Villager shot dead by robbers

A villager was shot dead and two others were injured by a gang of robbers at Paschim Auliapur village under Patuakhali Sadar upazila early yesterday.

The victim was identified as Md Shahjahan Howlader, 65, a farmer of the village.

Local UP member Md Mojibur Rahman said a gang of 12/14 robbers attacked the house of Mannan Master at around 1:00am.

Hearing the sound of gates being broken, hundreds of villagers rushed to the spot. Having no chance of carrying out the robbery, the gang tried to flee.

As the villagers tried to surround the robbers, they fired three rounds in the air to save themselves. Shahjahan, who was on the road, was hit by a bullet. He died on the spot.

The robbers also beat up villagers Shamsul Haque and Kawsar Hossain when they tried to catch them. 

Altaf Hossain Shah Alam, local UP chairman, said a three-member police team was patrolling near the spot but they did not attempt to catch the gang.

Syed Mosfiqur Rahman, superintendent of police (SP) of Patuakhali, and others officials visited the spot at noon.