Fugitive Major Convicted of Ziaur Rahman Murder Arrested After 45 Years

A retired army officer convicted of the assassination of former President Ziaur Rahman has been arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police. Major (Retired) Md Mozaffar Hossain had been evading justice for nearly 45 years. The breakthrough development was officially confirmed on Thursday by DIG Md Shafiqul Islam, the chief of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Detective Branch, during a briefing with our representative.

According to sources within the Detective Branch, a specialised raid was conducted on Wednesday night in the high-security Banani DOHS residential area of the capital. Operating on precise intelligence, detectives managed to pinpoint the hideout where the former military officer had been covertly residing. Following his successful apprehension, the DB central command processed the paperwork and promptly handed Major Mozaffar over to the Bangladesh Army authorities for subsequent disciplinary and judicial execution.

The arrest closes a long-standing chapter in one of the most tumultuous episodes of the nation’s political history. On 30 May 1981, the then-President Ziaur Rahman was brutally assassinated at the Chittagong Circuit House during a violent coup executed by a faction of disaffected army officers. The assassination plunged the country into a severe political crisis. A subsequent military tribunal tried several army officers implicated in the conspiracy, handing down convictions and sentences to the perpetrators. Major Mozaffar Hossain was among those found guilty by the court but managed to flee immediately after the event, successfully evading law enforcement agencies for decades.

Detective Branch officials revealed that the fugitive had utilised multiple aliases and frequently altered his location over the past four decades to avoid detection. Investigators are currently looking into his local networks to ascertain how he managed to maintain a residency within a restricted military housing society like Banani DOHS without raising suspicion. The military authorities are expected to initiate the legal formalities to enforce the historical court verdict against the former major following his formal transfer to army custody.