Dhaka: Six people arrested on poaching charges were killed in a gun battle with police on Sunday in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, an official said.

Mohammad Moniruzzaman, deputy inspector general of police range in Khulna, 180 km from Dhaka, told the media that the poachers were arrested on Sunday morning, Xinhua reported.

In the afternoon, a team of law enforcers took them to the Sundarbans to recover tiger hides and firearms, when other poachers present there opened fire at the police personnel, forcing them to retaliate, he said.

The arrested poachers were caught in the line of fire and died on the spot. The other poachers fled.

Five policemen were injured in the gunfight, he added.

Police found four guns, three pistols and three hides of Royal Bengal tigers.

A new survey released last month said there were only 106 tigers in the Bangladesh part of the Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.

(IANS)