'Zahidul murdered within just one and half minutes'

During the murder of Zahidul Islam alias Tipu, former general secretary of Awami League’s Motijheel unit, his friend Mizanur Rahman was also inside the same vehicle and witnessed the whole incident closely.

Mizanur said the entire episode happened within just one to one and a half minutes.

Zahidul’s microbus was stuck in traffic jam at Amtola mosque area in the capital’s Shajahanpur at around 9.45pm on Thursday.

At that moment, two miscreants wearing masks (some say they were wearing helmets) came and started shooting indiscriminately at Zahidul’s microbus.

Several bullets hit Zahidul shattering the microbus window. The driver, Munna also sustained bullet wounds. In the same incident, a college student Samia Afnan Jamal (22), who was sitting at a rickshaw also stuck in traffic jam, was shot.

There were four people inside the car then. One of them is Mizanur. He gave description of the murder, standing in front of Dhaka Medical College’s morgue today, Friday.

Mizanur said a youth opened fire aiming at Zahidul as soon as the vehicle arrived on the spot of the incident. He fled after firing shots at random. This whole incident took place in a minute or so. Zahidul didn’t inform them about whether, someone had threatened him or not.

Zahidul was an accused in Milky murder case. When asked if there is any link of this murder to that case, Mizanur said CCTV footage has been recovered. Members of the law enforcing agencies will comment on that after investigation.

Police said Zahidul Islam is a charge sheet listed accused in the murder case of Jubo League leader Reazul Haque Milky. He was arrested in that case and was in the prison for quite a long time.

Later, he was released on bail. Dhaka South Mohanagar Jubo League unit’s organising secretary, Milky, was shot dead in front of the Shoppers World, a shopping mall in Gulshan on 29 July 2013.

Zahidul’s house is in the Bagicha area of Khilgaon. He had a dispute with a faction of Awami League members over establishing supremacy and doing business by setting up illegal shops on the footpath in the Motijheel area, said several party members.

RAB in a briefing on Friday said they have found some evidence and information in connection with the murder.

Samia Afnan Jamal, a college student who died being caught up in the random firing by the miscreants, lived in Shantibag area.