

Police took him to Bogura Shaheed Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead, the ASP said.

Al-Amin was accused in seven cases including for murder, and possession of illegal arms and drugs, and attempted murder.

Police found a firearm, two bullets and three empty shells at the spot, the officer claimed.

Al-Amin was released from jail and on bail before the coronavirus outbreak, said Sonaton.