The former chief hangman of Dhaka Central Jail Shahjahan Bhuiyan, who was freed from jail on June 18 last year, died at a hospital in Dhaka today.

Shahjahan was admitted at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital last night after he complained of chest pain. The hangman died in the morning, said Ahad Ali, officer-in-charge of Sher-E-Bangla Nagar Police Station.

The body was sent to hospital morgue, he said.

The 74-year-old's tally of 26 executions includes mobsters, militants, war criminals and assassins.

Born on March 26, 1950, at Isakhali village of Palash Upazila of Narsingdi, Shahjahan Bhuiyan engaged in local politics when he had completed his higher secondary certificate exams.

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Dhaka jail’s chief hangman walks out of prison today

According to documents, the man was convicted on November 8, 1992, for robbery with a 12-year sentence and in another case on September 19, 1995, for robbery and murder with a life term of 30 years. Each sentence had also fined him Tk 5,000 pending which Shahjahan was due to serve another six months in prison.

Although Shahjahan claims to have executed more, prison records put his tally at 26 hangings. 

His list of 26 has names like former minister Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, Jamaat leader Mir Qasem Ali, and Bangabandhu assassins Bazlul Huda and Shahriar Rashid.