The key accused in the murder of Mohiuddin Sarkar Naeem, a journalist based in Comilla, has been killed in an alleged gunfight with the Rapid Action Battalion, the first time since the US slapped sanctions on the elite force and some of its former and current officers.
Md Raju, 35, and law enforcers exchanged fire early on Sunday near the border under Comilla Sadar Upazila while he was trying to flee to India, RAB said.
His body was later kept at Comilla Medical College Hospital, said its Director Dr Mohiuddin.
According to a source familiar with the matter, the RAB officials went to the area to carry out a raid on a tip-off. Raju opened fire on them sensing their presence. He got shot and died when the elite police unit retaliated.
Journalist Naeem was shot near the Bangladesh-India border in Burichang Upazila on April 13. Locals rushed him to the hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival, according to police.
His body had four to five bullet wounds, said Burichang Upazila Health Officer Mir Hossain.
Naeem’s mother Nazma Begum filed a case in this connection on the next day, naming Raju as the key accused.
Police have so far made four arrests in the case.
Dhaka Tribune found no media reports on alleged shootouts, gunfights or crossfire involving police or RAB between December 10 and on Saturday. During this time, RAB was successful in nabbing several fugitive convicts and fraudsters.
On December 10 last year, the US Treasury Department had imposed the sanctions on RAB and its serving and former officials, including the force’s former director general Benazir Ahmed, under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, citing "serious human rights abuse relating to the officials’ tenure."
The same day, the State Department also imposed sanctions on Benazir and another RAB official. The sanctions mean RAB will neither be allowed to own properties in the US nor engage in any financial transaction with US bodies or personnel until further notice.
