The Detective Branch of Dhaka Metropolitan Police yesterday detained Major (retd) Md Muzaffar Hossain in connection with the assassination of Ziaur Rahman in 1981.

The detention comes 45 years after the killing of the then president.

Speaking to The Daily Star, DB Chief Shafiqul Islam said the absconding former army officer was arrested from a house in the capital’s Banani DOHS and handed over to the army after his identity was confirmed.

“Under the rules, if any military personnel -- from a soldier to an officer of any rank -- remain absent from duty or go into hiding, police hand them over to the relevant military authorities after arrest.

“He was handed over following that procedure. His unit will now take the necessary legal action under military law,” the DB chief added.

Shafiqul said the house where Major (retd) Muzaffar was arrested belonged to his father-in-law. His wife, son, daughter and son-in-law were also staying there, according to the information available to police.

Muzaffar faces a court-martial, according to sources.

In the early hours of May 30, 1981, a group of army officers attacked the Chattogram Circuit House and assassinated Ziaur Rahman.

Major (retd) Md Muzaffar Hossain was identified by a court-martial as one of the army officers who directly participated in the assassination. The court-martial handed down its judgment on July 26, 1981.

A total of 12 army officers were executed on September 22, 1981.

According to a The Daily Ittefaq report published on September 24, 1981, Muzaffar was not among those sentenced to death.

Several others were given various prison terms. Muzaffar belonged to the 24th Division based in Chattogram.

Maj Gen (retd) Moinul Hossain Chowdhury, author of the book The Silent Witness by a General, wrote about meeting Muzaffar in Bangkok.

He wrote that while serving as Bangladesh’s ambassador to Thailand between 1989 and 1993, Muzaffar travelled from India to Thailand to meet him and give his eyewitness account of the assassination of Ziaur Rahman.