‘Top yaba trader’ Saiful killed in ‘gunfight’

Cox’s Bazar Correspondent: Saiful Karim, a top yaba trader in the home ministry’s list, was killed in a ‘gunfight’ with police in Teknaf upazila on Thursday midnight.

Saiful Karim, 45, was the son of Dr. Mohammad Hanif at Shilbunia Para  under Teknaf sadar union.

Saiful Karim was one of those, who introduced and brought yaba tablets for the first time in Bangladesh in 1997.

Teknaf Model Police Station officer-in-charge (OC) Pradip Kumar Das confirmed this to journalists.

The OC said Saiful was arrested on Thursday afternoon. Police took Saiful to an operation at night following information given by him that he had smuggled in a big cache of yaba pills from Myanmar by boat. He kept the drugs on the bank of the Naf river near the Teknaf Sadar Land Port’s boundary wall, Pradip said.

“Police fired 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 and then to Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital where he was declared dead, according to the OC.


risingbd/Cox’s Bazar/May 31, 2019/Rubel/Mukul