Man killed in reported gunfight with cops

A man was killed in what police called gunfight with them in Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha early Friday, reports news agency UNB.

The deceased was identified as Chinu Mia, 38, who was wanted in 19 cases, police said.

AKM Mehedi Hasan, officer-in-charge of Gobindaganj police station said the law enforcement arrested Chinu on Wednesday night. But his associates snatched handcuffed Chinu from police custody and escaped.

Tipped off that a group of criminals including Chinu would gather in the area, a team of police conducted a drive there around 3:30am.

Sensing presence of the law enforcers, the criminals opened fire on the policemen forcing them to fire back in self-defence, triggering a gunfight, the OC claimed.

At one stage, Chinu was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot, he added.

Police arrested two people from the spot.

According to the human rights body, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 421 people were killed in alleged gunfights, crossfires or shootouts with various law enforcement agencies, including police, RAB and BGB, in 2018.

In the first six months of 2019, the number of such killing was at least 200, the rights body said on its website.