6 killed in poll violence in Bangladesh

Six people, including a presiding officer, were shot dead on Monday by unidentified gunmen in Bangladesh's southeastern hills on the second phase of a nationwide sub-district polls, police said.

Eight others, including some policemen, were injured in the shootings at Baghaichhari sub-district headquarters in Rangamati district.

"The presiding officer and five others were killed as they were returning to (Baghaichhari) sub-district with ballot boxes after the voting concluded at a remote polling centre there," a police official said.

Rangamati's police chief Alamgir Kabir said the group came under attack in Noymile area. He added police were yet to track down the miscreants.

The southeastern hill tracts in recent years witnessed re-emergence of violence attributed to factional feuds among the local tribal outfits after a landmark 1997 peace agreement drew an end to a two-decade long insurgency demanding autonomy of ethnic minority groups.