Police suspect Ismail Hossain was strangled and dumped from a vehicle in Banani
Ismail Hossain, 50, whose body was found with his mouth taped on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway in Banani on Friday, was travelling home to Gazipur with Tk 5 lakh from a recent land sale in Jamalpur, according to his family.
His relatives suspect that robbers targeted him for the money, killed him and later dumped his body on the expressway.
Police recovered Ismail’s body from the expressway on Friday morning and established his identity later that day through fingerprint matching. Following an autopsy, the body was handed over to the family at the Dhaka Medical College morgue this afternoon.
In front of the morgue, Ismail’s son Md Hasan told The Daily Star that they live in Gazipur, but his father had travelled alone to their village in Jamalpur about four months ago to sell a piece of land to help repay the family’s debts.
Besides, the family was preparing for the marriage of Ismail’s younger daughter. Her marriage had been arranged, and the family was expected to finalise the wedding date soon, Hasan said.
Ismail sold 11 decimals of land for Tk 10.5 lakh. He paid around Tk 2.5 lakh to settle debts and spent some money on building a house in Jamalpur, said Hasan.
He also said his father kept around Tk 5 lakh with him and left Jamalpur for Gazipur late Thursday night.
“He told us on Thursday night that he would board a bus at around 3:00am from Jamalpur for Dhaka,” Hasan said.
Hasan went to the Zirabo bus stand in Ashulia around 8:30am on Friday to receive his father. But Ismail did not arrive, and his mobile phone was switched off despite repeated calls.
Around noon, the family was informed by police that Ismail’s body had been found on the elevated expressway.
Ismail’s nephew Md Mokaddes said there was no apparent reason for his uncle to travel to Dhaka as he was supposed to return to Gazipur.
“We suspect that a robber or a gang learned that he was carrying money, abducted him on the way and killed him after taking the money. They may have dumped his body on the expressway as they considered it a safe place to dispose of it,” Mokaddes said.
Ismail, a father of two, lived with his family in the Korlapara area of Kashimpur, Gazipur. He had worked as a security guard but left the job around nine months ago because of health problems.
Faridul Islam, officer-in-charge of Banani Police Station, said police suspect that Ismail was strangled to death before his body was dumped from a vehicle on the expressway.
“An analysis of CCTV footage from the elevated expressway is underway to uncover what happened and identify those involved,” the OC said.
Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies have detained three people in connection with the incident, including the driver and helper of the bus that Ismail is believed to have travelled on.
The detainees are bus driver Shoel, helper Moni and supervisor Sazu.
Seeking anonymity, an official of the Gulshan division under Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) police, confirmed the development to The Daily Star.
Police detained two of them, while the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) detained the other, the official said.
