‘Gunfight’ claims 3 more lives

Three persons were killed in a reported gunfight with the Detective Branch (DB) of police at Beribadh in Burichang upazila of Cumilla early Monday, according to UNB.

The deceased were Babul, 39, son of Joynal Abedin of Debidwar upazila, Ershadul, 26, son of Tajul Islam of Brahmanpara upazila, and Oli Mia, 43, son of Abul Hashem of Burichang upazila.

Tipped off, a team of police conducted a drive in the area around 2:45am, UNB reports Mainuddin, officer-in-charge of Cumilla DB police as saying.

Sensing presence of the law enforcers, a group of people opened fire on police, forcing them to fire back in self-defence, said the OC. 

At one stage, the three persons were caught in the line of fire and sustained bullet injures while the others managed to flee the scene, he added.

Later, they were taken to Cumilla Medical College Hospital where the physicians declared them dead. All of them were wanted in a number of criminal cases, said DB OC Mainuddin.

Four policemen, including officer-in-charge of Burichang police station Akul Chandra Biswas, reportedly sustained injuries in the gunfight and they were given first aid.

Police recovered one pistol, one pipe-gun, a number of bullets and sharp weapons from the spot.

According to a human rights body, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 421 people were killed in alleged gunfights, crossfires or shootouts with the law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh 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.