Rohingya man killed in Cox’s Bazar ‘gunfight’

A Rohingya man, allegedly a yaba trader, was killed in what law enforcers claimed to be a gunfight in Ukhiya upazila of Cox's Bazar early today.

The incident took place at Rahmat-er Beel area of Palongkhali union under the upazila around 3:30am, reports our Cox's Bazar correspondent quoting Lt Col Ali Haider Azad Ahmed, commander of Cox's Bazar 34 Battalion of Border Guard Bangladesh.

The deceased was identified as Md Jubayed Mia, 22, a resident of Block-A at Leda Rohingya Camp in Teknaf, the BGB official said, adding that 20,000 yaba pills, one pipe gun, and two fresh cartridges were recovered from the scene.

"A BGB patrol team observed a group of unidentified men suspiciously moving inside Bangladesh from Myanmar side, near a cyclone centre in the area, around 3:30am and asked them to halt and identify themselves. In response, the men opened fire at the BGB personnel, prompting them to retaliate and triggering the gunfight," Lt Col Ali Haider said.

"At one point, the men kept firing at the BGB personnel and fled from the scene. Later, the BGB team found one man injured at the spot. He was taken to Ukhiya Upazila Health Complex where the on-duty doctor pronounced him dead," the BGB official said.

"The identity of the deceased was later confirmed through different sources," he said.

Cox's Bazar police later recovered the body and sent it to Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy, the BGB official also said.

BGB lodged a case with Ukhiya Police Station in this connection, he added.