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Retired Major Md Mozaffar Hossain, who investigators say was the first to identify and open fire on then-president Ziaur Rahman during his assassination in 1981, was arrested by the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police on Thursday after nearly 45 years as a fugitive.
He was arrested in the capital’s Banani DOHS area on Thursday afternoon, DB Chief and Additional Police Commissioner Mohammad Shafiqul Islam confirmed.
According to law enforcement sources, then-major Mozaffar Hossain was the first to identify President Ziaur Rahman at the Chattogram Circuit House and allegedly fired directly at him during the attack.
Following the assassination, he fled the country, and a reward was announced for information leading to his arrest.
Investigators said he remained in hiding in India for many years before allegedly returning to Bangladesh under assumed identities and travelling across the country while evading arrest.
DB officials said he will be handed over to the Bangladesh Army after the completion of legal formalities for further proceedings related to the court-martial process.
Former President Ziaur Rahman, a Bir Uttam and former army chief, was assassinated by a group of mutinous army officers at the Chattogram Circuit House on May 30, 1981, during an official visit.
His body was flown to Dhaka three days later, where hundreds of thousands of mourners attended his funeral before he was laid to rest at Zia Udyan beside the National Parliament complex.