Two Rohingya drug suspects die in alleged shootout with BGB in Bandarban

Two Rohingya refugees with alleged links to crime have been killed in an alleged shootout with Border Guards Bangladesh or BGB in Bandarban’s Naikhyangchhari Upazila.

The dead men have been identified as Md Yasin Ali, 30, and Hossain Ali, 23, both residents of Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar’s Ukhia Upazila.

The incident took place near the Ghumdhum-Tumbru border area around 4am on Sunday, said Sub-Inspector Emon Kanti Chowdhury of Ghumdhum police outpost.

“A gang of criminals opened fire when they were spotted by a BGB patrol unit, forcing the border security personnel to retaliate,” BGB-34 Battalion Commander Col Ali Haider Azad Ahmed said. 

“At one point, the criminals fled the scene leaving the bullet-ridden bodies of the two men behind.”

They were members of a drug cartel, said Ahmed, adding that 40,000 yaba tablets, a gun and two bullets were recovered from the scene. 

The bodies were taken to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital’s morgue for autopsy, SI Emon Kanti said.

Earlier on Nov 11, a gang of drug smugglers opened fire on two BGB troopers near the Ghumdhum border area. They were later admitted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Cox’s Bazar’s Ramu, he added.