11 ‘outlaws’ killed in gunbattle with cops

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At least 11 outlaws were killed and another captured wounded in a firefight between police and cadres of the Janajuddho faction of Purba Banglar Communist Party (PBCP) at remote Sharirvita village of Sujanagar upazila in Pabna yesterday.

During the gun battle that lasted around two and a half hours, around 200 rounds of bullets were traded, police said, adding that they recovered 10 rifles and 113 bullets from the area.

At around 5:30am, Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police block-raided the area, some 45 km off the district town, following information that 50 PBCP cadres were holding a secret meeting at the house of Hamid Kazi at Sharirvita, police and Rab sources said.

The criminals opened fire on the law enforcers, who retaliated, leading to the death of a few outlaws, police said.

As other criminals started fleeing, the law enforcers and hundreds of locals chased them. At one stage the criminals boarded two boats and tried to flee through a beel (wetland) but got encircled by police and villagers.

The outlaws opened fire and another firefight with the law enforcers ensued. Six bullet-hit outlaws died on the spot.

The dead are Gulzar Hossain, Kalam, Kana Bachchu, Abdus Sabur, Abu Kazi and his brother Yousuf Kazi, Anisur Rahman, Tarique Mollah and his brother Bachchu Mollah, Sagar and Siraj. Three of them — Abdus Sabur of Shyam Sundarpur, Kalam of Govindapur and Abu Kazi of Sarirvita villages — are regional commanders of the outlawed outfit.

Out of anger at the outlaws who had committed murder, abduction, robbery, extortion and rape in the area, angry villagers disfigured the criminals’ bodies by hacking, police and locals said.

Locals said the outlaws were under the shelter of infamous ‘Al Haj’, chairman of Raninagar Union Prishada and ruling BNP leader. He backs a criminal group locally known as ‘Alhaj group’.

Officer-in-Charge of Sujanagar Police Station Rabiul Islam Khan and Sub-Inspector Abdur Razzak received mild injuries as the criminals hit them with rifle butts. Besides, injured police constables Shah Alam, Maruf and Sohrab were admitted to Sujanagar Health Complex, police said.

The operation is a part of the ongoing anti-outlaw drive in the southern and part of northern regions of the country, Superintendent of Police of Pabna Mirza Abdullahel Baki said.

Police picked up 50 outlaw suspects, he said, adding, “We are searching for more munitions that the criminals left in water while fleeing.”

Meanwhile, relatives of the outlaws termed the incident a ‘cold-blooded murder’.

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