Top terror Mamun murder: Masked killer identified by firing style

A man runs desperately to save his life. Two pursuers close in behind him. Bullets are fired in rapid succession. He collapses to the ground and dies on the spot.

This is how Tariq Saif Mamun, once listed by police as a “top criminal”, was brazenly gunned down in broad daylight in front of National Medical College in Old Dhaka at around 10:45 am on 10 November last year.

The entire incident was captured on closed-circuit (CCTV) cameras. Yet the footage offered no clear clues to identify the killers as their faces were concealed behind masks.

For investigators, the case initially appeared to be at a dead end. With no leads emerging, an officer of the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police showed the footage to an informant. Within seconds, the source remarked, “Sir, the way one of them fires—it looks like ‘Kutta Faruk’.”

That single observation transformed the investigation.

Acting on the lead, police arrested five suspects, including Faruk Hossain Faisal. During interrogation, the motive behind the killing began to emerge. Mamun, it was revealed, had been killed over a power struggle in Dhaka’s criminal underworld. The murder was allegedly orchestrated by his former friend, another “top criminal”, Sanjidul Islam Imon.

Mohammad Nasirul Islam, Joint Commissioner of the DB, who is overseeing the investigation, told Prothom Alo, “The source’s initial insight provided the foundation for the investigation. Subsequent technological analysis confirmed the identities of those involved.”

On the day of the incident, Mamun had appeared before the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court in Old Dhaka in connection with a previous murder case. After leaving the court, he was attacked. As he fled and entered National Medical College Hospital, the assailants chased him down and shot him dead.

Following the incident, Mamun’s wife, Bilkis Akter, filed a lawsuit at Sutrapur police station against 10 to 12 unidentified individuals. The DB initially conducted a shadow investigation, during which Faruk and Robin Ahmed Piyas were identified as the gunmen.

The day after the murder, Faruk and Robin were arrested from Narsingdi, along with another suspect, Md Rubel. On the same day, two more suspects, Shamim Ahmed and Md Yusuf Jibon, were arrested during a raid in Mohammadpur.

DB’s Lalbagh Division Additional Deputy Commissioner Nure Alam led the operation to apprehend the five accused.

“We had intelligence suggesting the suspects were near the Sylhet border and attempting to flee to India. As we set off towards Sylhet in a microbus, we suddenly spotted Faruk peering out of a Dhaka-bound bus window while passing through Narsingdi. We turned around and pursued the bus. When it became stuck in traffic, we arrested three of them, including Faruk,” he recounted to Prothom Alo.

According to Nure Alam, the suspects had failed to escape through the Sylhet border and were returning to Dhaka with plans to flee via Satkhira.

According to DB officials, another criminal named Rony, known to be a close associate of Imon, had devised the plan of the murder. Faruk and Robin carried out the shooting, while an accomplice named Kamal monitored Mamun’s movements.

Immediately after the killing, the group fled via the embankment to Rayerbazar, where, on Rony’s instructions, the arms and ammunition were handed over to Yusuf.

Rony remains at large, and it is unclear whether Imon is currently in the country or abroad. Imon was released from prison after 5 August 2024.

Detective sources say that in the late 1990s, the criminal underworld in areas such as Dhanmondi, Kalabagan, Hazaribagh and Mohammadpur was controlled by Imon and Mamun. Both were arrested towards the end of that decade and spent many years in prison.

After serving nearly 24 years, Mamun was released on bail in 2023. He then attempted to form a new criminal network, which led to a rift with Imon.

Investigators believe Imon had been planning to eliminate Mamun even while in prison. An earlier attempt on Mamun’s life was made on the night of 18 September 2023 in Tejgaon, but he survived.

Fearing for his life, Mamun later moved from western Dhaka to Aftabnagar in the east. However, in the end, he could not escape the inevitable.