Shawdesh Desk:

At least five suspected robbers were killed in ‘gunfights’ with law enforcers in the Sunderbans and Habiganj on Tuesday.

In Sunderbans, four suspected forest robbers were killed in a reported gunfight with the Rapid Action Battalion in the Sunderbans of Koyra upazila.

Two of the deceased were identified as Aminul, the leader of the gang, and his second-in-command Rafiq.

Tipped-off that some forest robbers took position in the Sunderbans, a team of RAB raided the deep forest at about 3:00am, said Lieutenant Colonel Syed Mohammad Nurus Salehin Yusuf, commander of RAB-6.

Sensing presence of the law enforcers, the robbers opened fire on the team, forcing them to retaliate that triggered the gunfight, Salehin said.

Later, the RAB team recovered four bullet-hit robbers from the spot and took them to Koyra Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared them dead, he added.

Salehin also said that local fishermen identified the bodies of Aminul and Rafiq but could not identify the two others.

In Habiganj, the alleged ringleader of a robber gang was killed in a reported gunfight with the police at village Suraboi of Sadar upazila in the early morning.

The deceased was identified as Kudrat Ali, 40, son of Omar Ali of village Dariapur of the upazila.

Md Rabiul Islam, Habiganj police superintendent, said that tipped-off that a gang of robbers was preparing for committing robbery in a bamboo cluster in the area, a team of the Sayestaganj police and DB police raided the area around 3:00am.

Sensing presence of the law enforcers, robbers opened fire on them, forcing them to fire back in self-defence that triggered the gunfight, he said.

After the gunfight, police recovered Kudrat from the spot and took him to upazila hospital where doctors declared him dead, the SP added.

He also said there were 13 robbery cases filed against Kudrat and he used to commit robbery in Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Brahmanbaria, Narsingdi and Cumilla with his gang.

Police recovered a locally-made pipe gun, six bullets, two daggers and rods from the spot.