Rakib killed in ‘encounter’

Freed and later arrested on Sunday, JMB radical Rakibul Hasan alias Hafez Mahmud has been killed in an ‘encounter’, police say. The 35-year old radical was one of three freed after a daring daylight attack on a prison van that was carrying them to a court in Mymensingh from Kashimpur prison in Gazipur. Rakib’s luck ran out soon enough and he was arrested within five hours. Tangail police started raids to track down the two other fugitives with Rakib in tow, Sakhipur Police Station OC Moklesur Rahman said. Around 3am on Monday, the police raiders ran into resistance at Beltail Upazila, Rahman said. Mirzapur police station OC Golam Mostafa said Rakib had told them during interrogation that one of the fugitives could be found in the Beltail area. “So we took him with us for the raid, but as we approached the area, we were fired upon. A gunbattle started and Rakib was hit in the crossfire,” Mostafa said. Three policemen were injured during the encounter, he said. The injured policemen have been admitted to Mirzapur Kumudini hospital, Rahman said. Police say they recovered a gun and several rounds of bullets from the spot. Rakib, who hails from Jamalpur’s Melandah, was arrested on Feb 28, 2006 from Dhaka’s Baitul Mukarram national mosque area. Information provided by him led to the arrest of JMB chief Shayakh Abdur Rahman from Sylhet, said Rapid Action Battalion’s Additional Director General Ziaul Ahsan. Rakib had 30 cases against him. He was sentenced to death in one of them, given life imprisonment in three others and awarded seven years in jail in yet another case. – bdnews24.com