Rohingya man killed in ‘gunfight’

A Rohingya man, allegedly involved in drug smuggling, was killed in a “gunfight” with the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Cox’s Bazar early yesterday.

The dead, Md Aiyas, 25, was a resident of Kutupalong Rohingya Camp in Ukhia upazila, our Cox’s Bazar correspondent reports, quoting BGB officials.

On information that a large consignment of yaba would be smuggled into Bangladesh from Myanmar, a BGB team took position in the Jadimora-Shikholghera area in Teknaf’s Hnila union, said Lt Colonel Mohammad Foysal Hasan Khan, commanding officer (CO) of BGB Battalion-2.

Around 3:00am, the team noticed that a boat carrying a group of people was crossing the Naf river into Bangladesh from Laldwip in Myanmar, the CO added.

The alleged smugglers, sensing the presence of law enforcement, started firing on the BGB men as they came closer to the shore, a BGB official said, adding that they retaliated with gunshots, triggering the gunfight that lasted around five minutes.

At one stage, three of the suspected drug smugglers jumped into the river and swam away toward the Myanmar border, CO Foysal said.

The BGB men later found a bullet-hit smuggler on the boat, he claimed. After providing him with primary treatment at the Teknaf upazila health complex, he was sent to Cox’s Bazar General Hospital, where doctors declared him dead, the BGB official added.

The team recovered around 2.2 lakh yaba pills, locally made firearms, and ammunition from the boat, he added.

Three border guards were also injured in the gunfight, the CO said.