At least five dacoits including two ringleaders of robbery gangs were killed in a “shootout” with Rapid Action Battalion personnel in Morabhola canal of the Sundarbans yesterday.
The dead are ringleaders Jihad, 40, and Sohag Farazi, 35, Al-Amin, 30, Asadul Boyati, 32, and Belal, 30, of different villages in Rampal and Sharonkhola upazilas.
The law enforcers also recovered 11 arms including a single barrel shotgun, three rifles, one pistol and two airguns and 250 bullets from the spot.
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of Rab-8 and Rab headquarters led by Maj Sabbir Rahman Osmani conducted a drive at the canal under Sharankhola range of the mangrove forest around 9:00am, said Rab.
The Rab team for the first time in such a drive used a chopper to trace the robbers promptly, mentioned Maj Sabbir.
Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, the dacoits opened fire on them. The Rab members retaliated triggering the hour-long “gunfight.”
At one stage the gang members were forced to retreat.
The Rab men then searched the spot and found the five dead bodies.
A team of Sharankhola police reached the scene at noon and had been on their way back to Sharankhola with the bodies and recovered arms.
Police sources said at least 10 gangs in the area are currently involved in abducting fishermen for ransom and looting their valuables.