Missing
Missing Khulna woman found dead in Mymensingh, family suspects
Rahima Begum, 52, of Khulna, who has been missing since August 27, has been found dead in Mymensingh, family members suspect.
“I suspect my mother's body has been found,” this is what Moriom Mannan, Rahima’s daughter, wrote in a Facebook post today.
Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Khulna's Daulatpur police station and Mymensingh police couldn’t confirm the matter.
Read: PBI to take over case of missing Khulna woman
PBI is investigating the case filed over the woman's disappearance.
Khulna Superintendent of Police, Syed Mushfiqur Rahman, said the investigating officer of the case spoke to Moriom.
Moriom told them that her mother's body was recovered from Phulpur area of Mymensingh.
Mymensingh Police said the body of a woman was recovered from Phulpur on September 10 and was buried, said the officer.
Read: Khulna woman remains missing for 18 days, 6 held
Police couldn’t identify the body recovered in Mymensingh, he said.
Moriom Mannan told the investigating officer she identified her mother's body by scrutinizing a photograph of the clothes the corpse was wearing.
Phulpur police station has collected the DNA samples of the recovered body.
The investigating officer asked Moriom to go to Phulpur police station on Saturday. There her DNA sample will be collected and matched with the DNA of the recovered body.
Read Mitu murder: PBI submits chargesheet against ex-SP Babul, 6 others
“If the DNA matches it can be confirmed,” SP Mushfiqur.
On August 27, Rahima Begum went missing after she had stepped out to fetch water, near her home in Banikpara area of Doulatpur upazila in Khulna around 10pm. Her children found her sandals, scarf and the pitcher she was carrying from the spot.
The family first filed a complaint with the police, based on which an FIR was lodged by the cops against some people.
Read Fugitive PBI inspector suspended over Khulna college girl's rape
On September 13, after Rahima remained missing for 17 days and police failed to find her, her younger daughter Aduri Akter appealed to the Khulna court to transfer the case to PBI, said Rahima’s elder daughter Moriom Mannan.
The same day the court ordered the police to hand over the case to PBI, but the cops are yet to comply with the order, she told UNB.
When asked, Nazrul Islam, officer-in-charge of Doulatpur police station, said, “We have received the order and the case document will be handed over when PBI asks for it.”
Read Munia Murder Case: PBI probe report submission deferred again to Dec 8
So far, six people have been arrested in this case. They are Rahima’s second husband Belal Howladar, Mohiuddin, Palash, Jewel, Helal Sharif, and assistant engineer at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) Golam Kibria.
As the case was investigated by PBI, a remand appeal made by the police to interrogate Rahima’s husband Belal remains pending for hearing, said the OC.
Rahima’s daughter Moriom, in a Facebook post, said that they have been putting up 'missing' posters in Khulna city in the hope they will get their mother back.
Read PBI nabs fugitive accused in 7 cases
Three go missing as 2 boats sink in Rajshahi
Three agricultural labourers went missing as two small boats capsized in the Padma River in Talaimari area of Rajshahi district on Sunday morning.
Those went missing were Naju, Nabi and Sadek, residents of Charshaympur area under Motihar police station in Rajshahi city.
Zakir Hossain, deputy director of Rajshahi Fire Service and Civil Defense, said the boats carrying 27 labourers sank due to strong current in the river while they were heading towards Madhyachar from Jogar Ghat area.
Read: Kishoreganj boat capsize: 3 bodies recovered
Twenty four of them managed to swim ashore while the rest went missing, he said.
Divers of the fire service have been continuing the rescue operation, he added.
Body of missing youth recovered from river in Chuadanga
The body of a 25-year-old youth has been recovered from the Mathabhanga River, a day after he jumped into the river while trying to run away from police.
The deceased was identified as Tokon Ali, son of Auduchh Uddin of Notunpara area under Alamdanga upazila in the district.
Jahidul Islam, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Hatboulia Police Outpost, said on information they chased four people who were playing cards under a bush on the bank of the river in Bhanbaria village around 12pm on Wednesday.
Though two of the four were caught and detained, the other two jumped in the river to avoid capture.
Tokon Ali, a vegetable vendor, was washed away with a heavy tide as he didn’t know how to swim. The other one managed to swim to safety, the ASI said.
Police and local people carried out a search and rescue operation in the river on Wednesday but failed to find him the entire day, the police officer said, adding that they released the detained as nothing illegal was found regarding them.
Later, a diving team from Khulna Fire Service recovered the body from the river in Natibhanga Ghat area under Baradi Union on Thursday afternoon.
