Two murder suspects of a local Awami League leader were killed in a “shootout” with police, in Dhaka, in the early hours of Thursday.
Police have claimed that Nurul Islam Sunny, 28, and Amit alias Dada, 35, were among the criminals who were involved in the killing of Awami League Badda unit General Secretary Farhad Hossain, on June 15, in the capital.
Sunny – was wearing a red t-shirt on the day of the murder – was caught on CCTV footage, wielding a gun while fleeing the murder scene—after killing Farhad, according to the police.
They also said Amit, who reportedly had close ties to criminals hiding abroad – Ashique and Mehedi – was Sunny’s mentor.
On the day of Farhad’s murder, six armed shooters and several criminal groups worked jointly to carryout the assassination.
Sunny, who was on a CNG-run auto-rickshaw with a cohort after the murder, fired at the police at a check-post when the vehicle was stopped at Gudaraghat of Gulshan, police said.
Detective Branch's Deputy Commissioner Mashiur Rahman said the “shootout” that killed two murder suspects took place at Projapoti Garden of Satarkul area around 4am.
When asked, Mashiur said Farhad was killed over distribution of extortion money that had been collected from human hauliers, footpath vendors, and cattle market workers in the Badda area.
He claimed that after killing Farhad, the gang members fled to other districts or went abroad. As a result, the control over areas from where extortion money came remained unsolved—and that is why the killers gathered at Satarkul area, on Wednesday night, for a meeting.
Detectives, acting on a tip-off, raided the area. Sensing a police presence, the criminals fired shots. Police found the two people's bodies after the deceased’s cohorts fled amid a gunfight.
Police recovered pistols and bullets from the spot, he added.
