Musabbir murder: Probe points to feud over extortion: DMP

A dispute over extortion in the capital’s Karwan Bazar area led to the killing of Swechchhasebak Dal leader Azizur Rahman Musabbir, allegedly on the instructions of underworld criminal Dilip alias Binash, police said yesterday.

Shafiqul Islam, additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police and chief of the Detective Branch (DB), disclosed the findings at a press conference at the DMP Media Centre.

Eight to nine extortion syndicates operate in Karwan Bazar, both openly and covertly, and Musabbir’s growing influence in the area brought him into conflict with Dilip, who later hired assailants to carry out the murder, Shafiqul said.

He added that police were working to dismantle the syndicates and would conduct further drives.

Musabbir, a former general secretary of Swechchhasebak Dal’s Dhaka North City unit, was shot dead on January 7 in an alley off Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue.

His wife filed a murder case with Tejgaon Police Station the following day, accusing four to five unidentified assailants.

On January 11, the DB arrested four suspects -- Zinnat, Abdul Kadir, Md Reaz, and Md Bilal. Another alleged shooter, Rahim, was arrested from Narsingdi on Tuesday, bringing the total number of arrestees to five.

Asked about their identities, Shafiqul said they should be described as extortionists rather than political activists.

“Extortionists have no political ideology. They use political banners only as a cover,” he said.

According to DB sources, Dilip is a close aide of a top criminal from the Tejgaon area.

After the 2024 political changeover, Dilip allegedly began extorting money from businessmen who had shifted their operations from the Bashundhara area to locations near Karwan Bazar.

When some shop owners refused to pay, he allegedly threatened them over the phone. A video of such threats later circulated on social media.

Musabbir’s family has remained largely silent since the incident and declined to speak on record.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a family member said they had never heard the name Dilip or Binash before police mentioned it.

“We even spoke to businessmen in the Karwan Bazar area, and they also said they had not heard of anyone extorting money under that name,” the family member said.

“We want the truth to come out quickly and the perpetrators to be brought to justice.”