RAB arrests Zakir, an ex-Narayanganj Chhatra Dal leader accused of four murders

Zakir Khan is accused of murdering Sabbir Alam Khandaker, brother of BNP leader Taimur

Former president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’s Narayanganj district unit Zakir Khan, who went into hiding two decades ago, is accused in many cases, aside from those related to four murders.

The Rapid Action Battalion has arrested Zakir Khan, a former president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’s Narayanganj district unit who went into hiding two decades ago, on charges of murdering four people against him.

He was nabbed from a flat in Dhaka’s Bashundhara Residential Area on Saturday, said Lieutenant Colonel Tanvir Mahmud Pasha, commander of RAB-11.

Zakir, who was infamously known as a goon in Narayanganj city, entered the BNP’s student front from the Jatiya Party’s Jatiya Chhatra Samaj in the 1990s. He became the president of the district unit of Chhatra Dal after the BNP was elected in 2001.

He went on the run after being accused of murdering Sabbir Alam Khandaker, the brother of BNP leader Taimur Alam Khandaker, in 2003.

RAB’s Tanvir said Zakir fled to Thailand after being named as a suspect in Sabbir’s murder. The court sentenced him to different prison terms while he was absconding. He returned to the country a year ago via India.

Zakir is accused in many cases, aside from those related to four murders. He organised a gang of terrorists in Deobhog and was heavily involved in the illicit drugs trade, according to the RAB.

A case was lodged against Zakir under the Suppression of Terrorist Offences (Special Provisions) Act. He was jailed for 17 years in the case. Later the High Court reduced the sentence to eight years but he remained a fugitive for almost 20 years.

The RAB seized an unlicensed foreign firearm from Zakir. It said legal proceedings were being taken against him.