At least three people sustained bullet wounds in a “gunfight” between police and a group of alleged muggers yesterday morning on the Zillur Rahman Flyover in Mirpur, police said.
One of the victims Rubel Hossain Khorshed, 23, a resident of the capital’s Abdullahpur area, is a member of mugging gang, police claimed. Another victim, Aminul Islam, is a trader in Uttara and was a bystander when the shootout took place. The third victim is Assistant Sub-Inspector Shafiqul Islam of Cantonment police station.
A pistol and two rounds of bullets were recovered from the scene.
Recounting the incident Sub-Inspector Benzir Ahmed said a patrol team, which both Benzir and Shafiqul were part of, was on duty at the check post on the flyover.
“Around 6am, we signalled Aminul’s motorbike to stop. We were checking his bag when we noticed a CNG-run autorickshaw speeding towards Mirpur on the flyover. So, we signalled that vehicle to stop as well.
“As the autorickshaw stopped, two young men got out and started arguing with us. Soon after, Rubel and one other man came out of the autorickshaw and opened fire on us.
“One of the bullets hit Shafiqul in his right hand. Aminul also got hit. Then the four culprits tried to get inside the autorickshaw to flee, which is when we retaliated.
“While trying to escape, Rubel got shot in his left hand and failed get on the vehicle. The other three managed to flee,” he added.