Tipu-Prity murder: 2 including mastermind arrested

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested two persons including the mastermind in connection with the murder of Awami League leader Jahidul Islam Tipu and college student Samia Afrin Prity in Dhaka’s Shahjahanpur on March 24 this year.

Sohel Shahriar alias Shotgun Sohel, the reported mastermind in the killing, and Maruf Reza, arms supplier in the killing, were arrested from the capital’s Motijheel area at around 11:30pm on Sunday (July 31) night based on secret information.

DB (Motijheel Division) Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) Rafiqul Islam confirmed this to the media.

Earlier on Saturday (July 30), the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) arrested four more suspected people in connection with the murder of Awami League leader Jahidul Islam Tipu and college student Samia Afrin Prity in Dhaka’s Shahjahanpur.

The four were arrested following the information provided by Sumon Sikder Musa, the suspected mastermind behind the murder of the Motijheel Awami League leader Jahidul Islam Tipu.

The arrestees were – Zuber Alam Khan Robin, Arifur Rahman Sohel, Khairul and Mahbubur Rahman Titu.

On the night of March 24, AL politician Zahidul Islam Tipu, who was on a microbus, and Samia Afrin Priti, a 22-year-old college student, who was returning a residence 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 next day, a case was filed against unidentified people over the double murder.

On March 27, police arrested Masum alias Akash, 34, the prime accused in the double murder case from Bogura district. The next day, a Dhaka court placed him on a seven-day remand for custodial interrogation.