Retired Major Ziauddin Ahmed, a leading freedom fighter who has reigned supreme as an uncrowned monarch in the Sundarbans so long, was shot and wounded in a gunfight with a gang in the mangrove forest in Bagerhat on Friday noon.

At least four suspected pirates were reportedly killed in the fierce fight as his associates responded to the attack on him.

Sources said the encounter took place between cohorts of ringleader Mortuja and sidekicks of Major (retd) Ziauddin Ahmed on Saraputia canal in Mongla upazila of the coastal district.

Ziauddin, chairman of Dubla Fishermen Group, was hit by bullet and wounded critically during the armed clash.

Efforts were made to fly him to Dhaka by a helicopter, but reports later said it was not possible for fog, his family sources said. He was taken to Mongla by coastguard speedboat on way to Khulna.

At first, the gunmen of Mortuja Bahini attacked and shot Ziauddin Ahmed, who was sub-sector commander of the sector 9 during the country’s liberation war, in the head from a close range, said Kamaluddin, his younger brother and also secretary of the group that has a trade in fish.

“In self-defence, Ziauddin and musclemen fired at their rivals, triggering the nearly hour-long gunfight that left four bandits dead,” he claimed.

The gun-battle took place when Ziauddin along with his aides was going to Dublarchar in the Sundarbans from Khulna on Friday afternoon, Kamailuddin told local journalists.

After hearing about the incident, deputy commander of the Rapid Action Battalion-8 Major Sabbir M Osmani said they sent a team of the crime-busting force to the spot to ward off any further trouble.

Staff officer of Bangladesh Coast Guard Mongla East Zone Lt M Mostafizur Rahman said they also sent a team to the spot.

Major Zia brought the whole of Sundarban region under control, fighting against Pakistan occupation forces and their local collaborators during the liberation war in 1971.

Since then, the freedom fighter had carried out his pirate-combating efforts in the Sundarbans with his vigilante group. In a sequel to his move, forest bandits might have launched the gun attack, police and Zia’s family suspect.