A suspected pirate was killed in a reported gunfight with members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) at Banigram village in Banshkhali upazila on Sunday morning.
The deceased was identified as Morshed Alam, 35. Rab said he was wanted in over two dozen cases including the killing of 31 fishermen in the Bay of Bengal.
A team of Rab-7 conducted a drive in the area around 4:30am acting on a tip-off, said Mahmudul Hasan Mamun, assistant director (media) of Rab-7.
Pirates opened fire as soon as the Rab team reached the spot, triggering a gunfight. Morshed was caught in the line of fire and died on the spot, Mamun said.
A foreign-made pistol, three lighter guns (LG) and 14 bullets were recovered from the spot.