Man killed in 'gunfight’

A man was killed in a reported gunfight with members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) at Banigram village in Banshkhali, Chattogram on Sunday morning, reports UNB.

The deceased was identified as Morshed Alam, 35. RAB said he was a pirate wanted in over two dozen cases including the killing of 31 fishermen in the Bay of Bengal.

A team of RAB-7 conducted a drive in the area around 4:30am acting on a tip-off, Mahmudul Hasan, assistant director (media) of RAB-7, told UNB.

Pirates opened fire as soon as the RAB team reached the spot, triggering a gunfight, he said and added that Morshed was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot.

A pistol, three lighter guns (LG) and 14 bullets were recovered from the spot.

According to the human rights body, Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 370 people were killed in alleged gunfights, crossfires or shootouts with the law enforcement agencies including police, RAB, BGB in 2019.