Two killed in alleged gunfight with police

Two men were killed in what police called gunfight with them in Kamalnagar area near the Bypass road in Satkhira town early Saturday, reports news agency UNB.

The deceased identified as Dwip, 25, son of a certain Moinul Islam of Munjitpur village in Satkhira town and Saiful Islam, 30, of Saihati village in Ashashuni upazila were criminals, local police claimed.

Md Mostafizur Rahman, superintendent of police, said they arrested Dwip and Saiful on Friday on allegation of snatching of Tk 2.6 million from a bKash agent in Kaliganj upazila.

Police took the duo with them to recover the money. When they reached Kamalnagar area around 3:00am, associates of the criminals open fired on the law enforcement to snatch them, leading to a gunfight, the SP added.

Dwip and Saiful were caught in the line of fire and died on the spot, he said.

SP Mostafizur Rahman also claimed that police recovered two firearms, four rounds of bullet, two knives and a motorbike from the spot.

According to a human rights body, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 421 people were killed in alleged gunfights, crossfire or shootouts with the law enforcement agencies in Bangladesh in 2018.

In the first 10 months of 2019, the number of such killing was at least 334, the rights body said on its website.