Staff Reporter:

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) has arrested Major (retd) Md Mozzafar Hossain, a convicted assassin of former President Ziaur Rahman, after he remained a fugitive for more than 45 years.

He was arrested from the Banani DOHS area of the capital around midnight on Wednesday. After the completion of legal formalities, he was handed over to the Bangladesh Army for court-martial proceedings.

DB Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam confirmed the arrest to reporters on Thursday afternoon.

Ziaur Rahman was assassinated in the early hours of 30 May 1981 during an attack by a group of army officers at the Chattogram Circuit House.

According to investigation-related sources, Mozzaffar Hossain was among the officers accused of direct involvement in the assassination. Case records and historical accounts allege that he identified Ziaur Rahman and fired at him.

They further claim that, after the assassination, he informed the then General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 24th Infantry Division, Major General Abul Manzoor, by telephone, saying, “The President has been killed.”

Following the assassination, the army launched an operation to restore control. Major General Abul Manzoor and several others were arrested, while Manzoor was later killed. Captain Mosleh Uddin was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, Mozzaffar Hossain and Major SM Khaled managed to flee.

Investigation sources said Mozzaffar remained in hiding in India for an extended period and stayed there between 1997 and 1998. He later allegedly crossed the border using an assumed identity and moved between different locations to evade arrest.

His arrest after more than four decades marks a significant development in one of the country’s most high-profile political assassination cases.