A medicine trader was stabbed to death by a thief in Dhaka's Shanir Akhra area this afternoon.

The victim was identified as Tajul Islam (38), owner of Tajul Pharmacy.

Tajul was alone at his flat on the fourth floor of a building as his wife and two children went to visit his family members in Barishal.

He caught a youth, trying to break into his home, around 1:00pm and shouted "thief". The youth stabbed Tajul with a knife, leaving him critically injured, said Mohammad Yusuf, a resident of the area.

Hearing his screams, neighbours including Yusuf rushed him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead around 2:00pm.

Mazharul Islam, officer-in-charge of Jatrabari Police Station, said a youth named Ridoy (27) was held from the spot after the incident.

"We are suspecting that he went to the building to steal, and stabbed the man to flee…We are trying to know more details," he said.

The body was sent to DMCH morgue for autopsy.