Jhenaidah, Nov 14 (bdnews24.com) – A Bangladeshi operative of outlawed militant group Gano Bahini was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in West Bengal, police said Saturday.

The dead man was identified as Obaidul Haque, alias Lal Bhai, a "top leader" of the extreme left outfit based in Kushtia.

Deputy inspector general of police at Khulna Range, Sheikh Himayet Hossain, told bdnews24.com he learnt of the incident Friday night.

According to Indian Bangla-language daily 'Anandabazar', a gang of unidentified men pulling up in a car gunned him down in Bagda town of Uttar Chabbish Pargana district in West Bengal at around 8pm on Friday.

The daily gave Obaidul's age as 35 to 36. It quoted Bongaon sub-division police officer Somondre Das as saying the dead man was known to be a Bangladeshi "criminal" living under an assumed name.

The Indian police officer also claimed that he was killed by rival Bangladeshi outlaws.

The body was sent to Bongaon Hospital morgue, said Indian authorities.

A source in Bangladesh's southwestern district of Kushtia said outlaws hiding in West Bengal informed their accomplices back home of the "successful killing" shortly after it occurred.

Obaidul was the son of Khandaker Rafique of Ranjitpur village in the Islamic University locale of Kushtia, said local police.

Superintendent of police in Kushtia, Mohammad Shahabuddin Khan, told bdnews24.com that Obaidul was implicated in several recent murders of the area, in which severed heads were left in prominent places.

He fled to India after police strengthened the anti-militant drive in the southwest, said Khan.

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