Two members of Gana Bahini were killed by a team of the police and the Rapid Action Battalion in a ‘gunfight’ at Saiklupa in Jhenaidah early Friday.
The deceased were Dulal, 35, of Padmanagar at Harinakundu and Mashiur Rahman Madhu, 34, of Shantidanga. Dulal was the second-in-command of the outfit’s Kalu group.
Friday’s incidents took to 17 the number of such people killed extrajudicially in the incidents of ‘crossfire,’ ‘gunfight’ or ‘encounter’ after January 1.
Two hundred and forty-seven people have so far fallen victim to extrajudicial killing by law enforcers since January 6, 2009.
The Rapid Action Battalion said they had raided a banana plantation at Jayantinagar on information that some gangsters were holding a meeting there.
As a joint team of the police and the battalion reached the place, the gangsters fired gunshots and the lawmen fired back. About 41 rounds were fired in the ‘gunfight’ that continued for half an hour beginning 3:15am.
Dulal and Madhu died after being caught in the firing. Others managed to get away, the battalion officer said.
The Sailkupa police officer-in-charge, Sagir Mia, said a case had been filed in this connection. The bodies were sent to the Jhenaidah General Hospital morgue for post-mortem examinations.
