Three robbers killed in 'gunfight' in Teknaf

Three robbers were killed in an alleged gunfight with the police at Hnila Rangikhali hill area in Cox's Bazar. 

The deceased were identified as Syed Alam, Nurul Alam and Syed Hossain. They were residents of different villages in the upazila and members of the hill robber force, claims the officer in charge of Teknaf Model Police Station, Pradip Kumar Das.

He said, "After learning of the robbers' whereabouts in the Rangikhali hills of Hnila, a police team raided the place on Wednesday morning. The robbers started shooting at the police and the police fired back in self-defense. After the firing stopped, they searched the spot and rescued three men who were shot and took them to the hospital in Teknaf. The doctors declared them dead. Five policemen were also injured in the incident. 18 local and foreign weapons and a large quantity of yaba were recovered from the robbers' hideout."

On April 29, armed robbers abducted Akhter Ullah, 24, Shah Mohammad Shahed, 25, and Mohammad Idris, 26, of Rangikhali from a paddy field. Among them, Akhtar was shot dead two days later by Rohingya robbers at the foot of the hill.

Akhtar's family claims that the Rohingya robbers demanded ransom and then killed him on Firday morning when the family could not give the money. The robbers also informed the family that his body was kept west of the Rohingya camp Unchiprang Putibunia in Howaikyang, Teknaf.

It has been alleged that the robbers demanded ransom from the other two abductees too and threatened to kill them otherwise. Police conducted the raid to save them. However, the police did not confirm whether it was possible to rescue the remaining two abducted farmers though three people were killed in the gunfight.

According to law enforcement sources, 36 people have been killed in gunfights with the law enforcement from the beginning of this year. The source mentioned that 22 of them were active robbers.