Bandarban Shootout: All 8 victims from Bawm community

All eight people, killed in a "shootout" between two armed groups in Bandarban's Rowangchhari on Thursday night, belong to the Bawm community.

Six of them were from Zurvarawng village, one from Raunin Para and another from Pangkhyang Para, a leader of Bawm Social Council (BSC), seeking anonymity, told The Daily Star yesterday.

Bandarban police, on the other hand, said they were yet to identify the dead.

Abdul Mannan, officer-in-charge of Rowangchhari Police Station, said the United People's Democratic Front (Democratic) and Kuki-Chin National Army, the military wing of Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF), were engaged in the gunfight on Thursday night to establish supremacy in the hills of Khamtang Para and nearby areas.

On information, police recovered the eight bullet-ridden bodies near the Ruma-Rowangchhari link road around 12:30pm on Friday.

Tariqul Islam, superintendent of Bandarban district police, said the bodies were handed over to the Bawm community leaders for burial yesterday after conducting autopsies.

The victims' names were published on various news outlets but police could not identify the victims yet, he said.

"As it came to the media, we also suspect that the deceased might be KNF members," the SP said.

The BSC leader, however, could not confirm whether the deceased were KNF members.

According to the list provided by the BSC, six people from Zurvarawng village are -- Lal Tha Zar Bawm, 27, Sang Khum Bawm, 45, Vanlal duh Bawm, 35, Sun Thir Thang Bawm, 22, Bawi Rem Bawm, 17, and Lal Lian Ngak Bawm, 44.

Among them, Lal Tha Zar Bawm is an office assistant at Zurvarawng Government Primary School.

Jahim Bawm, 40, is from Pangkhyang Para while Bawm Ram Than Bawm is from Raunin Para.