2 robbers held after 'gunbattle'

Police have detained two suspected robbers after an alleged gunbattle on the Sirajganj-Nagarbarhi highway in Sirajganj's Ullaparha Upazila.

The district's Detective Branch (DB) of police's OC Nasir Uddin said the incident took place early on Saturday at Hatikumrul Union in the Upazila.

Those detained were identified as Muttakim Hossain, 24, and 'Sabuj', 19.

Of them, Hossain was shot in both of his legs and was admitted at Sirajganj Sadar Hospital, Nasir Uddin said.

He said the miscreants robbed drivers of two trucks at once on the highway around 2:30am on Saturday.

The trucks were stuck on the road after their tyres were punctured by barbed wires set up by the robbers.

The robbers tried to flee when a highway patrol team of DB police arrived on the spot.

The DB official said the robbers started shooting when police opened fire to stop them.

After the robbers fled, two of them were detained from the spot while a locally made pipe gun, some bullets, knife and cash and mobile phones snatched from the truck drivers were recovered, said Nasir Uddin.