A customs official, who went missing while returning to Dhaka after completing training in Chattogram, was found dead on a footpath in Cumilla on Saturday morning, around 12 hours after his disappearance.

Victim Bullet Bairagi, 35, was an Assistant Revenue Officer of the Customs, Excise and VAT Department. He was undergoing the 44th Basic Training Course in Chattogram.

According to family sources, Bairagi went to Chattogram on April 11 for official training. After completing the course, he left for Dhaka by bus from the Alankar intersection in Chattogram around 11:00pm on Friday.

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He remained in contact with his family during the journey. At around 2:25am, he last informed them that he had reached Tomchom Bridge intersection in Cumilla city. However, after he failed to return home, his family tried to contact him but found his mobile phone switched off.

Unable to trace him despite searching in different areas, his father Sushil Bairagi filed a general diary (GD) with Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station on Saturday morning.

Md Abdul Momin, Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Moynamati Highway Police Station, said police recovered the body of an unidentified man from a footpath beside the Irish Hotel and Restaurant on the Dhaka–Chattogram highway after receiving a call through the national emergency service 999.

Later around 1:00pm, family members identified the body as that of Bullet Bairagi.

The OC said no major injury marks were found on the body, although the face appeared slightly bloodstained.

Touhidul Anwar, OC of Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station, said the matter is under investigation and the actual cause of death will be confirmed after legal procedures.