The Detective Branch of the police have arrested three people in connection with the killing Swechchhasebak Dal leader Azizur Rahman Musabbir, who was shot dead in Dhaka city.

A senior DB official seeking anonymity confirmed the development on Saturday morning without disclosing further details.

The police earlier said that they suspected that ‘extortion’ might be the reason behind the murder of Musabbir, joint general secretary of the central committee of Swechchhasebak Dal, the volunteer wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

BNP leadership, however, suspects that political opponents were behind the murder.

Musabbir and Abu Sufian, general secretary of Karwan Bazar Van Association, were shot at about 8:20pm on January 7 in front of the Ahsanullah Institute of Technical and Vocational Education and Training Centre in Tejturibazar area, beside Star Kabab on Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue near Karwan Bazar.

The police and eyewitnesses said that Musabbir and Sufian were walking towards the main road through the alley when two miscreants, who were waiting in ambush in a small dark lane in front of the AITVET Centre, opened fire on them before fleeing the scene.

Both Musabbir and Sufian then ran back into the alley and collapsed after going a short distance.

They were taken to BRB Hospital at Panthapath, where Musabbir was declared dead.

Sufian is undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Musabbir’s wife Suraiya Begum filed a case with the Tejgaon police on Thursday morning against four or five unidentified suspects.