Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN)-Two alleged arsonists were killed in a so-called gunfight with the members of Rapid Action Battalion in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, early Wednesday.
The gunfight initiated when the members of the elite force popularly known as Rab came under firing and petrol bomb attack around 2:30am at Matuail in Jatrabari of Dhaka, Major Rumman Mahmud, the deputy director of Rab’s media wing, told the BBN.
The ‘gunfight’ took place when Bangladesh is facing the worst consequences of the petrol bomb attacks, a new strategy to keep citizens off the roads, during the non-stop blockade along with frequent strike that has begun from January 5.
So far 50 people were killed and several hundred including law enforcers injured in the blockade and strike violence including petrol bomb attacks in the country since the beginning of the non-stop blockade sponsored by the BNP-led 20-party alliance.
The identities of the deceased, aged between 30 and 35, could not be known immediately.
Miscreants hurled brick chips on a pick-up van of Rab when the team was patrolling in Matuail area of Jatrabari, said the Rab official describing the ‘gunfight’.
When the driver of the pick-up slowed down the vehicle, the miscreants hurled a petrol bomb and fired several rounds of bullets targeting the Rab personnel, triggering a ‘gunfight’, the major said.
After the ‘gunfight’, Rab found two men lying on the ground.
The Rab men whisked the injured off to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital where doctors declared them dead around 3:00am, the Rab official said.
The elite force found a pistol, a revolver, eight handmade bombs and three petrol bombs from the scene, Major Mahmud said.
The seats of the Rab vehicle which came under petrol bomb attack were gutted in the incident, he added.
And the door of the vehicle also got scratches as bullet fired by the ‘arsonists’ hit it, he said.
BBN/SS/AD-4Feb15-10:30am (BST)