Body recovered from Meghna believed to be journalist Bibhuranjan

A body has been recovered from the Meghna River in Gazaria upazila of Munshiganj. Police and relatives believe it to be the remains of missing journalist Bibhuranjan Sarker.

Bibhuranjan Sarkar, 71, Senior Assistant Editor at the daily Ajker Patrika, had been missing since leaving his Siddheshwari residence in the capital around 10:00 am Thursday.

His family filed a general diary (GD) with Ramna police station reporting his disappearance last night.

Members of the Kalagachhia River Police Outpost in Narayanganj found a body floating in the Meghna River near Balakir Char in Gazaria and recovered it around 3:45 pm today, Friday.

Kalagachhia River Police Outpost officer-in-charge Mohammad Saleh Ahmed Pathan told Prothom Alo in the evening that the body was seen floating in the Meghna at Balakir Char this afternoon. Locals informed them through the emergency helpline, 999.

“Our team recovered the body around 3:45 pm. It was later sent to the Munshiganj General Hospital morgue for post-mortem,” he added.

He further said that the photograph of the body had been sent to Ramna police station. Relatives of the missing journalist have identified the body as that of Bibhuranjan Sarker after viewing the images.

Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna Division, told Prothom Alo, “The photograph of the deceased, recovered from the Meghna, matches the picture of Bibhuranjan Sarker provided by his family. We believe it is his body. The remains are being kept at the Munshiganj General Hospital morgue.”

Dipankar Saha, brother-in-law of Bibhuranjan Sarker, told Prothom Alo, “We have seen the photographs of the body. It matches my brother-in-law exactly. My nephew and another brother of Bibhuranjan have already set off for Munshiganj to bring the body.”

Bibhuranjan’s son Hrito Sarker, who was en route to Munshiganj, told Prothom Alo around 7:00 pm that the recovered body could indeed be his father’s. “We are now crossing Narayanganj,” he added.

Hrito Sarkar filed the GD at Ramna police station last night, stating that his father had left their Siddheshwari home around 10:00 am Thursday, saying he was going for work at Ajker Patrika.

He was expected to return home by 5:00 pm but had left his mobile phone behind. As he did not return by 9:00 pm, Hrito contacted Ajker Patrika’s Acting Editor Kamrul Hasan, who said that Bibhuranjan had never arrived at the office.

Despite searches in various places, he remained untraced.