Sony murder convict Tagar arrested again for illegal arms trade: RAB

Mushfiq Uddin Tagar, previously convicted in the high-profile murder of BUET student Sabekun Nahar Sony, has been arrested once again—this time for alleged involvement in illegal arms trafficking, according to the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

RAB officials disclosed the arrest during a press briefing held Friday afternoon at their media center in Karwan Bazar. Tagar was apprehended Thursday evening in Dhaka’s Azimpur area. Authorities recovered a revolver, 156 bullets, a bullet casing, two masks, and two mobile phones from his possession.

Lieutenant Colonel Faizul Arefin, director of RAB-3, stated that Tagar had been smuggling firearms from border areas and distributing them to clients across the capital. He is also facing charges under the Narcotics Control Act, filed at Mugda Police Station.

Tagar was a central figure in the 2002 killing of Sabekun Nahar Sony, a student from BUET’s Chemical Engineering Department. Sony was fatally shot during a violent clash between student factions from BUET and Dhaka University on June 8, 2002, reportedly over a tender dispute.

The murder triggered nationwide protests and public outrage. On June 29, 2003, a Dhaka court sentenced Tagar and fellow student leaders Mokammel Hayat Khan and Nurul Islam to death, while five others received life imprisonment. The High Court later commuted Tagar's sentence to life imprisonment in 2006. He was released in 2022 after serving his term.

RAB officials confirmed that ongoing investigations into illegal arms networks are being guided by intelligence gathered from Tagar following his arrest.