The dead, Abdus Salam 37, hailing from Cheuria in Kumarkhali upazila, was the chief of notorious Salam Bahini.

Kumarkhali police arrested Salam from a house of Baradi village at around 6:00am on Thursday, police said, adding that during interrogation at the police station Salam admitted to having firearms hidden in Baradi village and informed about his accomplices.

Yesterday night, police started for Baradi village to recover the firearms and arrest Salam's cohorts.

When police reached a plot of banana plantation in Ridanga village at about 3:30am, Salam's accomplices opened fire. As police fired back, an hour-long gun battle between the police and cadres of Salam Bahini started.

Salam, injured in 'crossfire' when he tried to escape from a police van, was taken to Kushtia General Hospital where he died at about 5:00am, police said.

Police recovered six bullets from the spot.

Salam committed a number of criminal act including murder, abduction, robbery, and drug trading and mugging extensively in Kushtia Sadar and Kumarkhali upazilas in last five years.

As the second-in-command of notorious Hamidul-Rashidul Bahini, Salam fought a fierce gun battle with Gono Mukti Fouz (GMF) at Cheuria on January 22, 2005 when five cadres of GMF were killed, police said.

Two days after the incident, Hamidul-Rashidul Bahini cadres led by Salam picked up seven more cadres of GMF from different areas in the district and dumped them in Gorai river after killing, said the law enforcers.

Salam also occupied a good number of firearms from the GMF men during the incidents, and shortly afterwards, he himself formed a gang named Salam Bahini comprising many cadres of Hamidul-Rashidul Bahini and ousted his former bosses Hamidula and Rashidul from the area.

Salam was accused in 18 different cases including 10 for murder filed with Kushtia sadar and Kumarkhali police stations, police said.

Crossfire deaths in Kushtia district since June 2004 have now reached 140, the highest number in a district across the country.

But anti-crime drives and increased vigilance by law enforcers, even deaths of a number of criminals in 'crossfire' have failed to check the criminal activities of the outlaws as 13 outlawed parties are active in the district, sources said.