3 more 'drug dealers' killed in 'shootouts'

Three alleged drug peddlers were killed in three separate “gunfights” with law enforcers and Border Guard Bangladesh members yesterday.

The dead are Mehedi Hasan, 32, Zafar Alam, 26, and Ibadat Hossain Babu, 26.

Mehedi was killed in the capital's Shyamoli area while Zafar was killed in Cox's Bazar and Babu in Jashore.

Mohammad Mohiuddin Faruqui, company commander of Rab-2 camp in Mohammadpur, claimed Mehedi was accused in at least 17 drug related cases.

Acting on a tip-off, they set up two checkpoints in Shyamoli and Kalyanpur areas to recover drugs. Tracing the peddlers, they approached to interrogate but the criminals opened fire, forcing the law enforcers to retaliate, he added.

At one stage of the “shootout”, Mehedi's bullet-ridden body was found while others managed to flee.

Mehedi was taken to Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared him dead, the law enforcers claimed.

Rab also claimed to have recovered a foreign revolver and 300 grams of heroin from the spot.

Elsewhere in Sabrang-5 sluice gate area of Cox's Bazar, an inhabitant of Teknaf's Rohingya camp, Zafar, was killed in a “gunfight” with BGB members around 4:00am.

Lt Col Mohammad Asadud-Zaman Chowdhury, commanding officer of BGB battalion-2, said they detained Zafar on Tuesday night.

According to Zafar's statement, a consignment of yaba pills was supposed to be smuggled in the sluice gate area. On this information, a BGB team conducted a drive there, Lt Col Chowdhury claimed.

Sensing BGB's presence, the smugglers opened fire, forcing them to retaliate. At one stage of the “gunfight”, BGB men recovered Zafar's body, the BGB official added.

BGB also claimed to have recovered 5,000 yaba pills from the spot.

Two BGB men were also injured in the incident, claimed the BGB official.

In Jashore's Sharsha upazila, another alleged drug peddler was killed in a “gunfight” between two groups of drug peddlers, said Moshiur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Sharsha Police Station.

The police official claimed that the dead, Babu, was a resident of the district's Sashtitola area and was killed in“infighting”.

Police claimed to have recovered a firearm from the spot.

Besides, an alleged mugger, accused in 11 cases over snatching valuables, sustained bullet injury in his right leg during a “gunfight” with police in Chattogram's Nandankanon area around 2:30am.

The injured, Aslam Hossain Imon, was admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital, said Mohammed Mohsin, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station.

With the three dead, at least 296 suspected drugs peddlers or dealers have been killed since the anti-narcotics drive started on May 4 last year.

Most of them were killed in so-called shootout involving police and Rab.

[Our Benapole and Cox's Bazar correspondents contributed to this report.]