Musabbir Murder: Shooters yet to be identified despite CCTV footage

Police are yet to identify the shooters of former Swechchhasebak Dal leader Azizur Rahman Musabbir, despite having CCTV footage of them.

Musabbir was shot shortly after 8:00pm on Wednesday in an alley near Hotel Superstar on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue.

CCTV footage analysis revealed two shooters, along with suspicious movements of several others.

“Two individuals are seen in the footage as alleged shooters. Besides, police have also obtained footage showing suspicious movements of several others. Efforts are underway to identify them,” Ibne Mizan, deputy commissioner of Tejgaon division, told The Daily Star yesterday.

“Our first priority is to identify the two individuals whose images show them directly involved in the killing,” he added.

Musabbir, ex-general secretary of the Swechchhasebak Dal’s Dhaka north city unit, was accompanied by Abu Sufian Bepari Masud, general secretary of Tejgaon Van Workers’ Union, who sustained bullet injuries in the attack. Masud was undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Meanwhile, protests demanding justice for Musabbir continued. Several hundred people, including local BNP leaders, activists, and residents, yesterday staged a demonstration in the Karwan Bazar area, issuing a 24-hour ultimatum for the arrest of those involved in the killing.

BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed visited Musabbir’s house and expressed condolences to the bereaved family.

Speaking to journalists, he said they demanded the home ministry take proper action following a thorough probe. He added that the investigation should determine whether any force opposed to democracy and elections was behind the killing.

The BNP leader also urged vigilance to ensure no one obstructs the upcoming polls. “Even if attempts are made to derail the polls through such incidents, they will not succeed as the people will resist them. We urge the government to take advance preparations so that such incidents do not occur in the future.”

Several Tejgaon BNP leaders said multiple possibilities should be looked into, including internal party conflict, personal enmity, or whether Musabbir was targeted due to the upcoming election. They called upon police to investigate all angles thoroughly.

Musabbir’s wife Suraiya Begum told this newspaper that her husband had often said he was making many enemies and could be killed at any time. “But he said it casually. That’s why we failed to realise that something like this could happen.” 

She also demanded that her husband’s killers be arrested quickly and brought to justice.

In another development, this correspondent saw army personnel patrolling the Karwan Bazar area last night.