Milki’s ‘killer’ spotted from footage

The ‘killer’ of Juba League leader Reazul Haque Milki has been identified from a video footage, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) says.

RAB identified the assailant to be HM Zahid Siddique Tarek, another Organising Secretary of the Awami League’ youth front.

Milki, an Organising Secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan (south) unit, was shot in the head in the early hours of Tuesday in front of a Gulshan shopping centre.

A closed-circuit camera in the shopping mall captured the incident.

RAB said Tarek had been detained.

“We have detained six persons in connection with the murder including the key player, Tarek,” RAB-1 chief Kismat Hayat told bdnews24.com.

The CCTV footage from Shoppers World shows a youth, wearing white Punjabi-pajama and scalp cap, walking right towards Milki holding a mobile phone on his left ear.

As he comes face to face with Milki, the assailant is seen firing a single shot at Milki with a small firearm. As Milki writhes in agony in the ground, the assailant fires another seven or eight shots at him.

Suddenly another youth in a motorcycle appears and the shooter flees the scene on the bike. Another youth is seen opening fire at that time.

“The assailant in white Punjabi-pajama is Tarek,” Hayat claimed.

RAB’s intelligence wing chief Ziaul Ahsan claimed Tareak was injured in a shot fired by his accomplice.

Police detained him from a hospital in Uttara on Tuesday morning.

Milki’s mother Jahanara Ershad told bdnews24.com her son returned to their Mohammadpur residence on Monday night but had gone out on getting a call.

He went out in his close associate Maruf Reza’s car.

Milki’s political activities centred around the Motijheel where he used to live with his family.

‘A target for long’

Supporters of the deceased leader claimed a faction of the Juba League had been plotting to eliminate him for a long time.

“The conspirators have finally succeeded in killing him after many attempts,” the front’s Motijheel unit leader ‘Sunny’ said.

RAB officials also echoed the claim. “We have come to know that there had been a long-running conspiracy to kill Milki,” Ahsan said.

Party supporters said leaders of the south unit locked horns several months ago after a new committee was announced.

Milki had sided with the unit President Ismail Hossain Samrat while Tarek backed General Secretary Wahidul Islam Arif’s faction.

The organisation’s local activists said Samrat recently fell sick and his opponents suspected Milki was gradually assuming full control.

Tarek was once a close associate of Milki, according to several Juba League leaders.

“Tarek’s associate Shakawat Hossain Chanchal controls the Gulshan-Badda area. Milki’s opponents attacked him after they heard he was in their area,” a leader of the front, preferring anonymity, told bdnews24.com.

Others detained in connection with the murder have been identified as, Tuhinur Rahman, 25, Syed Mostofa Ali Rumi, 33, Mohammad Rashed Mahmud, 25, Saidul Islam alias Nuruzzaman, 22, and Mohammad Sujan Hawladar.

However, the motorcycle-riding youth, who had allegedly aided Tarek’s escape, was still on the run, RAB said.