Suspected yaba trader killed in reported gunfight with BGB

Prothom Alo illustration

A suspected yaba trader was killed in what the members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) called a gunfight with them in Sluice Gate area in Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar on Friday night.

The identity of the deceased could not be known yet.

BGB claimed that the deceased was a yaba trader. The law enforcement also claimed to have recovered 210,000 yaba tablets, two shells and a local weapon from the scene.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Teknaf-2 BGB battalion commander lieutenant colonel Mohammad Faisal Hasan Khan said the incident took place near the sluice gate no. 1 of Naf river around 10:30pm on Friday.

The BGB commander said a special team of BGB saw three people trying to enter Bangladesh boundary from Myanmar through Naf river and challenged them along no. 1 sluice gate of the river. The men on boat opened fire on BGB men, forcing them to fire back for self defence. At one stage, two of them jumped into the river and swam to the Myanmar border.

Later, the BGB members searched the boat and found a man with bullet injuries. They took him to a Teknaf Upazila Health Complex where physicians declared him dead, he said.

Mohammad Faisal Hasan Khan claimed that two BGB men were also injured during the incident.

A total of 273 people were killed in reported gunfights with RAB, BGB, police, and among the drug traders until 31 July this year since an anti-drugs drive was started across the country on 4 May 2018. Among them, 162 was killed in Teknaf alone.