A 50-year-old man whose body was recovered from the Dhaka Elevated Expressway with his mouth taped shut had been returning to Gazipur with cash from the sale of land intended to help arrange his only daughter’s wedding, according to his family.
The deceased, identified as Ismail Hossain, was the son of Jalal Uddin of Jalalpur in Jamalpur Sadar upazila. His relatives identified his body at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Saturday after police informed them of the discovery.
Family members said Ismail had travelled from his village home in Jamalpur after selling a portion of his land to raise money for his daughter Sharmin’s marriage. He was expected to return to his family in Gazipur and finalise the wedding date and other arrangements.
His son Hasan said his father had been carrying around Tk 500,000 in cash when he travelled to Gazipur. The money, along with his mobile phones, could not be found after his death.
Police recovered Ismail’s body from the elevated expressway on Friday morning. His mouth had been sealed with tape. He was wearing a blue shirt resembling the uniform commonly worn by autorickshaw drivers and a lungi.
The circumstances surrounding how the body reached the expressway remain unclear. The entire elevated expressway is equipped with closed-circuit television cameras, and investigators are now collecting and examining relevant footage in an effort to establish the movements of the victim and identify any vehicle involved.
Banani police Sub-Inspector Nazrul Islam Talukder said Ismail’s identity was established by matching his fingerprints with information held in the national identity database. The identification enabled police to contact his family in Jamalpur and arrange for relatives to come to Dhaka.
Ismail had previously worked as a security guard at Delta Spinning Mills. He left the job about nine months ago because of illness. Despite leaving his employment, he continued living in the Kashimpur area of Gazipur with his wife, two children and daughter-in-law.
About four months ago, however, he returned to his village home in Jamalpur, where his mother and elder sister live. According to Hasan, Ismail left Jamalpur around 3:30am on Thursday with the intention of travelling to Gazipur.
Hasan said his father had spoken to him by telephone at around 11pm and told him that he expected to reach Gazipur the following morning. The family was waiting for him because arrangements for Sharmin’s wedding were due to be finalised after his arrival.
Hasan said Ismail had sold 11 decimals of land in the village for Tk 1.05 million. From that amount, he repaid an earlier debt of Tk 200,000 and spent part of the proceeds on constructing a house in the village. He was reportedly carrying the remaining Tk 500,000 in cash, along with some purchases, when he began his journey to Gazipur.
He was also carrying two mobile phones — an Android handset and a basic feature phone. Neither phone was found with the body, according to the family.
Ismail was expected to get off at Jirani in Gazipur. His son Russell went there in the morning and repeatedly tried to contact him, but his phone was switched off. As concern grew, the family was subsequently informed through the police.
Police in Banani contacted their counterparts in Jamalpur, who then informed the family. Relatives travelled to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, where they identified Ismail’s body.
Police suspect that Ismail may have been strangled before his body was transported to the elevated expressway and abandoned there. Sub-Inspector Nazrul Islam Talukder said investigators were working to determine the exact circumstances of the killing.
The investigation is now focused on reconstructing Ismail’s final journey, tracing his movements and determining whether the missing cash and mobile phones are connected to the killing. Investigators are examining CCTV recordings from the expressway and surrounding areas in an attempt to identify the vehicle that may have transported the body.
Police said the body would be handed over to the family after completion of the post-mortem examination. The findings of the autopsy, along with CCTV footage and other evidence, are expected to help investigators establish how and where Ismail was killed and what happened to the money he had been carrying for his daughter’s wedding.
