A court in Dhaka on Tuesday issued arrest warrant against nine people including two top terrorists who fled to foreign countries in a case filed over the murder of Awami League leader Zahidul Islam Tipu.
Judge Rajesh Chowdhury of Dhaka’s chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) court passed the order after taking the charge-sheet filed by police into cognizance on Tuesday.
Those who face arrest warrant are: Zisan alias Zisan Ahmed alias Montu alias Emdadul Haque, 50, Zafar Ahmed Manik alias Freedom Manik, 45, Golam Ashraf Talukder, 68, Maruf Ahmed Mansoor, 57, Rifti Hossain, 38, Sohail alias Rana Mollah, 45, Aminul Islam, 35, Samsul Haider, 41, and Kamruzzaman 62.
Of them Zishan and Manik are top terrorists listed by police. The charge-sheet states they are fugitive and planned the murder of Zahidul Islam Tipu from abroad.
The court also set 19 August for submitting the report on the update of arrests.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police crime and information department sub-inspector Sha Alam confirmed Prothom Alo.
Zahidul Islam, a former general secretary of the Awami League’s Moitijheel unit, was shot dead on a busy street in the capital's Amtala mosque area in Shahjahanpur on the night of 24 March 2022. He was returning home.
A youth wearing a helmet shot at Zahidul randomly when his vehicle stopped at a traffic signal. A college student named Samia Afnan priti, 22, who was on a rickshaw near Zahidul’s car at the time, received bullets during the shooting and died.
Zahidul Islam's wife Farhana Islam filed a murder case with Shajahanpur police station. The detective branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police submitted a charge sheet against 33 people including two top terrorists to the court on 5 June this year.
Of the accused, Suman Sikder alias Musa, 43, Masum Mohammad alias Akash, 37, Shamim Hossain alias Molla Shamim, 35, Maruf Reza Sagar alias Sagar, 40, Arifur Rahman Sohail alias Ghatak Sohail, 45, Zuber Alam Khan alias Robin alias Railway Robin, 51, Taufiq Hasan alias Babu alias BD Babu, 36, Maruf Reza Sagar, 40, Mahbubur Rahman alias Titu, 40, Nasir Uddin alias Manik, 47, Moshiur Rahman alias Ikram, 36, Yasir Arafat Saikat, 33, Abul Hussain Mohammad Arfan Ullah Imam Khan alias Damal, 49, Sekandar Sikder alias Akash, 26, Khairul Islam Matbar alias Khoka, 88, Abu Saleh Sikder alias Shooter Saleh, 38, Nasir Uddin alias Killer Nasir, 38, Omar Farooq, 52, Mohammad Maruf Khan, 28, Istiaq Ahmed Zitu, 39, and Imran Hossain alias Jitu, 32, are behind bars.
Three accused – Hafizul Islam alias Hafiz, 50, Morshedul Alam Palash, 51 and Rakibur Rahman, 31, are on bail.
According to the charge sheet of the case and the detective branch officials, Zahidul Islam was killed over extortion and police dominance centring Motijheel.
Name of 30 people including Zisan Ahmed and Zafar Ahmed Manik who are now living abroad have come up in the murder plot and three people took part in the killing directly while Sumon Sikder alias Musa coordinated the entire matter.
The detective branch said evidences as to how many people took part in the murder, who drew the killing plan, and who played what role in the killing have been collected after investigating the case for 14 months.
The charge-sheet states everyone plays separate roles from planning the murder to its execution. Shooter Masum Mohammad alias Akash, his friend Mollah Shamim and Palash alias Kalla Palash took part in the killing directly while all the remaining accused planned the murder.
Sources involved in the investigation said the detective branch arrested the shooter Masum Mohammad within 24 hours of the killing and he revealed the names of the masterminds Sumon Sikder and Musa in his confession. The detective branch arrested Musa from Oman and brought him home in June 2022.
Name of 16 people involved in the killing came in the confessional statement of Musa and most of these people were involved in the politics of ruling Awami League and its associated bodies. Police and Rapid Action Battalion have arrested 25 accused so far.
Speaking to Prothom Alo about the investigation and charge-sheet of the case, Zahidul Islam’s wife Farhana Islam said former and incumbent leaders and activists of Awami League, Jubo League and Chattra League are involved in this murder.
She wants maximum punishment to everyone who was named in charge-sheet.