Almost every day we find reports of “crossfire” or “shootouts” in newspapers. This newspaper reported on Monday that six alleged “drug dealers” and “robbers” were killed on the previous day. In total, according to data provided by Ain O Salish Kendra, as many as 413 people were killed from January to September this year.

We are deeply concerned by these developments. It simply cannot be acceptable that so many people were killed just because they were suspected to having been involved in criminal activities.

While security forces contend that they had to act because they were “attacked” by the people in question, countless testimonies, documentations and reports paint a different picture.

In a normal society, law enforcement agencies must not be given carte blanche—especially when it comes to actions that involve people's lives for such power can easily be misused.

Previous precedents suggest such a strategy solves nothing but complicates things to an extent that the situation can be exploited by some to settle scores.

Minhazul Abedin, Khulna