A Sarbahara Party leader was killed in a gunfight with Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Babuganj upazila of Barisal district on Thursday.
The deceased is Abdul Jalil alias Kana Jalil, 49, second in-command of the Sarbahara Qamrul group in the region.
While patrolling in Sarbahara-prone Agorpur area around 4:20pm, a team led by Deputy Assistant Director Abdur Rahman saw a suspicious gathering at a Mehgani garden in Silundia area, said Barisal RAB-8 company 1 commander Captain Abul Bashar.
As RAB members challenged the crowd, the miscreants opened fire and tried to flee, forcing the RAB members to retaliate. After a “gunfight” for 10 minutes, RAB found a dead body lying in the area, Captain Abul Bashar said.
“Bullets from the miscreants also damaged a microbus and bullet proof vest of RAB,” he said.
He said two pistols, nine rounds of used and unused ammunition and two sharp weapons were recovered from the spot.
The dead body was sent to Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital for autopsy.
Kana Jalil was an accused in at least eight cases of murder, extortion, robbery and explosion lodged with Babuganj, Shariatpur, and Madaripur police stations.
He was also convicted in two cases.
He had been involved with more than two dozens of severe criminal activities from 1987 to 2009, said Captain Abul Bashar.