Body with taped mouth found on Dhaka Elevated Expressway, driver held

A driver has been arrested in connection with the murder of a man whose body was found with his mouth taped on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway. The accused is Sohel Rana (40), arrested by RAB-1 from the capital's Mohakhali area on Saturday, September 5.

The victim, Ismail Hossain (50), was a resident of Gazipur. He was returning to Gazipur from his ancestral home in Jamalpur after selling land for his daughter's wedding. On Friday, September 4, his body was recovered from the expressway with scotch tape wrapped around his mouth. He was wearing a blue shirt and lungi resembling the uniform of auto-rickshaw drivers.

Relatives identified the body at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Saturday after being informed by police.

Family members said Ismail had sold 11 decimals of land for Tk 10.5 lakh. He repaid a loan, built a house in the village and was returning to Gazipur with Tk 5 lakh in cash, along with his mobile phones and groceries. After the body was recovered, none of these items were found.

Ismail's son Hasan said his father left Jamalpur for Gazipur around 3:30am on Thursday. He had spoken to them around 11pm, saying he would arrive in the morning. He was returning to finalise his sister's wedding date.

When he did not arrive as scheduled, the family tried calling him but his phone was switched off. Later, Bonani Police informed the family after recovering the body.

Bonani Police Station SI Nazrul Islam said Ismail's identity was confirmed by matching fingerprints with the national ID database. Ismail had worked as a security guard at Delta Spinning Mill but left nine months ago due to illness.

SI Nazrul said police suspect Ismail was strangled to death before the body was dumped. CCTV footage was collected and the vehicle identified. A case has been filed by the family.

Bonani Police Station OC Faridul Islam said the vehicle has been identified and further details about those involved will be uncovered. Efforts are underway to make arrests soon.