Gopalganj incident: Bodies of three to be exhumed Monday for autopsy

The bodies of three people who were shot dead in Gopalganj during a National Citizen Party (NCP) rally are scheduled to be exhumed today, Monday, for postmortem examination. The matter was confirmed to Prothom Alo by Mir Mohammad Sajedur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Gopalganj Sadar Police Station.

The OC said that, following a court order, the bodies of Ramzan Kazi and Imon Talukder will be exhumed from the Gatepara pourasava graveyard, while the body of Sohel Rana Molla will be exhumed from his family graveyard in Tungipara village. All three bodies will then be sent to the 250-bed Gopalganj General Hospital for autopsy.

As of 12:20 pm on Monday, the magistrate had not yet arrived at the Gatepara graveyard, although police officers were present and waiting.

Earlier on Sunday, Judge Romana Rozi of the Gopalganj Chief Judicial Magistrate Court ordered the exhumation of the bodies of Ramzan Kazi (18), Imon Talukder (18), and Sohel Rana Molla (35).

OC Mir Mohammad Sajedur Rahman said the three individuals were killed by gunfire on 16 July, and were buried without autopsies at the time. A murder case related to the incident was filed on 19 July.

The killings occurred amid the NCP “July March” rally in Gopalganj, referred to by some party leaders on Facebook as a “March to Gopalganj.” The rally was met with attacks by leaders, activists, and supporters of the prohibited Awami League, leading to clashes and gunfire.

Postmortems were not conducted on any of the four individuals initially killed in the incident, and the police did not even perform inquest reports—leading to widespread criticism.

Later, the body one of the victims who died on Friday while undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital did undergo a postmortem. Another victim, Dipta Saha, was cremated, making an autopsy impossible.