Dakat Shahid

Shahidul Bhuiyan, widely known as Dakat Shahid, was a Bangladeshi gangster who rose to prominence in Old Dhaka’s underworld during the late 1980s and 1990s.^[1][2][3] Shahidul was killed in a shootout with the Rapid Action Battalion in Dhaka.^[4]

Shahidul was born into a farmer’s family in Sreenagar Upazila, Munshiganj District, to Shamsul Haque Bhuiyan.^[1] He began engaging in criminal activity as a teenager, reportedly starting around the age of 14 or 15.^[1]

By the late 1980s, Shahidul had gained notoriety as a launch and bus robber in and around Dhaka, which earned him the nickname "Dakat Shahid" as dakat means robber in Bengali.^[1] His criminal career escalated when he was elected joint secretary of the Dhaka Bikrampur Bus Sramik Committee in 1990, a position that expanded his influence and connections in extortion and arms trafficking.^[1] His associate, Sanjidul Islam Emon, killed Sayed Hossain Tipu, brother of Tofail Ahmed Joseph, Haris Ahmed, and Aziz Ahmed.^[5]

That same year, a robbery case was filed against Shahidul, leading to a three-month jail term.^[1] After his release, he travelled to Kuwait in 1991 but returned to Dhaka three years later, settling in Jurain.^[1] According to locals, Shahidul had recruited poor youths into his gang and maintained an extensive cadre network in Old Dhaka.^[1][6] Some family members of his associates publicly blamed him for coercing their children into crime.^[1] He was accused in the 2000 murder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Advocate Habib Mandol.^[7]

With backing from the Abul group, Shahidul became involved in tender manipulation and later aligned with Liakat to expand operations in Wari.^[1] Around 1998–1999, Shahid reportedly purchased 66 weapons and was implicated in the killings of Sultan and Kalu, members of the Sanaullah group, a rival gang.^[1]

In the early 2000s, Shahid consolidated control over bus and truck stands in Dhaka through extortion and influence on tenders.^[1] His activities led to multiple arrests, including a 2004 detention with five firearms by Detective Branch assistant commissioner Akram Hussain, for which he served one year in Old Dhaka Central Jail.^[1] He was accused in the case filed over the 2002 murder of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-backed Ward Commissioner of Dhaka City Corporation, Binoy Krishna Sarkar.^[8] He had also ordered the killing of Sagir Ahmed, a leader of the Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Jubodal.^[9] He was an accused in the ward commissioner Shahadat Hossain Sikder murder case.^[10]

Following the creation of the Rapid Action Battalion in 2004, Shahidul relocated to Jessore under the alias "Arman".^[1] In 2005, he crossed into India, where he resided in Nadia, Kolkata, and Odisha. Intelligence reports suggest that he continued to coordinate with Bangladeshi criminals and received monthly funds via Hundi transfers.^[1] He was reportedly detained in India along with Haris Ahmed and Tanvir Islam Joy around 2007.^[11][12] He later moved to Nepal in 2010.^[1] In June 2011, the Bangladesh Police detained two of his associates.^[13] His second in command, Ruhul Amin, was killed in a gunfight with the Detective Branch.^[14] He ordered the murder of Dhaka City Corporation ward councillor Ahmed Hossain after receiving a contract from a political rival of Hossain.^[15][16] The rival wanted to sell an LPG factory, co-owned by Hossain, to Ahmed Akbar Sobhan, the chairperson of the Bashundhara Group, who was also questioned by the police during their investigation.^[17][18][19] Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice Md. Delwar Hossain refused a petition by Sobhan to halt the police order summoning him for questioning.^[20] He also ordered the killing of Prem Krishno Roy, a goldsmith, for refusing to pay extortion money.^[15] His gang killed on duty personnel of the Bangladesh Ansar while attacking a gas station in Jatrabari in June 2011.^[21]

Shahidul was married to Saleha Begum, with whom he had two daughters.^[1] His wife and children resided in Kolkata at the time of his death.^[1] His elder brother, Nurul Islam, stated that the family did not wish to claim Shahidul's body due to fear of reprisals.^[1]

By 2012, Shahidul had returned to Dhaka and resumed operations.^[1] Associates, including Kalu, Mihir, and Mamun, carried out extortion under his name.^[1] Shahidul was killed in a shootout with the Rapid Action Battalion in Dhaka on 4 July 2012, along with associate Kalam alias Kalu.^[1][22] Shahidul's death drew public attention, with hundreds visiting the morgue to view his body.^[1][23] He was buried at Azimpur graveyard.^[22] Three of his associates, including his second in command Tablet Babu, were detained in August 2012 by the Detective Branch.^[24][25] In October, police detained the youngest member of his gang, 14-year-old boy.^[26] His followers took over various parts of his territory.^[27]