Two criminals were shot dead in Cox's Bazar Sadar upazila early today.

The dead were identified as Jahedul Alam Sifat, 28, and his brother Shahidul Alam Arafat, 22, our Cox's Bazar correspondent said quoting Md Aslam, officer-in-charge (OC) of Cox's Bazar Sadar Police outpost.

Sifat and Arafat, sons of Md Alam of Halimarghona village in Sadar, were accused in a number of cases including murder, kidnappings and extortions, said the OC.

Contacted, Abdul Hakim, member of Cox's Bazar upazila parishad, told The Daily Star that the local residents heard several gunshots in Himchhari area around 3:00am.

"Hearing from locals, I went to the spot around 8:00am, found the bodies and informed police." Hakim said.

On the other hand, the mother of victims, Afroja Yasmin, told The Daily Star that her sons were picked up by police officials in plain cloth from their home at Dulhazar village around 2:00am today.

Later, she came to know that her sons' bullet-hit bodies were taken to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital.