Four Confess to Botched Dhaka Contract Killing Targeting Political Rival

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Four suspects in the murder of Jubo Dal activist Yusuf Ali, known as Parvez, have provided confessional statements to a Dhaka court following a botched professional assassination attempt in the capital’s Mirpur area. The seven individuals brought before the court on Monday were ordered to be remanded to jail, marking a significant development in the investigation led by the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police.

According to investigative findings, the shooting was a targeted hit gone wrong. Authorities revealed that a separate local opposition leader was the intended victim of a contract killing worth 2.5 million taka. Professional hitmen were allegedly recruited from Magura and Jhenaidah to eliminate the target due to long-standing territorial disputes involving local tender and street-vendor management. The victim, Yusuf Ali, was inadvertently caught in the crossfire during the confrontation.

The four suspects who confessed under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure were identified as Jihad Molla, Masum Billah, Nahid Hasan, and Abir Howlader. Three other defendants—Ziarul Molla, Ali Hossain, and Shafin Ahmed—were also ordered to jail, though Ziarul declined to provide a statement to the court. An eighth individual, Chanchal Molla, who was detained by locals at the scene on Friday, remains in police custody on a separate weapons charge, with a three-day remand currently underway.

The incident occurred late Friday night in the Mirpur-13 area as local party leaders and workers were gathered. Police records indicate that when the group questioned the suspicious movements of Chanchal Molla and his associates, one of the assailants produced a firearm and shot Yusuf Ali in the chest. The bullet passed through his body, causing fatal injuries. Two bystanders—a vegetable vendor named Salam Sardar and another Jubo Dal worker, Monir Hossain—were also wounded in the ensuing gunfire.

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Yusuf Ali was rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after midnight. Following the shooting, local residents chased and apprehended Chanchal Molla, recovering a foreign pistol and four rounds of ammunition from his possession.

A murder case was subsequently filed by the victim’s brother, Masud Rana, at the Kafrul Police Station. While eight suspects have been processed by authorities, police have confirmed that intelligence operations remain ongoing to track and apprehend the remaining members of the hit squad involved in the conspiracy.