Body of main accused in Gazipur 5-murder case recovered from Padma

The body of Forqan Mollah, the main accused in the killing of five family members including his wife, three daughters and brother-in-law in Kapasia, Gazipur, has been recovered from the Padma River.

The matter was confirmed by Mawa Naval Police Outpost In-charge Md Elias on Saturday afternoon, May 16.

Locals spotted a body floating in the Padma near the Lauhajang upazila land office, about 4 kilometres from the Padma Bridge, and informed naval police. After the body was recovered, when the family of Forqan Mollah was contacted, his brother Abdul Jabbar and Kapasia Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Jubayer Rahman confirmed that the body was Forqan's. The body is being sent to Munshiganj General Hospital morgue for autopsy.

Earlier, on Thursday afternoon, Gazipur Superintendent of Police Md Sharif Uddin had told a press conference that it was suspected Forqan had jumped into the river from the Padma Bridge and died by suicide.

CCTV footage from the bridge showed a person jumping into the river, whom the victim's family and the complainant identified as Forqan, though the SP said 100 per cent confirmation would require recovery of the body and DNA testing.

After the murder, three police teams were deployed to arrest Forqan, including in his ancestral village in Gopalganj and at Benapole to prevent him from crossing the border. On Monday, Forqan's mobile phone was recovered from a bus helper in Meherpur.

The helper told police he had found the phone on the Padma Bridge. Police then examined CCTV footage, which showed a person getting out of a private car, placing his phone on the footpath, waiting for two to three minutes, and then jumping over the railing into the river.

The car had been rented from a rent-a-car in Paltan, Dhaka. Forqan told the driver he needed the car to visit a relative who had died. However, the driver could not fully identify Forqan as the trip was short.

Police have confirmed that the recovered mobile phone belonged to Forqan. No involvement of a second person in the murder has been found so far.