When a hitman becomes the takedown target

Shiru Mia used to work for several underworld top terrors and was a familiar face in organised crime circles in Dhaka. Even he had made his name as a hitman, said police.

For the past couple of years, the man had been extorting people in the name of Nabin – an underworld top terror in Dhaka. He would turn up at businesses, cattle market, and new construction sites forcing people to pay. 

His confidence kept growing over time and he started pocketing extorted cashes alone. Recently, he extorted a person Tk5 lakh and did not pay his employer – which made Nabin angry. 

According to police, the crime don, therefore, plotted the murder of Shiru from abroad and hired killers for that purpose.    

Shiru Mia, 45, was stabbed dead on 4 October this year at Mohammadpur's Ekota Housing area, nearly an hour after he went outside of his apartment. His throat-slit body was found lying in a pool of blood.

Police said sensational information started surfacing as they launched the investigation. Nabin hired eight killers from different parts of the capital for the killing mission.

Police collected footages from closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed adjacent to the crime scene. 

The footages show eight persons wielded with sharp weapons taking part in the killing. However, none of the footages were clear enough to detect any face.           

On 8 October, police arrested Ahidur Rahman with the help of the footages and other technologies. Ahidur used to work as a hired gun, and run a mobile servicing shop in Mohammadpur area.

Subsequently, he gave a confessional statement in the court.   

Based on the information gleaned from Ahidur, police arrested four others — Sujon Mia, Md Sajib alias Rubel, Sumon Sheikh alias Bucket Sumon and Tanvir – from Dhaka and Pirojpur, who reportedly took part in the murder. 

Of them, Sujon, Sajib, and Tanvir have given their confessional statements in the court.  

Investigators said the killing mission was plotted 10-12 days before the execution and the killers also bought new machetes. 

On the day of the murder, one of the killers called Shiru on his mobile phone and told him that there was an assignment. They swooped down on him as soon as he arrived at the spot. They slit his throat to confirm his death and then fled the scene.     

Mrittunjoy Dey Sajal, additional deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Mohammadpur zone), told The Business Standard that extortion-related disputes and control over the underworld led to the murder. 

Five have been arrested and hot pursuits are on to apprehend others.    

Rowshanul Haque, assistant commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (Mohammadpur zone), said they have got the name of the mastermind who ordered the kill.

Investigators said the crime don changes his location frequently. His current location could be either Malaysia or Thailand.