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Published : 19 Mar 2026, 04:20 PM
Police have arrested five suspects in connection with the killing of college student Rakibul Islam Rakib in Dhaka’s Central Shaheed Minar area, saying that several of those directly involved in the murder were “hired killers”.
The 25-year-old Rakib, a second-year Bachelor of Arts student at Shaikh Burhanuddin Post Graduate College, used to make video content for TikTok and various social media platforms. He was also acquainted with another content creator named Jannat Moon. Police claim that Moon’s husband Sajid “planned” the killing.
Masud Alam, deputy commissioner of the Ramna Division, said at a press conference at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Media Centre on Thursday that Rajib once had a “good relationship” with Sajid, “a drug dealer from the Khulna region”.
Sajid grew “suspicious” of his wife’s contact with Rakib and hired people to kill him, Masud said.
“Rakib is no longer living, so we may learn how far his relationship with Jannat went if we question her again. But perhaps Sajid looked at it with suspicion.”
“Sajid had been threatening him over the matter for quite some time. Subsequently, we see that Sajid provided the killers with the money.”
The five arrestees have been identified with single names as Shihab, Joy, Rafin, Sagor, and Salauddin. Rafin had been arrested from the spot, while Shihab and Joy were arrested from Khulna, Sagor from Patuakhali, and Salauddin from Gopalganj.
Masud said, “Of the five arrested, four were directly involved in the killing mission.”
“The one who fired the gun was Alamin. We haven’t been able to arrest him yet. Shihab, Joy, and Rafin hacked at him with knives and machetes. Sagor did not hack at him, but was with them.”
Salauddin supplied them with weapons and “coordinated” where everyone would be, he said.
“We have largely identified those involved with this. We have arrested five people. There are seven or eight others involved. We will gradually arrest them all.”
Rakib was hanging out with friends at Shaheed Minar around 9:15pm on Sunday when three or four people suddenly attacked, stabbing him and shooting him in the head. He later died.
According to Rakib's friend Al-Amin, the attackers fled after the attack.
The following day, investigators said Rakib was hacked and shot dead “over a woman”.
At the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) morgue, Rakib's wife Habiba Akhter had said she suspected Jannat’s “boyfriend” over Rakib’s murder. Now, police are officially saying that Jannat’s husband is involved with the killing.
Masud said, “The killers came to Dhaka from Khulna intending to kill him. They came and stayed at different hotels in Dhaka, particularly in Fakirapul. Two of them were even at Sonargaon hotel. We found them on CCTV footage.”
They had conducted surveillance on Rakib.
Rakib would go to the Shaheed Minar area every night. As he made TikTok content, he had quite a big circle of friends and acquaintances.
The police official said, “On the day of the incident, four people were directly involved, as per the plan. The rest were available as backup.”
“Rakib married two or three years ago. Despite this, his friends told us that he had also married some girl named Safa about four or months ago as part of a bet or something like that.”
He said, “He also made TikTok videos alongside another girl. That is Moon aka Jannat. Jannat’s husband Sajid is a drug dealer who lives in Khulna. We can largely confirm that he sent the men who killed Rakib.”
“Still, our investigation is ongoing. If there are any gaps in our understanding, we will bridge them.”
Referring to the hired killers, Masud said: “They play a big role in major incidents in the south-southwest of the country. They are very violent and will kill anyone if they are paid.”
