Ansar member found dead in Natore pond, shirt and sandals found nearby

The body of an Ansar member, identified as Shahjahan, 53, was recovered from a pond in Bagatipara upazila of Natore on Saturday morning.

The body was found floating in a pond in the Chak Kowalipara area of Sadar Union, about one kilometre from his home. Shahjahan was the son of the late Nader Ali of the same area.

Local residents said Shahjahan and Rafiqul Islam had eaten puffed rice together in a room beside a pond owned by local resident Khalek Pramanik at around 10:30pm on Friday. Shahjahan left the place at around 11:30pm, saying he was going home, but did not return.

At around 5:30am on Saturday, Rafiqul, the son of pond owner Abdul Khalek, went to the pond and found Shahjahan’s shirt and sandals hanging from a mango tree. He informed the family, who said they had not been able to contact Shahjahan since the previous night.

Family members and local residents then began searching the pond. At one point, they spotted Shahjahan’s body floating in the water about 15 yards from the pond bank. Relatives later recovered the body and took it home.

Abdullah Sheikh, a local union parishad member, said he went to the scene after receiving the news and learned that the family had already taken the body home.

He said he suspected Shahjahan may have entered the pond to catch fish after fish reportedly died in the water, possibly due to gas. “For some reason, he may not have been able to get back out of the water,” he said.

Shahjahan’s son Asif Ali said his father often stayed outside the home until late at night. Therefore, the family initially did not consider his failure to return home on Friday night unusual.

“After we were informed in the morning that his shirt and sandals had been found beside the pond, we started searching for him. Later, his body was found in the pond,” Asif said.

Bagatipara Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Sumon Chandra Das said police visited the scene after being informed that a body was floating in the pond.

Preparations are underway to send the body to the morgue for an autopsy, he said.