Police have recovered the body of a Sramik Dal leader, Mohammad Rasel, 27, buried under earth in a disused room at his in-laws’ home in Chatkhil, Noakhali, six days after he went missing.
The body was recovered on Thursday afternoon (12 November) from the Chowkidar Bari in Sankhali village of the upazila’s Noakhola union.
Police had found the buried body at around 2am, early on Thursday, during a raid on the house.
Rasel was the son of Sirajul Islam of the Jamaddar Bari in Singbahura village of the same union. He was a former member of the Chatkhil upazila unit of Sramik Dal and was a candidate for general secretary of its Noakhola union unit.
According to local sources, Rasel and his wife, Mukta Begum, had been in a long-running family dispute that ended in divorce. They have a son and a daughter, who lived with their father.
At around 10:30pm on 6 November, his wife Mukta Begum and her sister Ratna called Rasel to the in-laws’ home with the promise of getting back together, his family says. He had been missing since then. Relatives searched for him in various places but could not find him.
Rasel’s father, Sirajul Islam, filed a general diary (GD) with Chatkhil police station on 7 November. His wife and members of her family left their home and fled after he went missing.
Shahjahan Rana, former acting president of the Chatkhil upazila BNP, said he went to the police station with Sramik Dal leaders on Wednesday night and then went to the in-laws’ home with police. At around 2am, a strong smell from a broken, disused room of the house raised their suspicion. When they searched the room, they found Rasel’s body buried in the earth.
He said the body had been covered with old quilts and mattresses. There were marks of blows from an iron rod on the head and other parts of the body. Police recovered an iron rod from the scene.
Rasel’s father, Sirajul Islam, said in tears that his son had been murdered. He demanded a proper investigation and exemplary punishment for those responsible.
Abdul Monnaf, officer-in-charge (OC) of Chatkhil police station, said Rasel’s buried body was found in a disused room at his in-laws’ home and recovered on Thursday afternoon. The in-laws are absconding. The body will be sent to the morgue of the 250-bed Noakhali General Hospital for an autopsy. Further legal action will be taken once a written complaint is received, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report