Criminals clash with cops
4 gangsters killed, 19 including 5 border guards injured in hour-long fight
Our Correspondent, Kushtia
Four gangsters were killed and at least 19 others, including five law enforcers, were injured in a fierce gunfight between a criminal gang and a joint contingent of police and Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) at Chheuria under Kumarkhali upazila yesterday.Two BDR personnel and five gang operatives are in critical condition. Police recovered a sizeable number of arms and ammunition from the spot. Tipped off about two rival bands of criminals making preparations to fight out the control of the area, the joint force contingent led by the officer-in-charge of Kushtia Sadar Police Station reached Chheuria at dead of night, around 2am, police sources said. Hamidul is the chief of the band that engaged in the skirmish with the law enforcers and Akhtarul is the boss of the other. According to police, both of the rival gang leaders have been engaged for long in various criminal activities, including drug dealing, abduction, robbery and mugging. Each of them is named in at least 10 criminal cases filed with the Kushtia Sadar and Kumarkhali police stations, they added. Police said the battle ensued at a place near the shrine of famous Baul saint Lalon Shah when Hamidul's gang, spotting the incoming joint force members, opened fire. The law enforcers retaliated by firing back. According to police, at least a hundred gunshots were traded during the hour-long shoot out that left a gangster, Rabiul, 25, dead on the spot and 20 others, including five joint force members, sustaining various degrees of bullet injuries. Police nabbed eight critically wounded gang-members. Two of them -- Rezaul 27, and Shafiul, 32, died at Kushtia General Hospital at noon and yet another, Shawkat, 24, succumbed to his injuries in the evening. The other injured arrestees -- Rokon 30, Bilal, 30, Monobar 38, Safiqul, 31, Reza, 22 -- and the two critically injured BDR men -- Asaduzzaman, 34, and Joinul, 26, -- are all being treated in the same hospital. Police recovered six firearms including three .22 rifles, one local rifle and two shutter-guns, four bombs and 185 bullets from the arrestees. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Abdul Aziz Sarker and BDR Kushtia Sector Commander Lt Colonel Sarwardi Hossain visited the spot. Sarker told the newsmen that they would take all necessary steps to round up the rest of the culprits. A tense situation now prevails in the area, where additional forces of police and BDR are deployed.
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