A fugitive in the Ziaur Rahman assassination case was arrested by Bangladeshi investigators
DHAKA: Former Bangladesh Army Major Muzaffar Hossain – who is alleged to have masterminded the assassination of the father of Prime Minister Tariq Rahman and former President Ziaur Rahman – has been arrested after remaining at large for 45 years.The arrest of Hussain – identified in historical records and case documents as the man who allegedly fired the fatal shots at the president at the Chittagong circuit on May 30, 1981 – marks the first major breakthrough for the Tariq-led Bangladesh Nationalist government in six months in its promised pursuit of Ziaur Rahman’s killers.Dhaka City Investigation Police said that the former officer was arrested in Dhaka’s Banani DOHS area at midnight on Wednesday.
Government sources said that the police, after completing legal procedures, handed Hussain over to the Bangladeshi army to complete his pending military trial procedures.In the early hours of May 30, 1981, a group of mid-ranking army officers attacked the department headquarters and killed Ziaur Rahman – the founder of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The officials claimed that Hussein and Captain Muslih al-Din were among the officers directly involved in the assassination.
