Khulna: Six people were killed in a ‘gunfight’ with police at Mandarbari of the Sundarban (west) in Koira upazila of Khulna on Sunday.

The identities of the deceased could not be known yet.

A team of Koira thana police arrested the six people from different areas of the district early on Sunday, said officer-in-charge of the police station Harendra Nath Sarker.

Later, the police team took the arrestees to Mandarbari area in the Sundarbans at about 4:00pm in a bid to recover tiger hide and firearms.

Sensing the policemen’s presence, the ‘associates of the six people’ opened fire on them, forcing them the fire back that triggered a gunfight, said the OC.

The six ‘tiger poachers’ were caught in the line of fire and died on the spot while other cohorts managed to flee, he added.

Five policemen were also injured in the gunfight, the OC said.

The police team later recovered four guns, three pistols and three pieces of tiger hide from the spot.