Gang leader of 'malam party' Faruq confessed to a magistrate of a Dhaka court on Monday that he along with four other gang members were behind the killing of Sheikh Atiar Rahman, an official of the National Security Intelligence (NSI).

Kafrul police arrested Faruq from his village home at Shibchar in Madaripur on July 30.

During interrogation, Faruq admitted to the police that he and four other gang members-- Eskan, Selim, Ibrahim and Badal-- were waiting on July 19 at Technical intersection in the capital for a target with two CNG-run auto-rickshaws.

An aged man, who got down from a bus of Hanif Paribahan from Kushtia, hired one of our autorickshaws, said the gang leader.

Eskan and Ibrahim forcibly got into that auto-rickshaw while he, Selim and Badal followed them with the other one, he said.

Faruq also admitted that the victim fell sick after there was a jostle between them and the victim.

They later pushed Atiar out of the auto-rickshaw on a road near the NAM flats at Mirpur-13.

On information from Faruq, police later arrested Selim from Kharki area in Jessore.

Deputy Commissioner of Mirpur Zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police Anwar Hossain said though primarily there was no clue to the murder, they started massive raids in search for 'malam party' and arrested a number of thugs.

After quizzing them, they came to know that Faruq and his other gang members were active at Technical area on the day the NSI official was killed, Anwar said.

"From that information we arrested Faruq and he has confessed to his involvement in the killing,” Anwar told The Daily Star yesterday.