The two prime accused in the brazen, public murder of a real estate developer in Howrah’s Pilkhana, Harun Khan and Rafaquat Hossain, were arrested near Jama Masjid in Delhi on Thursday morning.

Police said the duo allegedly shot 27-year-old Mohammad Shafique on a busy Pilkhana street early on February 25 before fleeing. After the murder, they moved to Calcutta and later to Nalanda in Bihar, eventually reaching Delhi, where they were hiding in Old Delhi.

Sources said separate teams of Howrah City Police, who had been tracking the two, learned that Harun and Rafaquat, also known as Rohit, had recently reached Delhi.

Officers closely monitored their movements. “They were arrested between 11.30am and noon on Thursday in Delhi, and are being brought to Calcutta on transit remand,” said Howrah City Police assistant commissioner Shaik
Habeebulla.

The murder took place around 4am on February 25, when Shafique had stepped out to buy food for sehri, the pre-dawn meal during Ramzan.

CCTV footage showed Shafique speaking to a man, as many people looked on or went about early-morning Ramzan rituals. A man loitering close by shot him in the head from behind and he collapsed.

The shooter and the man Shafique had been speaking to fired several more shots into his body, fleeing only after ensuring he was dead.

Shafique’s elder sister, Anwari Begum, later identified the killers from the CCTV footage as Harun and alleged arms dealer Rohit.

Hours after the murder, a mob set fire to a vehicle belonging to one of the accused and hundreds of residents took to the streets of Pilkhana demanding justice.

Assistant commissioner Habeebulla said: “CCTV footage showed Harun and Rafaquat as the main shooters. Harun is a resident of Pilkhana Third Lane under Golabari police station, while Rafaquat hails from Madartalla Lane in Pilkhana.”

The duo will be handed over to the state CID, which is probing the case, once they arrive in Calcutta.

A day after the murder, the police arrested three men from Jorasanko and Bowbazar in Calcutta — Mohammad Bilal, Mohammad Dildar and Wakil Hussain — on charges of harbouring criminals and criminal conspiracy.

On February 28, the fourth accused, Mohammad Aslam, was arrested. The murder weapon was recovered from a water tank at Wakil’s house in Jorasanko. “We will interrogate the two to ascertain the exact motive. Several questions remain unanswered,” a senior officer from Golabari police station said.