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Block-D at Camp 27; Nur Hossain Nuraiyya, 35, a resident of Block-E at Camp 27, Md. Imran, 22, a resident of Shalbagan Camp, and Ali Hossain, 27, a resident of Camp-27.

Identities of the three others could not be confirmed till late last night.

Pradip Kumar Das, officer-in-charge (OC) of Teknaf Police Station, said the bodies were sent to Cox’s Bazar General Hospital for autopsy. Rab has filed a case with the police station in this connection.

The law enforcers said they were raiding different areas to arrest the gang leader, Zokir.

After the “gunfight”, policemen visited the refugee camps and sought cooperation from the Rohingyas to arrest robbers.

Meanwhile, panic gripped the camp areas since the incident.

‘GUNFIGHT WITH BGB’

A man was killed in another gunfight with Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) in Damdamia area of Teknaf around 11:00pm on Sunday night.

The identity of the deceased could not be known, reports Bangla Daily Prothom Alo.

BGB claimed to have recovered 1.5 lakh yaba pills, a fire arms and two cartridges from the spot, said Lt Col Md Faysal Hasan Khan, commander of BGB’s Teknaf-2 unit.

RIGHTS ACTIVISTS EXPRESS CONCERN

At least 412 people were killed in 2018 after the government launched an anti-narcotics drive on May 4 that year. Last year, the figure was 356.

Noted human rights activist Nur Khan said the sharp rise in extrajudicial killings was extremely worrisome.

“Seven people killed in a single operation is definitely the biggest one. We can’t accept it. The area where it happened is notorious for various types of criminal gangs, including those of robbers. The law enforcers, however, should be more careful in bringing criminals to book.”

Such killings raise fears in the society and also lead to a culture of impunity, he said.

Nur observed that extrajudicial killings were taking place as law enforcers themselves lack faith in the country’s judicial system.