The dead were identified as Abir Hasan, 36, operations commander and the general secretary of the outlawed outfit, and his cohort, Taizal.

According to a Rab-12 statement, acting on a tip-off, a team led by Major Hafiz went to the house of Habib Uddin at West Duarpara in Mirpur upazila at around 5:30pm where the outlaw leader was supposed to be presiding over a secret meeting.

Being confirmed about the presence of the outlaws, the law enforcers cordoned off the house and asked them to surrender. At this, the outlaws in the house opened fire on the Rab personnel.

One ASP (assistant superintendent of police) was bullet hit at this time, the statement said.

Then the Rab asked the Khulna Range of Police for more troops and a fierce gunfight ensued at about 7:30pm that lasted for nearly three hours. Both sides exchanged around 500 shots during the shootout. At one stage, the Rab team set fire to the house.

After the fight was over, Rab found two dead bodies in a room of the house. They also recovered one US made M-16 rifle, one shutter gun and 60 rounds of bullet from the spot.

Hailing from Jadabpur village in Alamdanga upazila in Chuadanga, Abir Hasan alias Nashar joined the PBCP in 1999. He was made operations commander in 2003 after another top PBCP leader Shoeb died.

A most wanted criminal in the police list, Abir was accused in 60 different cases and also admitted responsibility for at least 50 murders in the region at different times.