3 more killed in ‘gunfights’, bullet-hit body of youth recovered
Three more people have been killed in what the law enforcement has called gunfights in three separate incidents in Jhenaidah, Keraniganj and Natore and a bullet-hit body of an unidentified young man was recovered in Jashore since Wednesday, according to UNB news agency.
With these, the number of killing in alleged gunfights since early Wednesday stood at six in five districts.
Read more: 3 more people killed in alleged gunfight
UNB reports: In Jhenaidah district, a man was killed in an alleged gunfight with police in Purundapur village of Maheshpur upazila early Thursday.
The deceased is Nurul Islam, 48, of the village.
Police claimed that Nurul Islam was a robber and wanted in several cases.
Being tipped-off that a gang of robbers were taking preparation to commit robbery in the area, a team of police conducted a drive there around 1:45am Thursday, said Md Salauddin, additional superintendent of Kotchandpur (circle) police.
Sensing the presence of the policemen, the robbers opened fire on the police prompting the law enforcement to fire back in self-defence, he said.
At one stage, Nur caught in the line of fire and died on the spot, claimed the police officer.
Police recovered two bombs, one bullet and a sharp weapon from the spot, he added.
In Keraniganj, according to the UNB, Nur Hossain Nuru, 35, a suspected drug trader and also wanted in 12 criminal cases, was killed in a reported gunfight with Detective Branch (DB) of police at Deushur around 3:00am Wednesday.
Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of DB police, said the gunfight took place near Diamond Melamine Factory, from where police also recovered a firearm and 35 pieces of yaba tablets.
In Natore, Osman Goni, a suspected drug trader was killed in a reported gunfight with Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) members in Bahimali area of Baraigram upazila in the small hours of Wednesday.
RAB-5 commanding officer major Shiblee Mostafa said sensing the presence of some criminals, RAB members challenged them and asked to surrender. At one stage, the criminals open fire on the law enforcement prompting them to fire in self-defence.
After a brief gunfight, the elite force recovered the body of Osman.
Meanwhile police recovered the bullet-hit body of an unidentified young man from Jashore-Rajganj road in Manirampur upazila of Jashore on Wednesday.
Mokarram Hossain, officer-in-charge of Manirampur police station, said being informed from locals, a team of police went to the spot and recovered the bullet-hit body of the young man, aged around 28 years around 5:45am.
Police suspected that the young man might have been killed in a ‘gunfight’ between two groups of robbers, said the OC.
Prothom Alo, however, could not verify the law enforcement’s version of the Kushtia killing independently as no version of it was available immediately either from any witness or from any member of the victim’s family.
With the latest deaths, at least 133 people were killed in 'gunfights' with members of law enforcement agencies while 37 bodies of suspected drug traders were recovered after reported gun battles between rival groups during the countrywide anti-narcotic drives since 15 May.