Rape accused killed in a ‘gunfight’

A rape accused was killed in a “gunfight” with members of Rapid Action Battalion in Chattogram’s Patiya upazila early yesterday.

The dead Arman, 25, of Patiya upazila, was accused in a case filed over the rape of a grade-VIII student in the area earlier this month, said Mashkur Rahman, assistant director (AD) of Rab-7 (media wing).

According to the Rab official, a team of the elite force conducted a raid in the upazila’s Kusumpur union around 4:00am on information that the suspected criminal was hiding there.

As soon as the Rab team reached the area, Arman and his cohorts opened fire, forcing the law enforcers to retaliate, he claimed.

Rab recovered Arman’s body but his cohorts managed to flee, Mashkur added.

The law enforcers also claimed to have recovered a firearm and seven bullets from the spot.

Borhan Uddin, officer-in-charge of Patia Police Station, said they received the body from Rab and sent it to Chattogram Medical College morgue for autopsy.

Rab filed a case with the police station regarding the “gunfight”.

The Daily Star, however, could not independently verify the law enforcers’ claims.