3 killed in alleged gunfights in 2 districts

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Three people were killed in alleged gunfights with police and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Munshiganj and Chapainawabganj districts early Friday.

Prothom Alo’s Munshiganj correspondent said two people were killed in a reported gunfight with a team of police in KC Road area of Srinagar upazila.

The deceased could not be identified immediately, said Srinagar police station officer Md Masudur Rahman.

Police were checking people at a check post in the KC Road area, he said.

Two people came riding a motorcycle in the area around 2:30am. They opened fire on the policemen while the law enforcers were checking them, which prompted police to shot back, OC Masudur added.

The injured motorcycle riders were taken to Srinagar upazila health complex where physicians declared them dead on arrival, he added.

Additional superintendent of police in Munshiganj (Srinagar circle) Quazi Maksuda Lima said they suspect the deceased could be militants.

In Chapainawabganj, suspected drug trader Abul Hossain Babu was killed in a reported gunfight between his cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Nayadiari in Gomostapur upazila, reports UNB.

Tipped off that a group of drug traders gathered at a mango orchard for drug dealing, a team of RAB-5 conducted a raid there around 1:00am, said the RAB.

Sensing presence of the elite force, the drug peddlers opened fire on the RAB members, forcing them to fire back, the force added.

After a brief gunfight, the RAB members found bullet-hit Babu and took him to the upazila health complex where doctors declared him dead.

Two RAB members were injured in the incident, the force claimed.

One pistol, three bullets, one magazine and 177 bottle of phensidyl were recovered from the spot, the UNB report added.

The law enforcement’s versions of the events, however, could not be verified independently as no versions of the incidents were available immediately either from any witness or from the victims’ families.