Rapid Action Battalion (RAB-4) has arrested two shooters involved in the Pallabi Thana Jubo Dal member secretary Golam Kibria killing in the capital’s Pallabi area.
The arrested were identified as Md Rashed alias Lopen, 35, and Md Jahangir Hossain alias Kallu, 40, both accused of directly participating in the killing mission.
RAB said the suspects had been on the run since the incident and initially attempted to flee to a neighbouring country through illegal routes. However, due to tightened border security following the murder, they failed and later returned to Dhaka, where they were trying to arrange passports and visas to leave the country legally.
The development was disclosed at a press briefing held at the RAB-4 Battalion headquarters in Mirpur on Friday by Company Commander Additional Superintendent of Police Md Shahabuddin Kabir.
Acting on a tip-off, a RAB-4 team conducted separate drives late Thursday night, arresting Rashed from Rupnagar Eastern Housing area in Mirpur and Jahangir from Diabari area of Uttara Sector 18.
Based on information provided by Rashed, RAB recovered a foreign-made revolver used in the killing loaded with three rounds of bullet from his residence.
According to Shahabuddin Kabir, the two accused confessed to their direct involvement in the murder.
He said the revolver was supposed to contain six rounds, but only three were recovered. During interrogation, Rashed admitted that he fired two rounds at the victim and discharged one blank shot to disperse nearby people.
RAB officials said three shooters directly took part in the attack. One of them, identified as Jony, had already been arrested earlier, while the other two were apprehended in the latest Thursday midnight drive.
Investigators also found that a support network was involved in the operation. A person named Masum was responsible for extracting the attackers safely after the incident, while Pata Sohel supplied the weapons and ensured overall security. Another accused, Sujon, was assigned to monitor the victim’s movements. In total, six to seven individuals were involved in the killing mission, according to RAB.
Preliminary investigation suggests that the murder was carried out over political dominance. RAB said the accused had links with a top local criminal, Mashiur Rahman Mashi, in the Mirpur area.
Golam Kibria, described as a popular local Juba Dal leader, was seen as a potential candidate for a higher position in Pallabi Thana BNP. Investigators believe he had become an obstacle to criminal activities such as extortion, control over housing and developer businesses, and illegal collections, which led to a planned killing.
Earlier, on November 17 last year, unidentified assailants shot Golam Kibria in the chest and back at a hardware shop in Mirpur-12 B-Block under Pallabi police station. The attackers also fired at locals while fleeing, leaving a rickshaw puller critically injured.
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Local people managed to capture one shooter named Jony at the scene and handed him over to police.
A murder case was later filed with Pallabi police station by the victim’s family.
On November 18 last year, RAB-4 arrested two other accused—Monir Hossain alias Sohel alias Pata Sohel, 30, and Sujon alias Bukpora Sujon, 35—in connection with the case.