Rangpur: A suspected criminal was killed hours after being arrested in yet another reported gunfight between police and a gang of criminals in Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur in the early hours of Monday.

The deceased is Idris Ali, in his thirties, of Mominpur Abashon in the upazila.

Mozammel Haque, OC of Mithapukur police station, said acting on a tip-off regarding some criminals planning a mugging, police raided Nurpur area of the upazila and nabbed Idris Ali on Sunday evening.

Subsequently, acting on information provided by Idris in his ‘confession’, police visited the Eidgah ground at Joyram Anwar village to recover firearms (kept there according to Idris, police say) around 3:00am, the OC added, taking Idris along with them.

In what is by now a familiar twist in the tale of such ‘gunfights’, once they reached the area, cohorts of Idris sensed their presence and opened fire on the law enforcers. It is always very important to note in the narrative that the alleged criminals were the aggressors, and the police’s resort to violence is always in self-defence.

Once Idris Ali’s colleagues from the underworld attacked them, the police were left with no choice but to retaliate in selfdefence, which they did firing 13 bullets.

The gangsters failed to make any dent in the police, and only succeeded in killing their own accomplice Idris Ali, according to the OC. It may or may not have been deliberate, as he was seen revisiting the area with police.

The body was sent to Rangpur Medical College Hospital, where an autopsy was performed before it was kept in the morgue.

Idris Ali was accused in nine cases, OC Mozammel added.

Police recovered a pistol, two bullets and assorted illegal things from the scene.