Bangladesh outlaws kill four policemen

DHAKA, Aug 26 (Reuters) Outlaws in northwestern Bangladesh killed five people including four policemen and injured about 50 in an attack on a village market, police said today.

Police said suspected members of an extremist group stormed the market in Naogaon, 210 km (125 miles) from the capital, Dhaka, yesterday evening, armed with home-made bombs, guns and knives.

They grabbed the on-duty policemen, took away their weapons and slit their throats, police and witnesses said. Another man reported to be a local political leader was also killed.

Police said the attackers, numbering about 25, left chanting slogans for the Purbo Banglar Communist Party (PBCP), one of half a dozen underground extremist groups active in the southwest.

Police arrested three suspects.

On August 17, 14 suspected PBCP members were killed in an exchange of fire with police in Pabna district.

REUTERS MQA PM1112