Police press charges against 33 in murder of AL leader Tipu

Law enforcers have apprehended 24 of the suspects, while nine are still absconding

Police have charged 33 people over the shooting deaths of Jahidul Islam Tipu, a former leader of the Awami League's Motijheel unit, and college student Samia Afnan Prity in Dhaka's Shahjahanpur last year.

The charges were filed in court after a lengthy investigation on Monday. The list of suspects also includes local Awami League, Chhatra League and Jubo League leaders, according to Harunor Rashid, chief of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch.

"The DB found the involvement of 34 people in the incident in the course of its investigation. One of the suspects, known as XL Sohail, was not named in the chargesheet as his identity could not be confirmed,” he said.

Among those charged, 24 are currently behind bars while nine are on the run.

The murder was planned by Sumon Sikdar alias Musa, Md Shamim Hossain, and Nasiruddin Manik, according to Harunor. On the motive behind the killing, the DB chief said it was related to influencing the admissions process at Motijheel Ideal School, territorial dominance and racketeering.

Tipu, 54, was shot dead in the middle of a street in Shahjahanpur on Mar 24. Samia, a 22-year-old bystander, also died when she was hit by a stray bullet.

Tipu’s wife Farzana Islam Dolly, a local councillor of the city corporation, subsequently filed a case against unidentified suspects with the Shahjahanpur Police Station the next day.

She alleged that Tipu had received a death threat over the phone a few days before he was killed.

Later, police detectives arrested Masum Mohammad Akash as a suspect in the case, describing him as a "contract killer" who had been hired to kill Tipu.

Meanwhile, several Awami League leaders were implicated in a confessional statement given by Musa.

Musa also claimed that top fugitive criminals Jisan Ahmed and Jafar Ahmed Manik executed the plan from abroad.

After the arrests of Musa's brother Saleh Sikdar, Motijheel Awami League leader Omar Farook and two others, the Rapid Action Battalion said some local leaders of the ruling party took help from the underworld to kill Tipu.

Musa allegedly worked as a link between the underworld and the political circle in the killing. He was spotted in Oman last year and later extradited to Bangladesh.

Golam Ashraf Talukder, organising secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan South Awami League, Maruf Ahmed Mansur, a ward councillor of the city corporation, and Maruf Reza Sagar, a leader of the ruling party's youth affiliate, have also been named in the chargesheet, according to Harunor.

"We did not pay any attention to political affiliations [in the investigation]. Only the people whose involvement in the murder was revealed during the investigation have been charged,” he said.