Tipu murder: Police arrest ‘shooter’, yet to find out mastermind

"A big tall man" was believed to have shot dead two persons – former general secretary of Motijheel Awami League Jahidul Islam Tipu and college student Samia Afran Jamal Prity – in the capital's Uttar Shahjahanpur area on Thursday.

The Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Sunday claimed they had been able to arrest the "shooter" within 48 hours of the fatal incident.

The arrestee, Masum Mohammad alias Akash, was nabbed from a Joypurhat-bound bus from Bogura's Sherpur area on Saturday night as he was trying to flee the country through the Joypurhat border, said AKM Hafiz Akter, additional commissioner of the DB, at a press briefing on Sunday.

When the arrestee was paraded on the DB premises on Minto Road, DB members were seen finding it difficult to get hold of his hands as he was big and tall. The "shooter" was trying to say something before the media, but the DB men barred him.

The "shooter" could not believe that he would be arrested so soon, Hafiz Akter told journalists as he was leaving the press conference. "When our DB team reached him, he at the first encounter asked us, 'How could you find me. You were not supposed to catch me within such a short time.'"

"Akash was planning to flee the country using the Joypurhat border. He then changed his location to Bogura to escape the law enforcers' eyes. Four of our teams were on the hunt for him," Hafiz told the media.

Akash is a contract killer who was assigned to kill someone five days back, but he came to know the name of his target two days later, he said, adding they were yet to locate the gun used in the shooting.

He also said Akash had a murder case filed against him and his father is a school teacher. "In his personal life, he is a frustrated man and the father of two children. He studied in Mohammadpur Central College."

In primary interrogation, Akash told the law enforcers that the people who assigned him for killing Tipu promised to take care of the cases he was facing and also assured of some other benefits, said the DB official, adding, Akash came to learn about the demise of the college girl in the shooting only when he was scrolling down the social media after the incident.

Another DB official who participated in the raid told The Business Standard that they had asked several politicians and members of terror groups of Motijheel area and all the clues indicated that the shooter who was wearing a helmet during the shooting might be a person who was also accused in another murder case. "Later, Akash's wife also confirmed his identity."

The DB officials, however, replied to very few questions as the DB concluded the press conference within around 15 minutes.

When asked whether it was a political assassination or have had an underworld connection, DB chief Hafiz said, "We are still looking for the mastermind behind the killing. Therefore, we cannot say right now which type of killing it was."

Asked how they became sure that Akash had been the real shooter, the DB chief said, "We have matched him with the CCTV footage. He was wearing a helmet during shooting so we scrutinised the footage closely and several times, and thus got confirmed."

"He was shooting indiscriminately… and that might have left the college girl dead," Hafiz Akter said.

Meanwhile, a DMP press release said Akash, during primary interrogation, confessed that he and his associate followed Tipu on his way back home from his restaurant in Motijheel on Wednesday, the day before the assassination.

At the Kamalapur Inland Depot they attempted to kill Tipu for the first time with a 9mm gun but failed as the place was crowded.

Akash, however, succeeded in his mission the next day after being tipped off about the whereabouts of his target by an unknown individual. The assailant shot 12 rounds of bullets just within 20 seconds.

Two of Akash's friends helped him stay under the radar as he used social media to monitor the developments surrounding the incident.

Meanwhile, the president of the Ward No. 12 chapter of the AL's Dhaka South City unit was taken to DB custody on Sunday afternoon for interrogation.

Farzana Islam Doly, wife of slain Tipu, told TBS that they are not much interested in knowing about the hitman. Instead, they want the mastermind behind the brutal killing of her husband to be uncovered and given stern punishment.

"Police should bring to light each and every one of those who orchestrated the killing in broad daylight," she added.