At least 13 forest robbers (bandits) of Kashem Bahini (gang) were killed in alleged gunfights with police in Kalabagi of Dakop Upazila in the Sundarbans` Khulna range on Sunday. Four of the deceased were identified as the gang leader Kashem Ali, Sabur Ali, Ilias and Mohsin. Khulna Police Super Md. Habibur Rahman, said two robbers were killed in mass beating and police firing when they were trying to abduct a college teacher named Prashanta Kumar Dhali at Jirbunia in the Upazila town around 4:30am. The law enforcers also detained 11 bandits from the scene. On the basis of their information, police went to recover arms and arrest their associates in Dakop upazila near the Sundarbans where the second gunfight took place in the afternoon. As police were taking the robbers with them, cohorts of the bandits opened fire targeting the law enforcers, triggering a ‘gunfight’ that left eleven of them dead on the spot. Police also held 11 other bandits and recovered nine guns, 32 rounds and a trawler of bullets from the spot.
