Dhaka: Nearly 45 years after the assassination, killer of Bangladesh's independence leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been executed on Saturday midnight.

The execution of Captain Abdul Majed, the convicted killer of Rahman and his family members, was carried out at Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj at 12.01 a.m. on Saturday.

He was kept in solitary confinement on death row in Dhaka Central Jail.

Majed's petition for presidential clemency was rejected by President Abdul Hamid on Thursday.

The Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime Unit of the police arrested him on April 7 from Gabtoli in the wee hours, after decades of remaining absconding.

The Bangladesh Supreme Court on November 19, 2009, upheld the death sentences of Majed and 11 other self-confessed killers of Rahman. Of them, five were executed on January 27, 2010.

Majed was also found guilty and sentenced for life in the jail killing case, involving the murder of former Prime Minister Tajuddin Ahmed and three other imprisoned Awami League leaders.