Mahbubul Ahmed Mehedi, general secretary of city Jubo Dal, youth front of ruling BNP, and commissioner of ward no 14 of Barisal City Corporation, died in the shootout at about 8:30pm at his Bangla Bazar house, Rab sources said.

The death of Mehedi sparked massive protest among his party colleagues and supporters who surrounded the Rab men and police after the incident. The law enforcers fired blank shots and charged baton to disperse the protestors.

Rab sources said when a team of Rab-6 raided the house of Mehedi, he opened fire at them. The Rab men also fired shots in retaliation leaving Mehedi killed on the spot. Two Rab members were also injured in the shootout, they claimed.

The Rab men then seized one sub-machinegun, one shotgun, one pipe-gun, one revolver and huge ammunition from Mehedi's house.

As the death news spread in the city, several hundred ruling party supporters and locals rushed to the spot and burst into protest. The Rab men and police fired around 30 blank shots to disperse the mob about an hour after the shootout.

The Rab men took away the body of Mehedi in an ambulance and did not send it to any hospital morgue, said the angry supporters of the Jubo Dal leader.

The mob was demonstrating in protest against the 'killing' until midnight when this report was filed. As tension was mounting in the city, additional police forces were sent to the spot to ward off any untoward incident.

Rab officials said Mehedi was one of the notorious criminals of Barisal and accused of several criminal cases. They however did not disclose the identity of the two injured Rab members.

With the death of Mehedi, the death toll in Rab operations rose to 34. The elite force swung into action in June this year.