Army officer among 4 dead in Bandarban gunfight
Identities of the dead Parbatya Jana Samhati Samiti members could not be known
Four people, including an army officer, were killed in a shootout between the army and Parbatya Jana Samhati Samiti members in Bandarban's Ruma on Wednesday night.
Army officials said a patrol was involved in a shootout with members of a faction of the Parbatya Jana Samhati Samiti (PJSS) at Bathipara area of Ruma upazila around 10:30pm Wednesday, according to a statement from the Inter Services Public Relation Directorate (ISPR).
The dead army man was identified as Senior Warrant Officer Habibur Rahman, the leader of the patrol team. The PJSS members have yet to be identified, according to the ISPR.
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Another soldier named Firoz was shot in the leg and was taken to the Combined Military Hospital Chattogram.
The patrol team went to the neighbourhood after hearing reports that a JSS group would go to Bathipara to extort people for money.
Once the team reached there, the armed JSS members suddenly opened fire on the patrol team from an ambush vantage point.
The patrol team retaliated and injured three armed individuals.
As they fled, the remaining armed JSS men continued to fire and hit Senior Warrant Officer Habibur in the head. A bullet also hit Firoz in his right leg.
The dead officer and the injured were shifted to Combined Military Hospital Chattogram on Thursday by helicopter.
An SMG, 275 rounds of ammunition, three magazines, three muskets, five musket shells, four pairs of uniforms and Tk52,900 "collected through extortion" were seized, the ISPR said.
