OC among six shot as River Police, criminals exchange gunfire

 
KUSHTIA, Apr 22: A late-night patrol on the Padma River turned violent early on Wednesday after a group of armed assailants opened fire on the on-duty river police in Kushtia, leaving five members injured in a sudden and intense exchange of gunfire.

The attack took place between 1:10am and 1:50am when a patrol team from the Laxmikunda Naval Police Outpost reached the Haripur point on their routine duty. Police said the team was ambushed by unidentified armed attackers, triggering a brief but fierce gunfight in the darkness of the river route.

Bullet injuries river police members are: Outpost In-charge Khandakar Shafiqul Islam, Enamul Haque, Shahinur Haque, Nazmul Hasan, and Manik Mia, all are members of the same river police unit.

Following the attack, the injured police members were rushed to Pabna Sadar Hospital. One critically injured In0-charge  was later transferred to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for advanced treatment.

Pabna Additional Superintendent of Police Md Mashiur Rahman said the security has been tightened in the area after the incident. He added that law enforcement teams are conducting drives to track down and arrest those involved in the attack.