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Arrest after decades
Bangladesh police arrested a retired military officer accused of involvement in the assassination of former President Ziaur Rahman, more than four decades after the killing in 1981 during a military coup.
“Bangladesh police arrested on July 16 a retired military officer accused of involvement in the assassination of former president Ziaur Rahman”
The arrest was made on July 16 from the Banani DOHS area in Dhaka, and the Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police then handed the suspect over to military authorities for court-martial proceedings.
The case traces back to the early morning of May 30, 1981, when a group of army officers attacked the Chattogram Circuit House where then-president Ziaur Rahman was staying and killed him.
Police said the suspect, identified as Major (retd) Md Mozzafar Hossain, had remained a fugitive since 1981, and AFP quoted Md Shafiqul Islam saying, "Mohammad Muzaffar Hossain had been absconding since 1981 after the assassination of President Ziaur Rahman; we have arrested him today."
The arrest also followed a long search after authorities offered a reward of two thousand US dollars for information leading to Hossain’s arrest, and the suspect was taken into custody shortly after his arrival in Dhaka.
DB chief explains role
Detective Branch Chief Shafiqul Islam told The Daily Star that the arrest followed standard procedure, saying, “Under the rules, if any military personnel -- from a soldier to an officer of any rank -- remains absent from duty or goes into hiding, police hand the person over to the relevant military authorities after arrest,”.
The Daily Star said DB officials confirmed the detention of Mozzaffar Hossain, and it reported that the house belonged to Mozaffar’s father-in-law in Banani DOHS, where his wife, son, daughter, and son-in-law were staying at the time of arrest.
AFP quoted Md Shafiqul Islam saying, “During interrogation, he explained his role in the assassination to us,” and the same account said police arrested the suspect shortly after he landed in Dhaka.
The Straits Times also reported that the authorities had offered a reward of US$2,000 (S$2,580) for information leading to Hossain’s arrest, and it said Hossain left Bangladesh immediately after the coup attempt and remained abroad ever since.
The arrest was framed as the latest step in a case where a martial law court convicted 18 military officers over Rahman’s murder and 13 were executed by hanging.
Court-martial and legacy
After the completion of legal formalities, police said the suspect was handed over to the Bangladesh Army for court-martial proceedings, and the arrest was described as ending a decades-long search for a man accused in the 1981 assassination.
“after the completion of legal formalities, Mozzafar was handed over to the Bangladesh Army for court-martial proceedings”
The Straits Times said Rahman, whose son Tarique Rahman is now the country’s prime minister, was killed in 1981 during a military coup, and it noted that Rahman became president in 1977 following the assassination of Bangladesh’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The case is tied to the Chattogram Circuit House attack, and Prothom Alo English reported that Ziaur Rahman was assassinated in the early hours of 30 May 1981 by a group of rogue army officers after traveling to Chattogram the previous day to help resolve internal disputes within the party.
In the aftermath of the assassination, the earlier convictions and executions were part of the case history, with the Straits Times reporting that 18 military officers were convicted and 13 were executed by hanging.
With the suspect now in custody, the next step described in the reporting is the military justice process, as the Detective Branch handed him over for court-martial proceedings after his arrest from the Banani DOHS area in Dhaka.
