Bangladeshi police shot dead 11 militants in an exchange of fire in the country's northern Pabna district on Thursday, police said. Police intercepted about 100 militants holding a meeting at a hideout, a police official said. The police opened fire and killed 11 members of the group. Another 50 were detained, the official said. About 50 people, including policemen, were wounded in the gunfight. Police and elite force rapid action battalion seized dozens of guns and ammunition from the hideout at Barshal, a village northwest of Dhaka. "We had planned the raid on a tip off that the Marxists group will hold a meeting at this remote village," police Superintendent Mirza Abdullahil Baki told reporters at the scene. The militants belonged to the ML Janajuddha group, which is active in northern Bangladesh and who say they seek to help the poor. Officials said they were not connected to banned Islamist groups believed to be responsible for a spate of bomb attacks last year.