Two persons were killed allegedly in a gunfight between crime suspects and the joint forces in the capital's Mohammadpur area early yesterday, marking the first such incident since the fall of the Hasina regime.

They were identified as Miraz Hossain, 25, and Md Jummon, 26. Both had criminal records, according to police and family members.

The incident harks back to the practice of extrajudicial killings during the Awami League rule and before.

Jewel Rana, additional deputy commissioner of Mohammadpur zone police, said the shootout took place during a raid at Chand Udyan by the joint forces.

The team, which included members of the army and police, had gone there acting on a tip-off.

The Inter-Services Public Relations, in a press statement, said, "Based on the information that a group was preparing to mug people in Mohammadpur's Chand Udyan, a joint forces team conducted an operation at the location around 12:30am on Thursday.

"During the operation, the joint forces members took position on either side of an alley when the criminals suddenly opened fire on them from the roof of a one-storey building. The team immediately retaliated in self defence and managed to detain five people with weapons."

It added, "Upon searching the house, they recovered two bodies from the roof. They also seized a pistol, four rounds of bullets, and a machete from those detained … The detainees were handed over to Mohammadpur Police Station for legal action."

According to the ISPR statement, such drives will continue for the protection of people and property.

The Daily Star could not independently verify the details.

When this correspondent visited the site, a part of the corrugated tin sheet on the roof appeared to have been cut out. Locals said they did not see any such cut there before the raid.

Meanwhile, police said the bodies were sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

According to a forensic pathologist of the hospital, both bodies bore bullet wounds.

Speaking to The Daily Star at the morgue, Jummon's elder sister Aklima Begum said her brother was a tiles worker but had been unemployed since August last year. He lived with his wife and son just yards away from the site of the incident.

"He returned home at 10:00pm on Wednesday. An hour later, he received multiple phone calls from Miraz. When his wife, fearing the joint forces' raid, tried to stop him from leaving, he ignored her and left home around 11:45pm. Another hour later, she was informed that he had died in a shootout."

Aklima said her brother had been accused in several mugging and narcotics-related cases. He was first arrested at a young age and spent three years in a juvenile correction centre.

Meanwhile, Miraz's father Md Shahjahan told The Daily Star that Miraz used to drive CNG-run auto-rickshaws while also helping him run a tea stall. "He lived in a house near the site [of the incident]. That night, he left home around 10:30pm."

He also confirmed that his son had been accused in a narcotics case.

According to locals, Miraz and Jummon were close and had been involved together in various crimes in the area, including mugging and robbery.

A caretaker of the house -- known as Julhas's house -- where the duo was found dead said he heard noises of people running and multiple gunshots after midnight.

"Later, the army informed us that two bodies were on the rooftop and I had to be a witness."

Some locals told this correspondent that an army patrol was ongoing around 10:00pm. After 12:00am, the army used megaphones, instructing people to stay indoors while asking some to surrender.

Miraz's mother, Surma Begum, told AFP, "The military could have arrested them and locked them up. Why did they kill him?"

Previously, under the AL government led by Sheikh Hasina, law enforcement agencies-- mainly police and Rab -- faced accusations of extrajudicial killings in the name of "crossfires", "shootouts", or "gunfights".

Such incidents, however, significantly declined after December 10, 2021, when the United States imposed human rights-related sanctions on Rab and several of its top officials.

Abu Ahmed Faijul Kabir, senior coordinator of rights body Ain O Salish Kendra, said, "The law enforcers must conduct raids with caution so there is no loss of lives. For long years, we saw thousands of extrajudicial killings, which had no impact on the law and order situation. Excessive force has yielded nothing."