Rohingya man killed in Bandarban ‘gunfight’

A Rohingya man was killed in what the members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) called a gunfight with them in Ghumdhum area of Naikkhangchhari of Bandarban near Cox’s Bazar border on Wednesday morning.

BGB said the deceased Adham was a suspected member of a drug smuggling gang.

Adham lived in the Rohingya camp situated at the zero point of Ghumdhum border of Naikkhangchhari.

Confirming the incident, Cox’s Bazar 34th BGB battalion captain lieutenant colonel Ali Haidar Azad Ahmed said, on information that a big consignment of yaba pills would be entered into Naikkhangchhari from Myanmar, two teams of BGB take positions near the border.

About 10 to 12 people came across the border into Bangladesh and they started shooting when police stopped them to question, according to BGB.

The miscreants fled the scene and BGB recovered the body of an injured person along with 40,000 yaba pills, a pistol and bullets.

The BGB official said the injured man was taken to Ukhia upazila health complex for treatment where physicians declared him dead.

Before death, the injured person identified himself as Adham, 23.

A BGB press release said two BGB members were injured in the gunfight. They have been given first aid at Ukhia Upazila Health Complex.

According to BGB , the 34th BGB Battalion in Cox's Bazar raided the border in the first nine months of January this year and arrested 173 people, including about 2.2 million yaba worth Tk 658 million.

The anti-drug campaign started from 4 May 2018 all over the country. Since then, till 31 July, 272 people, including four women, have been killed in shootouts in Cox's Bazar district alone.

There are 104 Rohingyas including two women. During this time 5.5 million yaba have been recovered. In Teknaf alone, 161 people died in the 'gunfight’. Almost 3,500 people have been arrested.