DHAKA, May 27: Six gunmen were killed in a shootout with a joint team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and paramilitary troopers of the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) in the country’s northeast district of Moulvibazar on Friday. Police said the clash erupted as the security forces in a pre-dawn swoop attacked a criminals’ hideout in Kamalganj thana of the district, only five kilometres from the border with India.

A deputy assistant director of RAB was critically injured in the clash. Security forces also seized arms and ammunitions from the spot. They arrested 10 people during their simultaneous operations in Sherpur, Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts.

Although local police are yet to be confirmed about the identity of the six deceased, they suspected that five of the dead were Indians, linked with some insurgent groups in the northeast.