6 poachers killed in \\\'gunfight\\\' with police in Sundarbans

Six men, arrested on poaching charges, have been killed in an alleged shootout with police in the Sundarbans.  The ‘shootout’ took place at Koyra on Sunday afternoon, police say. But police failed to arrest anyone during their raid at Mandarbarhi Khal area.

Siddik Sana, Shafiqul Islam Gazi, Ansar Ali Sana, Mamun Gazi, Majid Gazi, and ‘Bappi’, from Koyra Upazila, were killed in the so-called gunfight. These men, along with one Najma Begum, were arrested on Sunday morning with skins of three Royal Bengal Tigers, Koyra police said. A recent government survey has found that there are about 100 tigers left in the Bangladeshi part of the Sundarbans. Md Habibur Rahman, superintendent of Khulna police, said police took the men to raid their hideout in the Sundarbans to recover more tiger skins. He claimed other poachers opened fire on police at Mandarbarhia Khal near their hideout, prompting police to fire back. “We recovered six bodies from the site after the gunfight,” the SP added. Police seized four guns, a pistol and sharp weapons after the gunfight, he claimed, according to a news agency.---Aminul