Gunman who killed AL leader, student held in Dhaka

The Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) has arrested the shooter who killed Awami League leader Zahidul Islam Tipu and college student Samia Afrin Prity.

Deputy Commissioner of DMP media wing Faruk Hossain confirmed the matter to media on Sunday. 

He said that more details about the much-talked-about murder will be revealed during an official press briefing scheduled for later in the day. 

Tipu, former general secretary of Awami League's Motijheel police station committee, and Prity, a 22-year-old student of Begum Badrunnesa Government College, were killed when an assailant opened fire at them in the capital's Khilgaon Rail-Gate area on Thursday (24 March) night.

The assailant shot 12 rounds of bullets just within 20 seconds, and it was not a movie. This horrific incident took place on a city road amid huge traffic.

The driver and a passenger of the white-coloured microbus were brutally shot, especially the latter, who was shot 6-7 times while the driver was shot twice.

The shots, fired in rapid succession, shattered the left side glasses of the car before hitting Tipu.

He was shot in the throat, chest and abdomen, among other body parts. At least 10-12 bullets hit the victim and his driver Monir Hossain Munna, 34, according to the inquest report that detailed the brutal shooting.

"It was as if someone was taking revenge and poured all of his grudge while shooting. Indiscriminate shooting also suggests that he might have panicked or was not a professional hitman. Professional killers never fire indiscriminately, they only shoot at the target. It wouldn't hit the adjacent rickshaw like it did in this case," said a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) ballistic expert wishing anonymity.

College student Prity -- who was on a rickshaw on her way to a friend's place in Khilgaon -- was also shot during this time.

The on-duty doctor of Dhaka Medical College Hospital pronounced Tipu and Prity dead when they were taken to the hospital.