Banani Murder: Expat ex-JCD man behind it, say police

Police yesterday claimed that a former Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leader living in Sweden hired people to kill manpower businessman Siddik Hossen Munshi in his Banani office on November 14.

Six killers planned it seven days before the murder after the Chhatra Dal leader communicated with gang leader Helal Uddin, said Monirul Islam, chief of Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit, while briefing journalists.

Police arrested Helal, 38, who stands accused in at least two murder cases, at the capital's Gulshan on Tuesday night.

At the briefing in DMP media centre, Monirul declined to name the Chhatra Dal leader, but said he was wanted in a number of arson cases filed between 2013 and 2015.

The murder was not over illegal toll collection. The motive is still unclear as it was a “contract killing”. Police will further interrogate Helal to know about the motive, Monirul added.

As part of the plan, four of the killers, as seen in CCTV footage, entered the office of Munshi Overseas on November 14 and shot its owner Siddik and injured three employees, the CTTC chief said.

Helal was also a Chhatra Dal leader. He and one of his accomplices coordinated the killing mission from outside, he added. 

All the six killers carried firearms on that day and police claimed to have recovered five of those from Helal. 

Police said five of the killers handed over the arms to Helal before going into hiding.

Law enforcers could not arrest any of the four killers seen in the footage, in which it was found that two of the killers were entering the office wearing masks and another was wearing a cap.

Police, however, claimed to have identified four of the five other killers as Al Amin alias Pichchi Al Amin, Saddam, Nuri and Sharifuddin.     

There had been no rivalry between Helal and victim Siddik, Monirul said, quoting Helal.

The police official said Helal and his accomplices killed Siddik as they were hired to do so. They were also told that they would get a huge amount of money in Siddik's office.

The Chhatra Dal leader living in Sweden was also involved in a shooting incident in Badda on August 13 in 2015 that left four people dead, the police officer claimed.