DHAKA, Jan 17: Security forces in Bangladesh unlawfully shot or tortured to death 149 people in 2008 when the country was ruled by an army-backed government, a human rights group said on Saturday.

Odhikar, a Bangladeshi organisation, said in its annual report on the nation’s human rights situation that 137 people were shot dead by police and the elite Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), and 12 were tortured to death.

Bangladeshi authorities have not disputed the deaths but say the killings occurred when suspects resisted arrest or were caught in crossfire between criminals and security forces.

But Odhikar said the killings were unlawful.

“What worries Odhikar and others is the absolute impunity enjoined with extrajudicial killings,” the group said.

“None of the killings are investigated or perpetrators made to account.” ‘Crossfire’ is widely used as an excuse for killings, added the group, whose name means rights in the Bangla language.

A surge in ‘crossfire’ deaths began in 2004 when the then-democratically elected government set up the RAB to stem rising crime. Later the police adopted the battalion’s tactics.

Since its inception the RAB has been accused of killing more than 540 people, mainly crime suspects and outlawed Maoists.

The killings continued when an army-backed government took over in January 2007 after a state of emergency was imposed, elections cancelled and press freedom curbed.—AFP