Police officials in the northwestern city of Rajshahi identified the commander as Sirajul Islam Siraj, 30, who was linked to several cases of murder and extortion, the Daily Star (Bangladesh) reported Thursday.

Officials said citizens in the village of Romsibari detained Siraj and handed him over to the elite anti-terror unit Rapid Action Battalion. RAB officials later handed Siraj to the police.

The revolutionary communist group played a role in the struggle to gain Bangladeshi independence but later took up arms against the new state in the early 1970s.

Siraj accompanied police on a weapons search of a nearby village when PBSP militants fired on their positions. A gunfight ensued and Siraj later died of bullet wounds in a nearby hospital.

The group in early 2008 allegedly coordinated its activities with several other militant factions in the region to launch an "action program" to bolster its strength.

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