Five more arrested in Shahjahanpur double murder case
A total of 27 people have been arrested so far in connection with the murders
The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested five individuals on Monday, involved in the murder of Awami League (AL) leader Jahidul Islam Tipu and college student Samia Afrin Prity, in Dhaka's Shahjahanpur on 24 March.
The latest arrested are Shamim Hossain alias Molla Shamim (the motorcyclist carrying the shooter), Taufiq Hasan alias Babu, Sumon Hossain, Ehtesham Uddin Chowdhury Apu, and Shariful Islam Hridoy.
An unregistered motorcycle and two guns, all materially used in the incident, were seized from their possession, said DB Chief Additional Police Commissioner, Mohammad Harun-Ur-Rashid, on Tuesday.
"They have confessed to their involvement in the crime," he added.
Police have so far arrested 27 people in connection with the murders.
Law enforcement arrested four suspects– Zuber Alam Khan Robin, Arifur Rahman Sohail alias "Killer Sohail,", Khairul, and Mahbubur Rahman Titu – from different areas of Dhaka a day earlier.
On Sunday, a Dhaka court placed each of them on a two-day remand.
Earlier on 31 July, DB police arrested two other suspects from the capital's Motijheel area. The arrested were Sohel Shahriar alias Shotgun Sohel, the reported mastermind of the killing, and Maruf Reza, arms supplier in the killing.
On the night of 24 March, AL politician Zahidul Islam Tipu, who was on a microbus, and Samia Afrin Priti, a 22-year-old college student, returning home on a rickshaw, were killed in firing in front of Islami Bank Hospital in Shahjahanpur.
Tipu was a former general secretary of the AL Motijheel committee and Priti was a student of Begum Badrunnesa Government College. Tipu's driver was also injured in the firing.
They were all stuck in a traffic jam in the area when a biker wearing a helmet and a mask appeared from nowhere and fired at them.
The following day, a case was filed against unidentified people for the double murder.
On 27 March, police arrested Akash, 34, the prime accused in the double murder case, from Bogura district.
On 31 March, DMP detectives arrested Arfanullah on a drive in the city's Kamalapur.
On 9 June, Sumon Shikdar Musa, the mastermind of the Tipu murder, was brought back home from Oman.
According to DB police, Musa went to Dubai on 12 March after hiring Shamim Molla to kill AL politician Zahidul Islam Tipu. He later fled to Oman.
Following interrogation, police came to know Musa was the mastermind of the murder, and Arfan, Shamim, and Manik were involved in the killing.
Shamim, who directly took part in the murder, fled to Bhutan after the murder.