Anisuzzaman Lalon, additional superintendent of the district police, termed the incident as unexpected.
Also read: Hanging body of Ansar member recovered in Rangamati
7 young men missing from Cumilla since Aug 23
Seven male students belonging to different institutions in Cumilla have been missing since August 23.
Although ranging in age from 17 to 25, they all knew each other, and left home without their mobile phones.
The students are--Cumilla Victoria Government College’s HSC examinees Imran Bin Rahman and Samy, Cumilla Government College’s HSC examinees Hasibul Islam and Nihal, Imtiaz Ahmed Rifat and Aminul Islam Alamin of Victoria College, and Niloy, a recent graduate of Dhaka’s Daffodil University.
Missing Imran’s father Mujibur Rahman said his son had no connection to anything except studies, college, coaching and namaz (prayer). However from his own statement it is learned that Imran was attending a Tabligh e Jamaat programme too.
Read: Missing student’s body recovered from Bay in Cox’s Bazar
“On August 23, Imran told me that he would go to a Tabligh programme from his coaching and take time to return home,” Mujibur said, adding that he started searching after Imran didn’t come back that night. Or since, for that matter.
The following day, a general diary was filed at the Kotwali Model Police Station. Eventually the Rapid Action Battalion was informed, Imran’s father said.
Md Afzal Hossain, additional superintendent of police (ASP) of the district, said they have been investigating since September 5.
“We cannot say anything on whether they all went off together somewhere before we complete our investigation,” he said.
Major Muhammad Sakib, commandant of Rab-11, also refused to share anything on the ongoing investigation.
55-year-old woman goes missing in Khulna
A 55-year-old woman has been missing since Saturday night in Daulatpur of Khulna district, police said on Wednesday.
The woman has been identified as Rahima Khatun, a resident of Maheshwarpasha village of Daulatpur Thana.
Read: Teen tourist goes missing in Bay of Bengal
A case has been filed against several unnamed people at Daulatpur police station in this regard following a complaint lodged by the woman's daughter, Sub-inspector Lutful Haider, investigating officer of the case, said.
Earlier on Saturday, Rahima went out of home to collect water from a tubewell around 10:30 pm. As she did not return, the family members searched for her in the possible places she might go. But they did not find her anywhere.
Police are conducting a drive to find her, said the SI.
Fakhrul breaks down witnessing the cries of missing BNP leaders' children
BNP secretary general of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir broke down in tears again on Tuesday, as he witnessed the crying children of the victims of enforced disappearance mostly belonging to the party at a human chain programme in the city.
Mirza Fakhrul could no longer keep his emotions in check when missing Bansghal thana unit Chhatra Dal leader Sohail's little daughter Safa and Paltan thana Chhatra Dal unit leader Parvez Raza’s daughter Hridi were narrating their pain.
BNP’s Dhaka south and north city units arranged the programme in front of the party’s Nayapaltan central office, marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Family members, including kids, of many leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies, who have been subjected to enforced disappearance, also spoke at the programme.
They narrated the ordeals and mental trauma they are going through losing their near and dear ones and called upon the government to take steps for bringing the missing people back to their families.
Read: Fakhrul calls for ‘unbreakable’ unity to restore democracy
In a tearful voice, Safa said, “They (law enforcers) have taken away my father. I have never seen my father. I wish to see my father but I can't see him.”
She continued, "When I go to school, my friends come with their fathers. They ask me why my father does not come. I can't give them any reply. Please, return my father. I want to see my father."
Hridi said she has long been waiting to see her father. At one stage she directly addressed whoever Parvez Raza's captors might be and insisted: "Give me back my papa, please give me back my papa."
Screaming uncontrollably, Hridi said, "I want to hang out with my Papa, but I can’t do this. I feel pain as I can’t see him. Please, return my papa. No one tells me when my papa will come."
Fakhrul could not hold back his tears during the speeches of Safa and Hridi. It was seen that he took out a handkerchief from his pocket repeatedly to wipe his tears.
Tears were seen rolling down the cheeks of many other BNP leaders and activists as the two kids were screaming to get their missing fathers back.
Apart from Hridi and Safa, missing Saifur Rahman Sajib's father Shafikur Rahman, Salim Reza Pintu's sister Nadi, Sajedul Islam Samun's sister Sanjida Islam Tuli also spoke at the programme describing their sorrows and pains.
Over a hundred family members of the enforced disappearance victims participated in the programme carrying photos of their loved ones.
