The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has taken into custody a junior friend of former Bangladesh Air Force Flight Lieutenant KM Tahsif Souri for questioning over his death.
The man, Ahmed Shahriar Reza Dwip, reportedly spent around six hours with Tahsif before the former air force officer went missing, a senior PBI officer said on Friday.
PBI investigators are questioning Dwip to verify information about Tahsif’s movements and to look for possible clues to the circumstances surrounding his death, the officer said.
Tahsif’s motorcycle was also recovered from Tongi in Gazipur, although PBI officials were still verifying whether it belonged to him.
The PBI took Dwip, son of Selim Reza, into custody from a Mohammadpur flat around midnight on Thursday.
Speaking to UNB over the phone on Friday morning, PBI Dhaka Metro-North Additional Deputy Inspector General Md Enayet Hossain Mannan said Dwip was taken into custody for questioning and information collection.
“He is currently with us, and we are collecting information from him. We will verify the information to see whether it provides any clues to the killing,” he said.
CCTV footage recorded before Tahsif’s disappearance showed him with a man whom his family identified as Dwip.
According to the footage, the two met in front of a garage at the RAJUK Uttara Apartment Project in Sector 18 of Uttara around 6:30pm on October 27. After exchanging greetings and shaking hands, they left on separate motorcycles.
Family members said Tahsif left home after receiving a call from Dwip.
Dwip later told the family that Tahsif’s motorcycle developed a problem and that they took it to a workshop for repairs. He reportedly said after the motorcycle was repaired, they had a meal together and then departed.
Dwip’s role, if any, in Tahsif’s disappearance and subsequent death remains under investigation.
On October 28, police were informed around 4:30pm that a body was floating in the Turag River. Members of the Tongi River Police Outpost later recovered the body from the Rajabari Ghat area of Uttarkhan. It was later identified as Tahsif’.
An autopsy was conducted at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital on Thursday.
Tahsif’s namaz-e-janaza was held at 4:35pm at the Central Jame Mosque of the RAJUK Uttara Apartment Project. He was later buried at a graveyard in Sector 12 of Uttara.
The exact cause of his death has not yet been established.
Tahsif’s father KM Enayetul Karim earlier expressed suspicion that his son might have been murdered. The circumstances surrounding Tahsif’s death and whether anyone was involved remain under investigation.