Staff Reporter :
An alleged robber was killed in a “shootout” between police and his cohorts in the city’s Khilgaon area early Friday. He was killed hours after police picked up him from the capital’s Demra area.
The deceased was identified as Billal Hossain alias Selim, 45, son of late Syed Ali of Tangail.
A leader of an inter-district robber gang, Billal was accused in at least 10 cases, mostly robbery, said Anwar Hossain, Deputy Commissioner (Motijheel Division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).
He said, a team of Khilgaon police along with Billal started a drive in Mostafa Majhir area to arrest his cohorts and recover firearms around 2:00am.
Soon after police reaching there, an armed gang started firing in an attempt to snatch Billal. Police also fired back triggering a “gunfight” that left Billal injured. Police rushed him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where he was declared death by the on duty doctors around 4:00am, the DC said.
Three police men were slightly injured during the “gunfight”, the police official said.
Police claimed to have recovered a firearm, and five bullets from the spot after Billal’s cohorts fled away, according to him.
According to police, Billal was once a car lifter and afterward formed the robber gang. He along with his accomplices looted a house in Nagdarpara in Khilgaon in October this year.
Some of the accused arrested in the case, in their confessional statement in the courts, said that Billal used to commit dacoity, police said.
Based on their statement, police arrested Billal on Thursday evening, according to the force.
According to Rights body Ain o Salish Kendra, law enforcers have given similar accounts of events leading to the deaths of around 800 suspects in custody since 2004.
Around 1,900 people had been shot dead during the period in what law enforcers claimed were the incidents of crossfire, shootout or gunfights, the rights organisation added.
In a query, Shiblee Noman, Additional Deputy Commissioner of DMP, claimed that police had no idea that such incident would take place. The incident took place suddenly, he said.
Asked about security measures taken for Billal during the raid, the DC said, “We usually take light security measures and however will be more careful in future.”
