2 Rohingya ‘drug peddlers’ killed in Cox’s Bazar ‘gunfight’

Two alleged Rohingya drug peddlers were killed in a gunfight with members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Teknaf upazila of Cox's Bazar early today.

The deceased were identified as Md Alam (26), son of Md Shafi of Block-G in Kutupalong Rohinya camp no. 5, and Md Yasin (24), son of Md Ershad Ali of Block-K/3 in Balukhali Rohinya camp no. 18, our Cox's Bazar correspondent reports, quoting BGB officials.

Lt Col Mohammad Foysal Hasan Khan, commanding officer of BGB Battalion-2, said a BGB team took position in Wabrang Nanirbari area on the bank of Naf River at Hnila union of Teknaf upazila around 3:00am after receiving information that a group of smugglers were entering Bangladesh from Myanmar with a big consignment of drugs.

After a while, they noticed three men entering the area crossing the Naf River. The BGB team then signaled them to stop, he said.

Seeing the law enforcers, the smugglers tried to flee after reaching the river bank. As the BGB men followed them, the alleged smugglers opened fire at the law enforcers, forcing them to retaliate, triggering a "gunfight", claimed the BGB official.

At one point, one of the criminals fled the scene leaving behind his two injured cohorts.

The BGB members found the two bullet-hit bodies of the drug peddlers at the spot. They also recovered 50,000 yaba tablets, one Chinese gun and two bullets.

Two of the BGB men were also hurt during the incident, the official claimed.