Turf war in the underworld suspected behind Mamun killing

At 10:00 pm on 18 September, 2023, the area between the City Petrol Pump and BG Press on the main road in Tejgaon Industrial Area was jammed with traffic. Stuck in that jam was enlisted top criminal Tarik Saif Mamun. Suddenly, a group of 10–12 attackers launched an assault in broad daylight.

They first fired at Mamun’s car, then as he tried to run away, they chased and hacked  him with sharp weapons. Mamun narrowly escaped with his life. However, one motorcyclist, Bhubon Chandra Shil, was killed by the gunfire.

Nearly two years and two months later, at around 10:00 am on Monday morning, Mamun was again attacked in broad daylight on a Dhaka street. This time, he did not survive. He was shot dead in front of National Medical College in Old Dhaka. Two masked assailants fired at him from close range.

Mamun had been released on bail only a few days before the first attack in 2023 — after spending 24 years in prison. His death has now raised the question: who wanted him dead so badly, and why?

During the 2023 attack, police investigators suspected the involvement of another top gangster, Sanjidul Islam alias Emon — though Emon was incarcerated at the time. In 2024, following the fall of the Awami League government amid the student–people uprising, Emon was released. His current whereabouts are unknown.

A police officer involved in the 2023 investigation told Prothom Alo that despite being imprisoned, Emon orchestrated the earlier attack. Emon and Mamun had once been close allies. In the late 1990s, Emon and Mamun jointly controlled Dhaka’s underworld in areas like Hazaribagh, Dhanmondi, Mohammadpur, and Tejgaon, operating under the banner of the “Emon–Mamun Gang.”

Their gang had terrorised the capital. Both men were accused in the murders of film actor Sohel Chowdhury and Shahed Ahmed Tipu, brother of former army chief Aziz Ahmed.

After his release in 2023, Mamun tried to reclaim sole control of parts of the underworld, which reportedly enraged Emon — who allegedly plotted his killing even from prison. The same police officer now suspects Emon’s involvement in Monday’s murder. He reasoned that after being freed on 5 August, Emon tried to reassert dominance across Dhanmondi, Kalabagan, Hazaribagh, and Mohammadpur — the same areas once shared with Mamun.

He presumed Mamun’s killing was possibly liked with conflict over territorial control.

Mamun’s wife Bilkis Akhter voiced similar suspicions. Speaking to Prothom Alo at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, she said that Emon may have link behind her husband’s killing.

He tried to kill my husband before, Bilkis alleged.

The murder took place under Lalbagh division’s Kotwali police station. Deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Mallik Ahsan Uddin Sami, said efforts are underway to identify the two shooters using technological support.

Mamun and Emon once ruled western Dhaka — especially Dhanmondi, Kalabagan, Hazaribagh, and Mohammadpur. After surviving the 2023 attack, Mamun rented a home in Aftabnagar, Badda, an area where Emon’s network had little influence.

Family sources said Mamun rarely went out, except to attend court hearings in Old Dhaka. Emon knew Mamun’s court schedule — since both were co-accused in multiple 1990s murder cases. This might be why the attackers chose Old Dhaka for the ambush.

Court sources said Mamun had appeared in court around 10:30 am Monday for a 1997 murder case in which both he and Emon were accused. The case involved the shooting death of Jahid Amin alias Himel, a 25-year-old man, in PC Culture Housing, Mohammadpur. Mamun was attacked as he left court around 10:45 am.

Following the July 2024 mass uprising that toppled the Awami League government, professional criminals became more active in Mohammadpur, Basila, and Hazaribagh. Shootings, extortion, and turf wars flared up across western Dhaka.

On 10 January, businessman Ehteshamul Haque was attacked with a machete in front of Multiplan Center, Elephant Road. Police later named Emon as the mastermind. A case was filed by Wahidul Hasan, president of the Elephant Road Computer Welfare Association and brother of another enlisted top criminal, Imamul Hasan Helal alias Pichchi Helal.

Emon and Pichchi Helal are known rivals controlling overlapping crime territories in western Dhaka. After that case, many of Emon’s close associates were arrested — including his “second-in-command,” Ejaz Bin Alam, detained from Jigatola. Since then, Emon has gone into hiding. Some say he remains in the country, others claim he has fled abroad.