6 held with AK47 after gunfight in CHT
Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari
Army personnel yesterday arrested six people after a half-an-hour gunfight with a gang of armed criminals in Kala Pahar area of Mahalchhari in the district.After the shootout the troops seized one AK47 rifle, a sawed-off rifle, a magazine of AK47 rifle with five bullets and some subscription books. The arrestees are Banshi Chakma, 32, Pritijiban Chakma, 35, Kamalpanjam Chakma, 45, Sushilkanti Banamali, 48, Kala Marma, 35, and Aongka Marma, 20. Army sources claimed that the arrestees belong to United People's Democratic Front (UPDF), an anti-peace treaty group active in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The gun-battle occurred at about 4:30am when the criminals ambushed two army patrol teams of Mahalchhari zone and opened fire on them near the Kala Pahar. The patrol teams retaliated against the attack and the shootout continued for half an hour. Additional troops then joined the patrol teams and cordoned off the area. The army personnel then searched the hilly area and arrested the six with the cut rifle, said an army official at Mahalchhari. Later they raided a den of criminals in the area and recovered the AK47 rifle and the ammunition. The den was destroyed. Meanwhile, District Citizens' Committee, a local organisation working for realising rights of the hill people, yesterday in a press release claimed that the arrestees are innocent.
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