The dead are Mohidul Islam alias Samim Malitha, 46, the 'second-in-command' of Janajuddho faction of outlawed Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP-ML), and Pintu, a wanted criminal of Dhaka.

With these, the count of deaths in 'crossfire' stands at 230.

Motiur Rahman Pintu was killed in crossfire during Rab action near Faridabad Madrasa in the capital last night.

Our correspondent reports from Kushtia: A Rab-1 team arrested Mohid at a club in Gulshan of Dhaka on Thursday night. He had reportedly been hiding there since August 30 last year when a court sentenced him to life imprisonment for murdering JSD (Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal) leader Kazi Aref Ahmed, said sources.

“At first, the outlawed leader introduced himself as Samim Malitha, but when Rab men challenged him, he disclosed his real name,” said a Rab source.

During interrogation at Rab-1 office, Mohid had admitted his involvement with PBCP.

Besides, he had confessed to possessing a large number of firearms hidden across different places in the south and northern region of the country. He had also admitted to having links with the murders of five JSD leaders including Kazi Aref, four BNP leaders, and two Awami League leaders, said a Rab source.

He, however, did not divulge the identity of his associates who are believed to be holed up in the capital as well as other places of the country, said the source.

Rab-1 men went to Kushtia on Friday morning and handed him over to Rab-6. Later Rab gave him to Kushtia sadar police.

Police said two contingents of police from sadar and Daulatpur police stations took Mohid to Aria of Daulatpur upazila. As the policemen reached near a betel plantation in Lalonnagar village, PBCP operatives opened fire on them at about 3:30am, Sahabuddin Khan, superintendent of police, Kushtia, said.

Police returned fire that resulted in a half-hour shootout. Meantime, Mohid while trying to flee the scene got shot and died on the spot, said a police source.

Hailed from Talbaria of Daulatpur upazila in Kushtia, Mohid got involved in underground politics by joining Jashod Gono Bahini, the offshoot of JSD, in early 1975. He was expelled from the party soon after the murder of JSD leader and former Mirpur upazila chairman Marfat Ali in 1992. Mohid joined PBCP politics in 1993. His involvement with Kazi Aref Ahmed murder on February 16, 1999 is believed to have accounted for his expulsion from the JSD, said sources.

When PBCP split up in 2002 Mohid aligned himself with Abdur Rashid Malitha Tapan alias Dada Tapan and formed PBCP-Janajuddho. The Janajuddho operatives led by Tapan-Mohid had reportedly been engaged in killing at least 300 people including politicians, businessmen, journalists, and rival cadres in southwestern and northern region, added the sources.

Operatives of outlawed communist outfits see the death as yet another blow to their 'two-decade-old struggle to establish socialism', said a local source.

Security was stepped up at different points across the southwestern districts yesterday. All police stations and outposts have been put on red alert.