The victim, Sujit Kumar Mondol, 40, was arrested Wednesday night at Prashadpur of Tala upazila in Satkhira.

Police said Sujit returned to Dumuria from India on Tuesday with a view to regroup the armed cadres of his underground party and carry out subversive activities taking advantage of the current political situation. He had fled to India during Operation Clean Heart.

A police team around 4:00am yesterday took him to Bharatia in a bid to recover hidden firearms. But as the team reached the spot, Sujit's cohorts opened fire on the team in an attempt to snatch Sujit.

Police retaliated which led to a 15-minute-long gun battle. Sujit was caught in the line of fire during the battle. Police took injured Sujit to local health complex where on-duty doctors declared him dead.

Police recovered two pipe-guns, seven bullets and a large dagger from the spot. Three policemen including Sub-inspector Abdul Majid sustained bullet injuries. Sujit's accomplices, however, managed to escape.

A large number of people brought out a procession around noon in Dumuria upazila yesterday celebrating Sujit's death. City Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami and former lawmaker Mian Golam Parwar led the procession.

According to Officer-in-charge Abdullah of Dumuria Police Station, the slain outlaw was wanted in 23 criminal cases, including eight murders cases recorded with different police stations of Khulna and Satkhira. He was the prime charge-sheeted accused of Dumuria BNP leader Siraj Mollah murder case, Abdullah said.