The Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) arrested an absconding death row convict from Nabiganj in Habiganj district on Tuesday night in connection with the killing of Anwar Hossain, former member of Rohitpur Union Parishad of Keraniganj in Dhaka district in 2006.

The arrestee was identified as Kamal Uddin, 64, former member of Rohitpur Union Parishad.

Anwar Hossain was hacked to death for protesting extortion, extraction of sand from the river and land grabbing in the area. Arrested Kamal Uddin was one of the planners of the killing.

Commander Khandaker Al-Moin, director of RAB's legal and media wing, came up with the information while briefing reporters at the Rab's Karwanbazar Media Centre in the capital on Wednesday afternoon.

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Former UP member Anwar Hossain,50, was brutally hacked by Kamal Uddin’s men at Keraniganj's Syedpur Ghat. Later, the locals rescued him and taken to a hospital in the capital, where he died while undergoing treatment.

The victim's wife filed a murder case with Keraniganj police station of Dhaka, mentioning the names of 13 people and showing the rest of the accused as unidentified. On August 25, 2009, the court announced the verdict in that case.

The court sentenced two people to death, including Kamal Uddin, and three others to life in prison. The court also acquitted three others in the murder case.

The Rab's media wing director said that the murder was pre-planned and led by Kamal Uddin.

Commander Moin said arrested Kamal Uddin formed a terrorist group in the area during his tenure as the UP Chairman and used to carry out illegal sand trade, land grabbing, looting of relief goods and various criminal activities in the area. Anwar Hossain, the victim, protested the former UP chairman's various illegal and criminal activities.

He also said that Kamal Uddin had moved to a country in the Middle East in 2007 to avoid arrest by the law enforcement agencies.

Commander Moin said that Kamal Uddin returned to Bangladesh in 2019 and started living in different places of Sylhet keeping his identity hidden. He got married there again mainly to avoid arrest, and he changed his location repeatedly and stayed in hiding.

Based on secret information, a team of Rab-10 with the assistance of Rab-9 conducted a drive in Nabiganj area of Habiganj on Tuesday night and arrested him.