Several thousand BNP leaders and activists stood in a line on one side of the road from Fakirapool Intersection to the Nightingale Crossing, protesting the incidents of enforced disappearance.
They also carried various placards demanding an end to disappearances, extrajudicial killings and political persecution.
In the programme, BNP workers also staged enactments of scenes showing how state agencies execute enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Official: 6 of 43 missing Mexican students given to army
Six of the 43 college students “disappeared” in 2014 were allegedly kept alive in a warehouse for days then turned over to the local army commander who ordered them killed, the Mexican government official leading a Truth Commission said Friday.
Interior Undersecretary Alejandro Encinas made the shocking revelation directly tying the military to one of Mexico’s worst human rights scandals, and it came with little fanfare as he made a lengthy defense of the commission’s report released a week earlier.
Last week, despite declaring the abductions and disappearances a “state crime” and saying that the army watched it happen without intervening, Encinas made no mention of six students being turned over to Col. José Rodríguez Pérez.
On Friday, Encinas said authorities were closely monitoring the students from the radical teachers’ college at Ayotzinapa from the time they left their campus through their abduction by local police in the town of Iguala that night. A soldier who had infiltrated the school was among the abducted students, and Encinas asserted the army did not follow its own protocols and try to rescue him.
“There is also information corroborated with emergency 089 telephone calls where allegedly six of the 43 disappeared students were held during several days and alive in what they call the old warehouse and from there were turned over to the colonel,” Encinas said. “Allegedly the six students were alive for as many as four days after the events and were killed and disappeared on orders of the colonel, allegedly the then Col. José Rodríguez Pérez.”
The defense department did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the allegations Friday.
Read: 4 dead after sheriff’s office helicopter crash in New Mexico
The role of the army in the students’ disappearance has long been a source of tension between the families and the government. From the beginning, there were questions about the military’s knowledge of what happened and its possible involvement. The students’ parents demanded for years that they be allowed to search the army base in Iguala. It was not until 2019 that they were given access along with Encinas and the Truth Commission.
The commission report says the army registered an anonymous emergency call on Sept. 30, 2014, four days after the students’ abduction. The caller reportedly said the students were being held in a large concrete warehouse in a location described as “Pueblo Viejo.” The caller proceeded to describe the location.
That entry was followed by several pages of redacted material, but that section of the report concluded with the following: “As can be seen, obvious collusion existed between agents of the Mexican state with the criminal group Guerreros Unidos that tolerated, allowed and participated in events of violence and disappearance of the students, as well as the government’s attempt to hide the truth about the events.”
Later, in a summary of how the commission’s report differed from the original investigation’s conclusions, there is mention of a colonel.
“On Sept. 30 ‘the colonel’ mentions that they will take care of cleaning everything up and that they had already taken charge of the six students who had remained alive,” the report said.
In a witness statement provided to federal investigators in December 2014, Capt. José Martínez Crespo, who was stationed at the base in Iguala, said the base commander for the 27th Infantry Battalion at the time was Col. José Rodriguez Pérez.
Through a driving rain later Friday, the families of the 43 missing students marched in Mexico City with a couple hundred other people as they have on the 26th of every month for years.
Parents carried posters of their children’s faces and rows of current students from the teachers’ college marched, shouted calls for justice and counted off to 43. Their signs proclaimed that the fight for justice continued and asserted: “It was the State.”
Clemente Rodríguez marched for his son Christian Alfonso Rodríguez Telumbre, who was a second student identified by a tiny burned bone fragment.
Rodríguez said the families had been told last week before the report was released about the coronel and the six students.
“It’s not by omission anymore. It’s that they participated,” he said of the military. “It was the state, the three levels of government participated.”
He said the families had not been told that any of the arrest orders announced last week for members of armed forces had been carried out yet.
On Sept. 26, 2014, local police took the students off buses they had commandeered in Iguala. The motive for the police action remains unclear eight years later. Their bodies have never been found, though fragments of burned bone have been matched to three of the students.
Last week, federal agents arrested former Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam, who oversaw the original investigation. On Wednesday, a judge ordered that he stand trial for forced disappearance, not reporting torture and official misconduct. Prosecutors allege Murillo Karam created a false narrative about what happened to the students to quickly appear to resolve the case.
Authorities also said last week that arrest warrants were issued for 20 soldiers and officers, five local officials, 33 local police officers and 11 state police officers as well as 14 gang members. Neither the army nor prosecutors have said how many of those suspects are in custody.
It was also not immediately clear if Rodríguez Pérez was among those sought.
