Two men have been killed in a so-called shootout with police at Jhenaidah Sadar Upazila. Police claim they were ‘criminals’. Jhenaidah SP Sheikh Altaf Hossain said three policemen were also injured in the incident at Naldanga Union’s Tentulbarhia village in the early hours of Friday. He identified the deceased as Shahid Al Mahmud, 25, of Sadar Upazila, and Anisur Rahman, 26, of Kushtia Sadar Upazila. Mahmud had passed Fazil from the Jhenaidah Alia Madrasa. His family had claimed that men identifying themselves as police officers had whisked him away from their home on the night of Jun 13. But Jhenaidah police rejected the allegation, saying they had no information regarding Mahmud’s detention or arrest. SP Hossain claimed the ‘criminals’ had ambushed a group of policemen patrolling the Naldanga-Tentulbarhia road around 2:15am Friday. “As they started shooting, police retaliated. Once the criminals fled the scene, police found the two bodies.” He said a gun, six rounds of bullets and six handmade bombs were also recovered from there. The three wounded policemen were given first aid, Hossain added. He said they suspect the ‘attackers’ were planning to ‘carry out some kind of criminal act’ in that area’. Though dubbed ‘criminals, the police officer was unable to say whether they were accused in any cases. Terming such incidents as ‘extrajudicial killings’, domestic and international human rights bodies have been vocal against crossfire deaths in Bangladesh. They have also criticised the government and law enforcing agencies. According to data compiled by human rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), 79 people had been killed across the country in so-called shootouts while in police custody in the first six months this year. Police were involved in 37 of these deaths, RAB in 24, one person died in BGB firing, while five died in police firing. Five have died due to police ‘torture’ and another in the hands of the Detective Branch (DB), according to ASK.–bdnews24.vom
