‘Mugger’ killed in ‘gunfight’ with cops

A suspected mugger, who allegedly killed a woman while mugging her in the capital's Mugda area last month, was killed in a "gunfight" with the Detective Branch of Police (DB) in Khilgaon area early yesterday.

Asaduzzaman, deputy commissioner (east division) of the detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said that the dead -- Abdul Mannan alias Mona, 35, -- was the allege leader of the mugging gang that was responsible for the death of a woman who fell from a rickshaw after muggers snatched her bag.

Earlier on Sunday, police arrested four muggers from the Mugda Stadium area and told media that they were looking for their gang leader Mona.

Later, based on the arrestees' information, police raided Khilgaon's Nagdarpar area around 3:00am yesterday to arrest other members of the gang, the DC said.

"Sensing the presence of police, the muggers opened fire. This prompted the law enforcers to fire back, triggering the gunfight during which Mona was shot," the DB official claimed.

Mona was sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead.

On February 29, Tarina Begum Lipi. 38, died after falling off a rickshaw when a group of muggers attempted to snatch her bag.