Madaripur, Nov 16 (bdnews24.com) – Two brothers, alleged to be extremists, were killed in a reported shootout with RAB in Madaripur on Monday within 48 hours of their relatives expressing fear that they might be killed.
A third brother had been killed in a similar incident earlier, said family.
RAB-8 officer Mahmud Al Mamun told bdnews24.com the two brothers, 40-year old Lutfor and 38-year old Khairul Khalashi, were killed in a gunfight with law enforcers at around 3am in Shirkhara village of Sadar Upazila.
Both faced a multitude of cases including murder, said the RAB officer.
Bablu Khalashi, son of Lutfor, had held a news conference on Saturday and said his father and uncle, who were arrested from Jatrapur in Narayanganj district on Friday night, might be killed in 'crossfire'.
Bablu claimed in the press conference that RAB had earlier killed another of his uncles Obaidur in a shootout.
Mamun denied that the two brothers, Lutfor and Khairul, had been arrested earlier, but Madaripur Sadar police chief Giasuddin admitted to their arrest prior to the shootout.
The number of suspected militants and extremists killed in encounters with law enforcers appears to be on the rise, despite the concerns of human-rights organisations over what appear to be extrajudicial killings.
The shooting incidents are commonly reported as 'crossfire' in the media, a term which has come to imply shootings by law enforcers in suspicious circumstances or extra-judicial killings.
International and local rights groups, including Amnesty International, US-based Human Rights Watch, Transparency International, Bangladesh and Odhikar frequently expressed concern over the rate of extra-judicial killings in the country.
Home minister Sahara Khatun and her deputy Shamsul Huq Tuku, however, have claimed that no extra-judicial killings were taking place. They said that law enforcers only resort to firing in self defence when they come under armed attack.
The High Court on June 29 ordered the government to explain why killings without trial in so-called crossfire or encounters should not be declared illegal.
It also asked why departmental and criminal actions should not be taken against those who perpetrate such killings in or out of custody.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina herself announced in February this year that the extrajudicial killings perpetrated during the tenure of the military-installed interim government would be investigated.
bdnews24.com/corr/qh/su/ec/1130h. |
