A suspected drug trader has been killed, reportedly in a gunfight with the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) in Dhaka's Badda area.
The deceased, identified as Rony Miah, 32, lived with his family at Nurrchala area in Badda.
The deadly shootout occurred in Satarkul neighbourhood of Badda around 12:40am on Saturday.
RAB-1 Assistant Director Md. Kamruzzaman told Dhaka Tribune that a special unit of the elite force had carried out a drive in Badda.
"Sensing the presence of the law enforcement personnel, a gang of armed drug dealers opened fire at them, forcing the RAB unit to retaliate in self-defence, triggering a gunfight,” he claimed.
Suspect Rony, caught in the line of fire, was injured. RAB took him to a nearby hospital, where the on-duty medical doctors pronounced him dead.
One among the RAB personnel was injured in the shootout incident, he added.
Meanwhile, RAB recovered four firearms, nine cartridges, and 1096 pieces of yaba pills from the crime scene.
Abdul Kader, brother-in-law of the deceased Rony, refuted the charge that the latter was a drug trader.
"Rony had been missing since Friday afternoon. It was then brought to my notice by local residents that Rony had died in a reported gunfight and that his body had been kept at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue. We rushed there and identified his body," he said.
Kader said there was a case being filed against Rony by a neighbour. However, he had been on bail.
Meanwhile, this correspondent visited the Badda Satarkul area behind the Assarennusa Memorial Hospital, where the reported 'gunfight' had taken place. He spotted 12-13 boys playing cricket in an open field. A small mound is on one side of the open field, beyond which is a sugarcane field.
Marks of blood could be spotted between the mound and the sugarcane field.
Liakot Ali, a security guard at Assarennusa Memorial Hospital, said he had fallen asleep at around 9:00 pm on Friday night and so did not hear any gunshots.
In stark contrast, though, a few of the boys, who were playing in the field and not wishing to be named, said a loud bang, clearly from shotguns, startled them awake in the middle of the night. They also heard frequent whistle sounds at the time.
"We thought the whistle sounds came from the police. In the morning, we came to know that a man had died. Blood marks were seen at the place," said one of them.