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Saiful Karim, listed as No 1 drug lord of Bangladesh on lists made by the home ministry and intelligence agencies, has been killed in a gunfight with police in Cox’s Bazar.
Teknaf Police Station OC Pradip Kumar Das said they arrested Saiful, 45, wanted for falling foul of narcotics and arms laws, on Thursday afternoon.
Police took Saiful to an operation around 12:30am on Friday following information given by him that he had smuggled in a big cache of yaba pills from Myanmar by boat, reports bdnews24.com.
He kept the drugs on the bank of the Naf river near the Teknaf Sadar Land Port’s boundary wall, Pradip said.
“Police fired 52 rounds when his associates started shooting at us. Saiful and four police personnel were injured in the gunfight,” OC Pradip said.
Saiful was first taken to Teknaf Upazila Health Complex at 1:30am and then to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital where he was declared dead, according to the OC.
“Saiful is the top drug trader of Bangladesh. He is listed as the No 1 yaba godfather on all the lists of drug traders, including the ones of the home ministry and intelligence agencies,” Pradip added.
Police recovered 100,000 yaba pills, nine firearms, and several rounds of bullets from the scene, according to the police officer.