bdnews24.com :
Many questions over the murders of 13 people in two ‘encounters’ in Khulna’s Koyra and Paikgachha on Oct 5 have remained unanswered.
Police say they were ‘active members of notorious pirate gang Kashem Bahini’, but their families and locals rubbish the claim.
Police said, one of the ‘encounters’ took place in the Sundarbans near Hadda in Koyra at around 1:30pm and the other at Jhilbunia under Paikgachha in the morning, a day before the Eid-ul-Azha.
According to statements of the cases filed by police, 11 robbers were killed when they tried to flee from police custody during an encounter between police and Kashem Bahini members’ on Gangrokkhir Char in the mangrove forest.
Seven hours earlier, ‘two other members of the Bahini’ were killed in another encounter’ at Jhilbunia village, police said.
Relatives said, they found the victims with broken limbs and necks and injury marks on the bodies.
The physicians who autopsied the bodies said all the 13 died from wounds from bullets, most of which pierced the chests.
Locals said, the 11 killed in the forest had earlier been caught and beaten by villagers on suspicion that they were robbers, but police did not clarify the matter.
Relatives of the victims asked why police would go on raids with ‘critically injured’
of taking them to hospital. According to the statement of the case filed with Paikgachha police, OC of the Police Station Shikdar Akkas Ali received tipoff over phone at around 3:45am on Oct 5 that 14-15 robbers abducted college teacher Prasant Kumar Dhali from Jhilbunia and tried to flee by a trawler.
It said, the law enforcers reached Jhilbunia at around 4:45am with the help of Deluti Camp police.
“As the police and villagers chased the robbers, they started firing indiscriminately. The kidnappers were dispersed when police fired in retaliation,” the case statement said.
It said, at one stage locals caught the robbers and roughed them up before handing the 13 over to police.
Bullet-hit two-Habibur Sardar aka Hobi, 39, and ‘Karimul’, 28, — were sent to Khulna General Hospital where they died, the statement added.
Police claimed the arrestees admitted that they were members of ‘Kashem Bahini’ and divulged that Kashem developed a temporary camp in the Sundarbans by accumulating arms and ammunition.
The law enforcers said a team of 33 of their members went on the raid on Gangrokkhi Char at noon taking the arrestees with them following their statements.
They claimed as the police reached the area, ‘Kashem Bahini’ members started firing indiscriminately and the robbers tried to flee.
The 11 were killed in the encounter there, they said.
Those killed are Sabur Morol, 40, son of Sharif Morol from Magura village under Paikgachha, Hanif Gazi, 34, son of Sultan Gazi from Kalabogi village under Dacope Upazila, Alam Morol, 27, son of Nannu Morol from Mongla under Bagerhat, Amirul aka Akhirul Sheikh, 26, son of Aziz Sheikh, Shafiqul Sheikh, 21, son of Shahid Sheikh, and Afzal Sheikh, 24, son of Jalil Sheikh from Tipna village under, his cousin Nasrul Sheikh, 22, Mofizul Mollah, 30, and Ibrahim aka Mahabbu Mollah, 41, sons of Sattar Mollah from Sarafpur village, Rubel Sheikh, 23, son of Gaffar Sheikh, and Junaid Khan, 22, son of Yusuf Ali Khan from Golna village under Dumuria Upazila.
Families told bdnews24.com many of the corpses had their hands or legs or neck broken and bore wounds when they received the bodies.
Many locals at Bigordana union said 11 robbers were critically injured when the villagers gave them a good beating after the first ‘gun-battle’ with police.
They said those badly injured at the time could not even walk. Police took them away from the scene on their van.
Asked why police took the injured detainees straight into the raid instead of hospital, Rubel Sheikh’s cousin Mohsin Sheikh said: “Police could have taken only one of them if they wanted. Why they had to take all 11?”
“And why is that not one policeman died when all of (the detainees) got shot dead?” Another victim Junaid Khan’s father Yusuf Ali claimed that his son’s both legs were broken when his body was handed over.
