Bangladesh: Suspected miscreants attack Air Force base in Cox's Bazar, one dead

According to local media reports, the deceased was identified as 25-year-old Kabir Nahid.

Speaking to The Daily Star, Sabuktagin Mahmud Shohel, resident medical officer of Cox's Bazar Sadar Hospital, said a person aged around 25 was "brought dead" to the hospital.

The medical officer said the deceased suffered deep injuries at the back of his head.

Reasons behind the death will be ascertained after autopsy, he told the newspaper.

ISPR Responds

Earlier, Inter-Services Public Relations (Bangladesh), the public relations division of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, issued a notification saying that the air force base in Cox's Bazar had come under sudden attack by a group of miscreants from the nearby Samitipara, The Dialy Star reported.

The communique, signed by ISPR assistant director, Ayesha Siddiqua, says that the air force was taking necessary actions in this regard.

Local Bangladeshi news portal bdnews24 identified the deceased person as local trader Shihab Kabir Nahid, 30.

Quoting Nahid's mother, a retired Cox’s Bazar High School headteacher, was in tears in the hospital.

She told the news portal: "The Air Force shot my son in the head."

Speaking to the news portal,  Ahsan Habib Polash, deputy inspector general of the Chattogram Range of the police, said: " Around 15,000-20,000 people live ‘outside the system’ in the Samity Para area."

“The Air Force has a base next to it. When a lawyer named Jahidul Islam went to the area, the Air Force stopped him," he said.

“There were reports of a scuffle, but they were not confirmed. Something happened. At one point the residents of the Samity Para area became angry at the Air Force. At first there was an argument, brickbats were thrown… then I think the Air Force opened fire," he said.

Meanwhile, an unverified video is currently circulating on the social media where Air Force personnel could be seen clashing with locals.