5 'muggers' hurt in Rab gun battles

Three separate gun battles between Rapid Action Battalion personnel and alleged muggers left at least five people with bullet injuries last night.
The battles took place between 8:00pm and 2:00am and took place in Dhaka and Keraniganj.
Alleged muggers Shafiqul Islam, 26, and Harunar Rashid, 24, were shot and later arrested in Kadomtoli following a gun battle involving Rab-10 team around 1:00am.
According to Rab-10 officials, the gunfight broke out when the gang attempted to rob the Rab personnel, who were on patrol duties in the Wasa Pukurpar area.
A Rab official said that shortly after being challenged by the Rab personnel, the alleged muggers opened fire and the law-enforcers retaliated with gunshots.
Several of the gang members managed to flee the scene, leaving behind the wounded Shafiq and Harun.
A firearm containing five bullets and a knife were recovered from the spot.
In a separate incident in Rampura, another alleged mugger, Abul Kashem, 30, was shot in the leg and arrested after his cohorts and Rab men were locked into a gun battle, said Rab-3 sources.
He was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
Speaking to The Daily Star from his hospital bed, Kashem said, "Rab men picked me up from Malibagh bus stand in the evening on Tuesday and I was shot in the leg around 2:00am."
Kashem alleges that four Rab men caught his legs and hands while another shot him in the leg.
He denies any involvement in the mugging.
Alleged muggers Abdul Halim, 28, and Mohammad Yunus, 30, were shot and captured around 8:00pm after a separate gunfight involving Rab-10 personnel in Konakhola, Keraniganj.