[Bangla Daily Star] Two criminals, including an outlawed party leader, were killed in separate 'shootouts' in Kushtia and Mymensingh early yesterday. The dead were identified as Ziko Parvez alias Killer Samrat, 36, a leader of outlawed Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) and Md Nasim, 25, wanted in criminal activities.
Samrat was killed in an encounter between his cohorts and law enforcers at Baliapara village in Sadar upazila, reports our Kushtia correspondent.
Acting on a tip-off, a joint team of police and Rapid Action Battalion raided Baliapara bridge where the outlaws, led by Samrat, were holding a meeting at about 4:00am, police said.
The law enforcers cordoned off the area and asked the outlaws to surrender.
But the outlaws started firing on the law enforcers prompting them to retaliate that triggered a half-an-hour long gunfight.
At one stage the operatives of the outlawed party managed to flee the scene while the body of Samrat was found lying on the ground.
Police recovered one LG, one shutter gun and three bullets from the spot.
With this, the death toll of the operatives of different outlawed parties in the district from "crossfire" reaches 19 in last 16 days.
In another incident, Nasim was killed in a shootout between his cohorts and Rab in Polashpur area in Mymensingh town, our Mymensingh correspondent reports.
A team of Rab arrested Nasim from Keotkhali area of the town Thursday night and recovered one pistol, one pipe gun, one bullet and five sharp weapons from his possession, police said.
As per Nasim's statement, the law enforcers took him near the bank of Brahmaputra River at around 3:00am to nab his accomplices, police said, quoting Rab sources.
As soon as the law enforcers reached the spot along with Nasim, his accomplices opened fire on them forcing the law enforcers to fire back.
At one stage Nasim was caught in the line of fire while trying to flee and died on the spot.
There are nine cases, including extortion, against Nasim with Kotwali Police Station, police said.
Rab handed over the body to police at around 4:00pm.
Later, police sent it to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy.