Man killed in gunfight: Police

A man was killed in what the police called a gunfight with them at Kashiadanga in Hakimpur upazila of Dinajpur early Friday, reports UNB.

The deceased was Kahidul Islam alias Touhidul, 40, of Nashipur village in the upazila was a robber, police said.

He was wanted in 11 law suits including that of robbery, said senior assistant superintendent of Hakimpur police circle Akhiul Islam.

Tipped off that a group of robbers were taking preparation for robbery, a team of police conducted a drive in the area around 3:30am, said Abdur Razzak Akondo, officer-in-charge of Hakimpur police station.

Sensing presence of the law enforcement, the robbers opened fire on police, forcing them to fire back that triggered a gunfight, he said.

Kahidul was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot while the others managed to flee the scene.

Two policemen were also injured during the gunfight, the OC added.

The law enforcement team claimed to have recovered one pipe gun, two shells of bullets and five sharp weapons from the spot.

According to the human rights body Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 421 people were killed in 2018 while 370 killed in 2019 in such gunfight, crossfire and shootouts with different law enforcement agencies.