Biker killed at city checkpoint

Rapid Action Battalion gunned down a “bike-riding youth as he defied a signal to stop” at a checkpoint on a deserted road in the capital's Khilgaon area early yesterday and “tried to force his way past”.

The incident happened a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up at a Rab barracks in Ashkona, injuring two personnel of the elite force.

Yesterday, Rab claimed to have recovered several bombs attached to a vest the biker was wearing and a homemade improvised explosive device from the backpack he was carrying.

The identity of the youth, aged around 25, could not be known.

Three bullets pierced through his chest and another through his right leg, said a forensic doctor who conducted the autopsy.

The incident took place around 4:45am at Shekher Jaiga. There were no houses within 300-400 yards of the spot.

Briefing reporters on the spot, Rab-3 Commanding Officer Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud said Rab personnel at the checkpoint signalled the biker to stop but he tried to speed away. The Rab members opened fire on the man “because of the situation”, and the biker fell on the ground.

Two Rab personnel were slightly injured when the youth tried to force his way past the checkpoint, he claimed.

Rab officials said they could not take the man to hospital as they suspected the bag had explosives in it. Later, Rab's Bomb Disposal Unit rushed to the spot and recovered bombs from the bag, which were later detonated.

In the meantime, the youth had died on the spot, which is around 6km east of Rampura Bridge.

Rab officials suspect that the man might be a militant. They found some documents inside his bag but those could not reveal his identity.

The spot where the body was seen was cordoned off with yellow tape. As soon as the barricade was withdrawn, journalists, onlookers and locals rushed there. A bullet was found on the blood-smeared soil, which surprised many as to how such an important piece of evidence could escape law enforcers' eyes.

A plainclothes man identifying himself as a Rab member took the bullet away. The Daily Star correspondent captured some pictures of the bullet on mobile phone and minutes later the man approached and asked him to delete the photos. He even wanted to see the phone. However, the man left after journalists there protested.

The Daily Star correspondent did not see any recent dents or scratches on the red TVS Apache motorcycle. It had no number plate.

Abdus Salam, senior assistant superintendent of Crime Scene unit of the Criminal Investigation Department, told reporters on the spot that they found six to seven bullet injury marks on the body. They collected DNA samples and other evidence from the crime scene.

Enquired about the abandoned bullet, he said, “I have collected evidence that I needed. I don't know anything about it.”

Locals told this newspaper that they did not hear any gunshots, as the incident occurred on a hardly used road.

Mohammad Shimul, who has been driving an auto-rickshaw for the last three years in the area, said he usually avoids trips on the road after 10:00pm, as mugging incidents had become quite frequent there.

Following the Ashkona incident a day before, all prisons across the country were put on alert while security was stepped up at all domestic and international airports and Rab offices.