Pro-Jamaat man shot dead by fellow activists during raid: Police

A top Islami Chhatra Shibir leader has died after being shot by fellow activists during a 'gunfight' in Beribandh, police say.

Emdad Ullah, 22, the victim, was killed early on Sunday, Mirpur police OC Salauddin said.

But the family of Emdad, however, claimed he was not involved in any form of politics.

Sub-Inspector (SI) Bazlur Rahman said SI Kamal Hossain filed a case over the death.

Referring to the case details, he said police held Emdad and 10 other youths with petrol bombs from Mirpur Section-2 early on Sunday.

Emdad told police his fellows were waiting in the Beribandh area with a huge haul of Molotov cocktails and explosives to be used for arson attacks during a blockade called by the alliance of BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and smaller parties.

Shibir is the Jamaat’s student affiliate.

The SI said police raided the area on the basis of information provided by Emdad.

"Police fired from their guns when the Shibir men started firing at the law enforcers.

"Emdad was shot by the Shibir men when he managed to get off from the police van and tried to flee the scene," the SI said.

Doctors at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital declared him dead on arrival when he was taken there, he said.

The others arrested were sent to court, he added.

Emdad's elder brother Hedayet Ullah said his brother, a third-year student of Dhaka College's statistics department, was not involved in politics.

"He stayed in a mess at Dar-us-Salam with his friends. He lived on private tuition," he said.

The brother added it was the government's duty to solve the mystery shrouding his brother's death.