An alleged teenage militant who was arrested in connection with a failed assassination attempt on a Hindu lecturer in Bangladesh was killed in Sadar upazila in a 'shootout,' according to police. "Golam Faizullah Fahim's cohorts fired gunshots as he was guiding us [police] to a hideout of theirs...He died in crossfire as we retaliated," Sarwar Hossain, Madaripur's Superintendent of Police, was quoted as saying by The Hindu.
The incident occurred a day after police received court order to interrogate Fahim. He was killed in a shootout when the police drove him to the outskirts of the district town last evening in an attempt to arrest his absconding accomplices. The names of five others accused in connection with the case are Taksin Salman alias Samil (20), Shahrier Hossain Palash (20), Mejbah (19), Raihan (20), and Jahin (20), reported thedailystar.net. Police also recovered arms and ammunition from the spot.
The incident happened four days after the machete attack on Ripan Chakraborty (50), a mathematics lecturer at a government university college in Madaripur.
There has been a spurt in violence against minorities and secular activists in Bangladesh in the recent weeks. Police crackdown during recent anti-militant drives has reportedly led to over 8,000 arrests.
Though the Islamic State (ISIS) has claimed responsibilities for these attacks, authorities dismiss these claims, saying that militant outfits like Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh or Ansaral Islam (ABT) are responsible.
According to police, Fahim had considered himself to be a member of Hizbut Tahrir, another homegrown outfit comprising university-level students and young professionals that was banned in the country a few years ago. Bangladesh had earlier considered Tahrir to be a non-militant group despite its radical outlook.
