RAB arrests fugitive sentenced to death for murder of Ansar 22 years ago

The convict was sentenced to death and was also handed a life term in jail in an attempt to murder case

The Rapid Action Battalion has arrested a fugitive who was sentenced to death for killing an Ansar member and also was handed a life term in jail in an 'attempt to murder' case twenty-two years ago.

The convict, Shukkur Ali Sohel aka Shohag, 38, was arrested from Savar on Monday, RAB-10 said in a media briefing.

On Mar 12, 2002, Ansar member Fazlul Haque and a policeman were severely injured in gunfire by muggers at Dhaka’s Shyamoli, said Commander Khandaker Al Moin, the director of RAB's law and media wing.

The doctor on duty declared Ansar member Fazlul Haque dead when he was taken to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Police constable Akman Hossain filed a murder case with the Mohammadpur Police Station naming Shukkur and two others.

Police arrested the suspects and handed them over to the court. The suspects were released on bail and absconded.

Following an investigation, a court handed death sentences to all three convicts and issued arrest warrants against them on Sept 30, 2019.

Shukkur was also slapped with a life term in jail in a case over the attempted murder of constable Abdul Jalil Farazi.

On the day of the incident in 2002, Shukkur waited near the ticket counter of a bus company Dur Duranto in Shyamoli to find a victim to mug. He was accompanied by his two accomplices, he said during an interrogation.

When Shukkur and his gang tried to mug a person, on-duty constable Akman Hossain, constable Abdul Jalil Farazi and Ansar member Fazlul Haque tried to nab all three of them. Shukkur and his accomplices opened fire on the law enforcers.

Shukkur has been involved in criminal activity since the age of 10. He engaged in different criminal activities like mugging, robbery, murder, kidnapping, and drug dealing in Mohammadpur and other parts of Dhaka.

The law enforcers arrested Shukkur in the Ansar murder case and he stayed in jail for three and a half years. Then he was released on bail and absconded.

He adopted different disguises and lived in different places in Chattogram and Dhaka to evade arrest, the RAB commander said.

Previously Shukkur had served jail terms for four years in a drug case, five years in an arms case, and different terms for kidnapping and in other cases.

He continued committing crimes using different names after he was convicted in the Ansar murder case. He has been named in at least 15 cases, which include charges related to arms, robbery, and drug cases across the country.