One of the outlaws was also killed when the ansar members retaliated against the attack.

In a separate incident, a gang of criminals attacked a police team and snatched away an arrestee from custody leaving five cops injured at Jamtail Railway Station in Kamarkhanda upazila of Sirajganj district on Tuesday night.

In Natore, the attack on Bamihal police outpost took place when the district police administration was busy ensuring the security of the prime minister who addressed a public meeting in Naldanga, our Staff Correspondent at Rajshahi reports.

None of the Natore police administration could be reached last night for confirmation of the report, but local sources and witnesses identified the killed ansar members as Abdul Aziz, Abdul Gafur and Abdul Momin.

Camp in-charge Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Fazlur Rahman and six ansars were bullet-wounded in the attack, the sources said.

The looted arms and ammunition include one sub machine-gun, one shot-gun, eight three-not-three rifles and 139 rifle bullets.

Witnesses said about 40 outlaws surrounded the outpost, some 15 kilometres off Singra Police Station and 30 kilometres off Natore town, at about 5:45pm with a procession chanting slogans 'long live Maoism', and 'long live Siraj Sikdar.'

Six of the 16 ansars were taken from the outpost for PM's security while two of them went out to say their evening prayers during the attack.

The outlaws gunned down two ansars stood guard at the entrance to the outpost, said witnesses. As the criminals stormed the camp, the ansars tried to resist them leading to a gunfight. Another ansar and an attacker were killed during the battle.

The outlaws carrying sophisticated firearms then held the rest of the law-enforcers hostage at the camp and fled the scene looting the arms and ammunition. They also took away the body of the killed outlaw, our Bogra correspondent reports.

Before leaving the camp, the outlaws destroyed all the wireless sets to disconnect radio communication with Natore and nearby police stations, said sources.

Senior officials of the police including DIG (deputy inspector general) of Rajshahi range rushed to the scene. The police and Rapid Action Battalion members started a massive hunt for the outlaws in the district and adjacent areas.

A source in PBCP's Red Flag faction blamed its Sarbahara faction for the incident, but a source in Singra said Red Flag faction has a stronghold in the area.

The outlaws earlier looted arms and ammunition from several police stations and outposts at Gurudaspur in Natore, Atrai and Niamatpur in Naogaon and Bagmara in Rajshahi.

SIRAJGANJ
The police arrested Sarwar Hossain, Rubel and Shawkat in the Jamtail railway station area and seized some smuggled Indian saris and Phensidyl syrup from their possession.

Soon after the arrest, the accomplices of Sarwar attacked the police team and snatched him away after beating up five policemen. Rubel managed to escape during the attack.

The police however brought Shawkat to Kamarkhanda Police Station, our Sirajganj correspondent reports.