A man suspected to have raped and murdered a fourth-grader was killed in a "gunfight" with police in Godagari upazila of Rajshahi early today.
The deceased was identified as Md Shamim (21) of the upazila, said Iftekhaer Alam, Rajshahi additional superintendent of police, reports our Rajshahi correspondent.
"The gunfight occurred around 2:00 am today when a patrol team of the Godagari Police Station came under attack by miscreants at the Lalitnagar area of Pakri union," said Alam.
"After the miscreants fired at the patrol team, police in retaliation fired back killing Shamin on the spot. The other miscreants fled the scene leaving the body behind. Later locals confirmed Shamim's identity," added the additional SP.
Police recovered a pistol, one bullet, two empty shells, a magazine and a stolen mobile phone from the scene.
The seized mobile was stolen from the rape victim's house on the day she was raped and murdered, the police official said.
"Because of the stolen phone, police is considering that Shamim might be linked to the girl's rape and murder," Iftekhaer Alam said.
"Police collected DNA samples of the deceased and sent his body to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital for an autopsy," he added.
Police quoted locals saying that Shamim was engaged in mobile theft for a long time and that he recently injured another girl when he failed to rape her.
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