 Three suspected criminals were killed in 'crossfire' during separate incidents of shootout between their cohorts and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in the capital and on its outskirts early yesterday.
The deceased are Abdus Salam Sikder, 37, a Bangladeshi expatriate in Italy, Selim Miah, 36, owner of a grocery shop, and Rafiqul Islam Sardar, 32. Rab sources said all the three are criminals and members of notorious 'Nasir Group', which is accused of drug trading and other illegal activities in the city's Sabujbagh and adjacent areas.
| Now they're dead and no one other than their mothers (maybe) grieves for them. |
Acting on a tip-off that a gang of criminals were holding a secret meeting, a team of Rab-10 conducted a raid at Kamalapur in Sabujbagh area at about 3:45am.
| Must have had an earlier appointment with another unfortunate 'criminal' ... |
Sensing the presence of the elite force, the criminals opened fire on them, forcing Rab personnel to fire back.
| Spider-sense, aimless fire, and a cross-fire ... |
Sources said the criminals finally retreated after a 20-minute gun battle.
| In which no round of bullet left a mark on anything or anyone except our heroes ... |
Rab members later found the bullet-riddled bodies of Abdus Salam and Selim Miah ...
| ... right where they left them ... |
... on the spot of the fighting ...
"Which spot?"
"THAT spot!" |
... but other criminals managed to flee, ...
| ... vanished into the night as if they'd never been there in the first place ... |
... said a Rab press release.
| They just xerox those of course ... |
Rab members also retrieved two foreign-made pistols, a revolver and 126 rounds of bullet from the spot. Salam was wanted in twelve systems eight criminal cases while Selim in two cases.
Family members of the deceased claimed that Rab arrested Salam and his friend Selim from Maniknagar area in Sabujbagh on November 29, nine days after Salam returned from Italy. Salam was a citizen of Italy, they said.
| Should have stayed there, too ... |
Both Salam and Selim had connections with Nasir group in the past but the duo left the gang a couple of years ago, they claimed.
| So that they could open the branch office in Naples ... |
They also alleged that there is no criminal case against them and Nasir having a good link with Rab members used the force to kill both Salam and Selim.
Meanwhile, another team of Rab-10 raided Ainta in South Keraniganj at about 3:15am after receiving information that Rafiqul Islam, a business partner of Nasir, and his cohorts were holding a clandestine meeting there.
| There's the earlier meeting we mentioned earlier ... |
Sensing the presence of the elite force, the criminals fired bullets on them forcing Rab to fire back.
| You'd think an elite force could sneak up on the criminals without being sensed ... |
The body of Rafiqul was found on the spot following the gun battle.
| Right where they had dumped him from the truck with one round of bullet behind each ear ... |
Rab claimed that Rafiqul was a resident of RK Mission road in the capital. He was wanted in twelve systems too six criminal cases.
The force also recovered a pistol and 12 bullets from the scene.
| None of these guys rated a shutter gun? |
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