Content creator shot dead near Shaheed Minar

A young man has died after being shot at the Central Shaheed Minar area in the capital.

The incident took place around 9:30pm on Sunday night (March 15).

The deceased was identified as Rakibul Islam, 27, son of Tariqul Islam Khokon and a resident of Nimtali in Old Dhaka.

According to his friend Roni, Rakib was a content creator and a second-year degree student at Sheikh Borhan Uddin College.

Locals rescued him in critical condition and rushed him to the emergency department of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), where the on-duty doctor declared him dead around 10:00pm, said Mohammad Faruk, in-charge of the hospital’s police outpost.

Witnesses said passersby found the victim with gunshot and stab wounds in the Shaheed Minar area and took him to the hospital.

Roni said Rakib had been having tea with several female friends at a tea stall near Shaheed Minar when a young man called him aside. Shortly afterward, gunshots were heard. When Roni went toward the Shaheed Minar premises, he found Rakib lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound to the head and multiple injuries on his body.

People nearby chased and caught one of the suspects while he was trying to flee and later handed him over to Shahbagh Police Station.

Police said the attackers shot Rakib four times in public and later stabbed him, leaving him critically injured.

A suspect, Sihab Hossain, a resident of Khulna, has been detained in connection with the incident. He was initially caught by pedestrians and handed over to the Dhaka University proctorial team, which later transferred him to the police.

Dhaka University Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed confirmed that the proctorial team detained one person from the scene and handed him over to the police.

Masud Alam, deputy commissioner of the Ramna Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said, "One person has been detained and the incident is currently under investigation."