BBC reporter's suspected killer dies in ambush

A man accused of murdering a BBC reporter in Bangladesh was killed in the crossfire today when his gang opened fire on police during an attempt to free him.

The suspect, Asaduzzaman Litu, was leading police to an arms cache when his followers appeared and sprayed the officers with gunfire, wounding four, in Khulna, 90 miles south-west of the capital, Dhaka, police said.

Litu was “caught in the crossfire” and his bullet-ridden body was later recovered, said police spokesman Nurul Islam.

Litu was the prime suspect in the murder of Shamsur Rahman, a reporter for the Bangladeshi newspaper Janakantha and the BBC. He was also wanted in at least 20 other cases, including murder and extortion.

Rahman was killed by unidentified attackers in 2000 in his office in Jessore, 85 miles west of Dhaka, after he wrote a series of reports about political corruption, communist rebels and gang violence in the area.