Ex-Flight Lt Tahsif found dead in Turag

The body of ex-Bangladesh Air Force Flight Lieutenant Tahsif Souri was recovered from the Turag River in Dhaka on Wednesday, raising questions about his final movements, a missing motorcycle.

A preliminary police inquest found no visible injury marks on Tahsif’s body. However, the report noted blood coming from his nose and swelling in his abdomen. His arms were bent in front of his head, and his fists were clenched. 

The findings describe the body’s external condition but do not establish how he died. The cause of death remains undetermined pending a postmortem examination and further investigation, according to police. 

Tahsif’s body was found floating near Rajabari Ghat on the Turag River around 5:45pm on Wednesday, according to the inquest report prepared by Sub-Inspector Mostafizur Rahman of the Tongi River Police Outpost.

Police recovered a watch from his wrist and an iPhone from his pocket. His identity was established through the phone before the body was sent to the morgue at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College for an autopsy.

Tahsif’s father, KM Enayetul Karim Helal said his son left their home in the RAJUK Apartment Project area of Uttara’s Sector 18 on Tuesday evening after a person named Dwip called him.

According to Enayetul, Tahsif had spent the day shopping with his mother and had also bought items for his father. Later, Dwip, a junior with whom Tahsif was friendly, called from downstairs, saying he wanted to speak with him.

“He told his mother that Dwip was coming and he would go talk to him. Saying that he went downstairs but did not return,” his father said. The family repeatedly tried to contact Tahsif but could not locate him.

At around 1:35am on Thursday, a message arrived on his mother’s phone saying that he was on his way home. Tahsif did not return, and his family remained unable to establish his whereabouts.

Enayetul said he went to Turag Police Station on Wednesday afternoon before receiving information that his son’s body had been recovered.

The family also raised concerns over Tahsif’s motorcycle, which relatives said was missing from the garage at their home. He had been prohibited from riding it after an accident about a month earlier. A relative, however, said Tahsif had gone out on the motorcycle on Tuesday.

The family said police had requested details and photographs of the vehicle and that they had provided them. Dwip, contacted by the family, said he had dinner with Tahsif, who dropped him near his home before leaving.

Uttarkhan Police Station chief Habibur Rahman said police had not received a formal complaint. Firoz Uddin, inspector at the Tongi River Police Outpost, said the River Police were investigating the matter but that no case had yet been filed.

The preliminary inquest’s finding of no visible external injuries does not, by itself, rule out other causes of death or establish whether another person was involved.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said on Thursday that the cause of Tahsif’s death and whether anyone else was involved would become clear only after an investigation. He made the remarks while responding to journalists at the Bangladesh Police Academy in Sardah, Rajshahi.