A disturbing pattern has emerged in the capital’s recent crime landscape, with a series of high-profile killings allegedly involving hired professional killers and shooters.
Law enforcement agencies have found evidence suggesting that professional gunmen were used in several recent murders, raising concerns among ordinary residents as well as political leaders and civil society representatives.
According to law enforcement agencies and local sources, some of the killings have links to figures in Dhaka’s underworld. Many of these criminals remained behind bars until around August 5, 2024, before securing bail and being released.
Some are now in hiding, while others have fled the country and taken refuge abroad. From there, law enforcement sources say, they continue to exert influence through killings and extortion.
Those perceived as obstacles to their dominance are allegedly being targeted for elimination.
A trail of killings and alleged underworld links
On November 10 last year, Mamun was killed in front of the National Medical Institute Hospital in Old Dhaka.
The killing was allegedly ordered from Dubai by Emon, known in the criminal underworld as Captain Emon.
Police sources have also confirmed that the order to kill Swachchhasebak Dal leader Azizur Rahman Musabbir on January 7 came from Malaysia.
The alleged mastermind was Dilip alias Dada Binash. Police say Musabbir was killed in Mirpur, Mohakhali, Karwan Bazar and Moghbazar on his orders, while top terrorist Sheikh Mohammad Aslam was allegedly behind the operation. Aslam is known as Sweden Aslam in Dhaka’s criminal underworld.
On April 28, at around 7:45pm, miscreants shot dead top terrorist Khandaker Naim Ahmed Titon in the New Market area.
Titon had been in prison since 2004 and was released on bail on August 13, 2024. His elder brother, Khandaker Sayeed Akhter Ripon, later filed a murder case with New Market police station.
The FIR named top terrorists Pichchi Helal, Badal alias Killer Badal, Shahjahan and Rony alias Vangari Rony as suspects.
According to the FIR, Titon had been involved in a dispute with Pichchi Helal over the lease of a sacrificial animal market.
Titon was also the brother-in-law of Emon. The two had reportedly been involved in a long-standing dispute over arms trading and the expansion of their respective spheres of influence.
A Detective Branch (DB) officer from the DMP’s Ramna division said investigators were examining whether Emon had any involvement in Titon’s murder.
The killing of another top terrorist, Yasin Khan alias Kaillya Palash, was also allegedly ordered from Dubai.
Police sources said fugitive top terrorist Jisan Ahmed Monty had given the order.
On June 12, Kaillya Palash was shot in the head while returning home after prayers near his residence in the Rampura TV Centre area. He died at Evercare Hospital on the night of June 20.
He had been released on bail on May 7, just over a month before the shooting.
Four shooters hired for Tk25 lakh
In another case, four professional shooters were allegedly hired from Magura and Jhenaidah for Tk25 lakh to kill Kafrul thana Jubo Dal member secretary Hafizul Islam Babu alias Dish Babu.
The four — Chanchal, Jihad Molla, Jiarul Molla and Hasan — were allegedly hired by Hafizur Rahman Hafiz alias CNG Hafiz, joint convener of Kafrul thana Swachchhasebak Dal.
The attack, however, missed its intended target, and Jubo Dal activist Md Yusuf Ali Parvez was killed instead.
Police said they uncovered the plot after arresting and questioning eight people, including the four alleged shooters.
Yusuf was shot dead by armed assailants at around 11pm on July 24 in front of Sher-e-Bangla Primary School in Section 13 of Mirpur.
The name of top terrorist Killer Abbas alias Abbas Ali has also emerged in connection with the killing.
DMP Additional Commissioner (DB) Shafiqul Islam said police were continuing to update their list of professional and hired killers.
“Who follows whom, where instructions are coming from, and who is involved to what extent — the police are working on all these issues,” he said.
Top terrorists released on bail
Several top terrorists were released from prison on bail in the aftermath of the July uprising.
Killer Abbas was released on bail on August 12, 2024, after being in prison since his arrest on February 14, 2003.
Freedom Rasu was released on August 13. He had been arrested on September 29, 2023.
Emon was released on August 14. Police had arrested him from a flat on Mirza Ghalib Street in Kolkata on December 8, 2007. He was handed over to Bangladesh Police on March 7, 2008, and remained in prison until his release.
Pichchi Helal was released on August 15. He had been arrested on January 12, 2000.
Sweden Aslam was released on September 3. He had been arrested on May 26, 1997.
Freedom Sohel was released on December 19. He had been arrested in 2004 in the Mirzapur area of Tangail.
These top terrorists had been detained at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj and Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur.
Jisan, meanwhile, has been living outside the country since 2003.
‘Clear signs of contract killing’
Crime expert and private university teacher Nasiruddin Samrat said the recent killings showed clear signs of “contract killing”.
He said the main planners were operating behind the scenes, hiring professional killers for large sums of money.
Illegal firearms and techniques to facilitate quick escapes were also being used, he said.
The fact that criminals are carrying out daring attacks in broad daylight or in crowded places and then escaping with ease has raised fresh questions about the overall law and order situation in Dhaka, according to Samrat.
Concern is also growing among residents across the capital.
Rafiqul Islam, a businessman in Farmgate, said the frequency of public killings had made people afraid to leave their homes.
“The attackers are professionals. After receiving the responsibility of killing someone, they complete the job without any hindrance and leave. Where is the security of us ordinary people?” he said.
Political arena also on edge
The recent killings have also caused concern in the political arena.
Those killed or targeted have included political figures, prompting questions about the security of social and political leaders.
Local leaders of major political parties have expressed fears that such crimes could be driven by political motives or attempts to establish influence.
A Jubo Dal leader, speaking to Bangla Tribune on condition of anonymity, said the use of hired criminals showed that criminal networks had become increasingly reckless.
“Those who work in politics, a large section of them are now suffering from insecurity. If this kind of professionalism continues, it will cause a severe deterioration in the law and order situation,” he said.
A senior Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) official said the authorities were treating every recent incident with the highest priority.
“We are identifying not only those who directly participated in the shootings or attacks, but also those at whose direction or with whose money these killings were carried out,” the official said.
He said special operations had begun across the capital to dismantle networks of hired criminal gangs.
Calls for stronger security
Against this backdrop, residents are demanding stronger security measures at key points across the capital.
They have called for increased police patrols, stronger CCTV surveillance and coordinated operations by the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and police to recover illegal firearms.
Concerned citizens have also called for the godfathers behind hired criminal networks to be brought to justice and given exemplary punishment.