A suspected drug trader was killed in a reported gunfight with members of Detective Branch of police at West Mahduripur in Noakhali’s Sadar upazila.

The deceased was identified as Ibrahim Khalil alias Bhandari Rubel, 27, son of Abul Kashem of Ayubpur village in Sadar upazila. He was wanted in 16 criminal cases, police said.

Kamruzzaman Shikdar, officer-in-charge of DB police, said they arrested Rubel from East Mahduripur village last night. Later, the DB police took Rubel to West Mahduripur village for recovering firearms around 4:00am.

As soon as the police team reached the spot, Rubel’s associates opened fire, triggering a skirmish, OC Shikdar said.

At one stage, Rubel was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot while others managed to flee the scene.

Five policemen, including the OC, were injured in the “gunfight”.

Police recovered a light gun, a pipe gun, six cartridges and ten sharp weapons from the spot.