Dhaka: An employee of a restaurant was killed in a firing by unidentified assailants at Swamibagh in Dhaka in the early hours of Wednesday.

The deceased is Riyad, an employee of Ghoroa Hotel and Restaurant in Motijheel of the capital.

Quoting fellow workers of the deceased, Sub-inspector of Wari Police Station Abdul Khaleq said all workers of Ghoroa Hotel reside in an apartment, owned by Ariful Islam Sohel, proprietor of the restaurant, at Swamibagh.

On Tuesday night, they returned to the apartment after their daily duty.

Later, the employees locked into an altercation among themselves over theft of a mobile phone set at about 1:00am, leading to a clash.

An unspecified number of assailants opened fire leaving Riyad injured.

Later, he was whisked off to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where on-duty doctors declared him dead at about 1:45am.

Police could not find out the restaurant owner since after the incident and arrested its manager Shafiq for interrogation, the SI added.