Khagrachhari Correspondent:

Three people were killed and two others were allegedly abducted after unidentified armed assailants conducted a gun attack in Panchhari upazila of Khagrachhari on Monday, triggering panic among local residents.

The incident took place at around 12:30pm in Madhumangal Para under the Pujgang area.

Police said the killings were believed to have occurred during a gunfight between two rival armed groups over territorial dominance in the hills. However, the identities of the victims and the exact motive behind the gun attack have yet to be confirmed.

Panchhari Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ferdous Wahid said police had received reports that three people had been killed.

“We have not yet been able to identify the victims. Police have been dispatched to the scene to recover the bodies and investigate the incident,” he said.

According to a local source, five young men were travelling towards Panchhari in a battery-operated three-wheeler when armed attackers, who had reportedly been lying in wait, ambushed them.

The assailants allegedly shot dead three of the passengers on the spot before forcibly taking away the remaining two.

No regional political or armed organisation had issued any statement regarding the incident at the time of filing this report.

Police are investigating the killings and the reported abduction to determine the circumstances surrounding the gun attack.