With this, the number of people killed in 'crossfire' between their accomplices and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) and police rose to 228.

A constable was also injured in the shootout in the capital, and some illegal arms and ammunition were seized, police sources said.

The outlaw was killed in Pabna.

Dhaka
An accused in six criminal cases, Rahimullah Khokan alias China Khokan, 33, was killed in a gunfight between his associates and police in Sarakunja Residential Area on the bank of the river Buriganga at about 4:00am, police said.

The cases against him, filed with Hazaribagh and Lalbagh police stations, include one for murder and three under Arms Act.

Constable Ali Hossain suffered bullet wounds in his leg and was under treatment at Rajarbagh Police Lines Hospital.

Police seized a shutter gun, a pistol with two bullets, a pistol magazine and some bullets from the spot.

Duty Officer at Hazaribagh Police Station said that tipped off, a police team rushed to Sarakunja Residential Area. But a gang of seven criminals started firing on them indiscriminately. "To save themselves, our men returned fire. Rahimullah suffered bullet wounds in his head and chest," he said.

He was rushed to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

Family version
Rahimullah's father Ramzan Ali however said his son, a confectionery shop owner, was an accused only in an assault case and was on bail. He was a close aide to a BNP lawmaker in the old city but was not involved in politics, Ramzan added.

He also said some people in plain clothes came to their Enayetganj Lane house Thursday noon and searched it for more than two hours. Then they took Rahimullah, who owns a confectionery near BDR Gate No. 1, with them.

"We tried to trace him out but failed. We came to know about his death from television news yesterday in the morning," he said.

Pabna
A regional leader of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-Red Flag), Motleb Uddin Swapan, was killed in 'crossfire' with police at Sakharipara village in Ataikula thana early yesterday, our correspondent reports from Kushtia.

He was a listed criminal and an accused in 15 cases including 10 for murder.

According to Pabna police, they arrested Motleb from Puspopara village Thursday morning.

Acting on his confession, a contingent of police from Ataikula Police Station started for Puspopara taking Motleb with them to recover firearms. As police reached near Sakharipara graveyard at about 4:00am, PBCP cadres opened fire on them. Police then fired on them triggering a firefight between law enforcers and outlaws.

Police said Motleb was killed in the shootout while attempting to escape from the police van. They seized one shutter gun and four bullets from the spot.

Law enforcing agencies said 11 cadres of outlawed parties were killed in crossfire with police and Rab in the district in the last two months.

Chittagong
Our Staff correspondent in Chittagong reports: Salim alias Kana Selu, 38, an accused in 11 cases for murder, abduction and robbery and other crimes, was killed in 'crossfire' between police and his associates in Rangunia upazila in the district early yesterday.

Sources said district police arrested Kana Selu of Chandraghona ferry ghat area from Gohira under Anowara upazila Thursday evening.

He confessed to police that he had some illegal firearms including one AK-47 rifle under his possession at the port city's Halishahar Anandapur and at Haibbyer Gotta of Chandraghona in the district.

Police on Thursday night searched both the places taking Kana Selu with them but found no arms. Asked by the criminal, police also conducted a search at Nishchintapur in the same upazila in vain.

While the police team was returning from Nishchintapur, more than 20 accomplices of Kana Selu opened fire on them from inside forests at Segun Bagan near Kodala at around 3:00am. Police returned fire and Kana Selu received bullet injuries while trying to flee.

He was taken to Rangunia upazila health complex where doctors declared him dead, police said.

Our Kushtia correspondent reports: Rab-6 personnel are quizzing here three arrestee top cadres of Janajuddho faction of the PBCP, including its second-in-command Shamim alias Mohid.

Mohid, sentenced to life imprisonment in the JSD (Jatyia Samajtantrik Dal) leader Kazi Aref Ahmed murder, and two other cadres -- Taher and Mujibur -- were arrested by Rab-1 from a club at Gulshan in Dhaka on Thursday night.

A team of Rab-6 arrived in Kushtia at about 3:00pm yesterday and started grilling them, a Rab official said seeking anonymity.

Police and Rab sources said Mohid, who was a Ganobahini cadre of the JSD, joined the PBCP (Janajuddho) faction after the killing of Kazi Aref. Mohid is also an accused in 15 other cases, 12 of them for murders.

The three cadres were involved in criminal activities in Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga and Jhenidah districts. They also occasionally visited Khulna where their commander Tapan Malitha lived before he was killed in West Bengal of India a few months back, the sources mentioned.