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Published : 23 Dec 2025, 09:47 PM
A gunbattle between two "robber gangs" in Noakhali’s Hatia for occupying land and establishing control in a sandbar has left five dead and 10 others injured.
The shootout took place at Jaglar Char on Tuesday morning between two robber gangs, said Abu Taib Md Arif Hossain, an additional police superintendent.
The gangs belonged to Sahmsuddin and Alauddin, police said.
The dead included Shamsuddin, alias Shamsuddin Dakat, who led the gang known as “Kopa Shamsu”, and his son Mobarak Hossain. The leader of the rival gang, Alauddin, identified with a single name, was also killed in the fight. The two other victims of the gunfight are Alauddin Majhi and Jumma Dakat, police said.
The Jaglar Char is home to a few hundred landless families, police and witnesses said.
Half of the land in the char is Khas land, while the rest is owned by individuals. Shamsuddin had been selling land in the sandbar under the protection of two public representatives for a long time, sharing the proceeds from the business with his protectors, police and witnesses said.
Shamsuddin had stopped paying his protectors, police and witnesses said.
A group of 20 to 25 robbers led by Alauddin had gone to take over the sandbar on Tuesday morning, confronting the group led by Shamshuddin in a gun battle.
Some of the dead were hacked and beaten to death after they fell to the ground after being shot. Some of the injured are undergoing treatment at the General Hospital in Noakhali.
The clash erupted in a faraway place, Taib said, explaining the delay in police reaching the crime scene. Police reached the sandbar on Tuesday afternoon.
Police and the Bangladesh Coast Guard are conducting drives to catch those responsible for the gunfight, he said.
