Three more people have died in Bangladesh in the continued crusade against drug peddlers in the neighbouring country, according to a bdnews24.com report.
According to the report, police have claimed that two suspects were killed in an encounter with them in Thakurgaon and Rangpur during raids and an unidentified bullet-ridden body was recovered in Dinajpur in the early hours of Friday.
Also read: 68 dead in Bangladesh’s anti-drug campaign
Security forces have claimed that the dead persons were involved in drug trafficking.
After resisting arrest, a gun battle followed leading to the killing of the two drug peddlers.
Notably, thousands of people have also been arrested in raids across the country during the crackdown that began in May.
Bangladesh security forces have gunned down more than 100 alleged drug peddlers during the last 20 days.
Bangladesh has launched a major offensive on drugs dealing since mid-May with a view to curb the menacing trade of ‘yaba’, a pill combining methamphetamine and caffeine.
Yaba tablets are quite popular among the youths in metros of India where it is extensively consumed as a party drug.
The Northeast has lately turned into a major corridor for smuggling of this party drug from both Bangladesh and Myanmar.
Major consignments are smuggled into Tripura from Bangladesh and the same is then smuggled into major cities across the country.
On the other hand, around 12,000 accused dealers have been arrested and tried in special courts since the crackdown began.
However, the killings have not gone down with the human rights bodies. The National Human Rights Commission has issued a warning against alleged ‘extrajudicial killings’.