Rodríguez, the student’s father, said Murillo Karam’s arrest was a positive step.
Murillo Karam “was the one who told us the soldiers couldn’t be touched,” Rodríguez said. “And now it’s being discovered that it was the state that participated.”
In a joint statement, the families said the Truth Commission’s confirmation that it was a “state crime” was significant after elements suggesting that over the years.
However, they said the report still did not satisfactorily answer their most important question.
“Mothers and fathers need indubitable scientific evidence as to the fate of our children,” the statement said. “We can’t go home with preliminary signs that don’t fully clear up where they are and what happened to them.”
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has given Mexico’s military enormous responsibility. The armed forces are not only at the center of his security strategy, but they have taken over administration of the seaports and been given responsibility for building a new airport for the capital and a tourist train on the Yucatan Peninsula.
The president has said often that the army and navy are the least corrupt institutions and have his confidence.
Cox’s Bazar trawler capsize: bodies of two among missing eight recovered
Members of the Coast Guard (CG) on Saturday recovered bodies of two fishermen from the Bay of Bengal a day after a fishing trawler carrying 19 fishermen capsized amid the low depression in the sea on Friday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Mohammad Abu Tayeb, and Saiful Islam, were residents of Khurushkul union in the Cox’s Bazar town.
M Hamidul Islam, contingent commander of the CG East Zone in the Cox’s Bazar Station, said on information they recovered the bodies of Tayeb and Saiful from Maheshkhali and Sonadia channels respectively on Saturday afternoon.
Read: Two dead, two others missing in Noakhali trawler capsize
Mentionable, the fishing trawler ‘MB Mayer Dua’ carrying the 19 fishers capsized due to unrest in the sea at Najiratek Channel on Friday afternoon.
Of them, the CG could rescue 8 fishermen and three others were able to swim to safety while the rest went missing.
Of the missing, bodies of the two fishermen were recovered by the CG men on Saturday and still six others remain missing.
Two dead, two others missing in Noakhali trawler capsize
Two fishermen died and two others went missing after a trawler carrying 16 fishers capsized amid a heavy storm in the Bay of Bengal on Friday, police said.
The capsize occurred adjacent to Nijhum Dwip in Hatiya upazila of Noakhali district on Friday morning, said police.
The dead were identified as Mainuddin, a resident of Amtali village in Jahajmara union of the upazila and Md Raful of Notun Sukhchar village. The missing fishermen are Sharif and Belal.
Local resident Jillur Rahman said a total of 16 fishermen on board ‘MB Siraj’ fishing boat went to deep sea to catch fish a few days back. They were returning to ghat (an anchoring spot) after the catch on Thursday night.
Read: Trawler capsize at Bay: 3 missing fishermen rescued
The trawler was caught in a sudden storm and capsized after arriving in Dhamarchar area adjacent to the Nijhum Dwip around 10am on Friday, said he quoting the survivors.
Though 12 fishermen managed to swim to another trawler ‘MB Yeamin Chowdhury’.
Later, sailors from another trawler ‘Lutfullahil Mujib Nishan’ found bodies of the Mainuddin and Raful lying inside the trawler that got struck at the char, said he.
Kanchhan Kanti Das, inspector (investigation) of Hatiya Police Station, confirmed the incident.
Locals joined police and Coast Guard to search for the missing people, he said.
Tourist goes missing in turbulent seas off Cox’s Bazar beach
A young college student went missing from Kalatali point of Cox’s Bazar sea beach on Monday when he went to take a bath in the sea.
The missing tourist was identified as Adnan Maruf, son of Md Rezaul Karim and a student of Gazipur Metropolitan College.
The incident occurred around 1:30 pm when Adnan and his two friends from Gazipur ,Masum and Shawon went into the sea defying the local cautionary signal three, hoisted due to low pressure in the Bay, said Md Rezaul Karim, Additional Superintendent of Cox’s Bazar tourist police.
Also read: Missing college student's body found in Pangasia canal
Beach staff Md Mahbubul Alam said of the three youths Masum managed to swim ashore when the sea turned turbulent as he didn’t go too far but Adnan and Shawon could not.
Lifeguard staff managed to rescue Shawon rushing by a water bike but Adnan went missing, he said.
Shawon is currently admitted at the district sadar hospital, said police.
The three friends from the same college came to Cox’s Bazar on Sunday.
Also read: Sunk bulkhead's missing worker found dead
Additional District Magistrate Md Abu Sufiyan said a rescue drive will be conducted till finding the missing tourist.