Raids on after 'shootout' in Mymensingh
Law enforcers were yet to identify the youth who along with Sholakia attacker Shafiul Islam was killed in a “shootout” between Rab and a criminal gang in Nandail upazila of Mymensingh on Thursday night.
Lt Col Shariful Islam, commanding officer of Rab-14, claimed the youth, aged about 21, was an associate of Shafiul and was among the attackers who ambushed a Rab convoy that night.
“We took fingerprints of the youth to match them with those of missing people listed by Rab,” added the official.
He said the two pistols recovered from the “shootout” spot resemble those seized from Sholakia of Kishoreganj on July 7.
The bodies of Shafiul and the unidentified youth were sent to Mymensingh Medical College (MMC) yesterday for autopsies.
Following post-mortems, the bodies would be kept at the MMC mortuary until those are handed over to their families, said Md Ataur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Nandail Police Station.
Rab and police personnel early yesterday raided several villages near the “shootout” spot, but none was arrested, the OC stated.
According to Rab officials, Shafiul had been receiving treatment at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital under Rab custody since he was arrested on July 7. On that day, some suspected militants attacked policemen near the Sholakia Eid congregation ground. The attack left two policemen, a local woman and a suspected attacker killed.
Following Shafiul's release from the hospital on Thursday, the Rab team was taking him to Kishoreganj to hand him over to police, said Lt Col Shariful.
When the team was crossing Nandail, some criminals tried to snatch away Shafiul by hurling bombs and firing shots at law enforcers, claimed Rab sources.
The “gunfight” ensued when Rab men fired back, leaving the two hit by bullets. Three Rab members suffered splinter injuries during the “encounter” and they were admitted to Nandail Upazila Health Complex, the sources mentioned.
Police said the “gunfight” happened around 11:00pm near a brickfield in Dangri Ghoshpala area of Nandail, some four kilometres east of the upazila headquarters.
Arif Mohammad Ziauddin, emergency medical officer at the health complex, said the two were brought dead around midnight.
Shafiul, also known as Saiful, was from Dinajpur. He was allegedly involved in at least two other targeted killings in Kurigram and Panchagarh.
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