Ex-Tangail MP Joaherul Islam’s body returns to Bangladesh

The body of former Tangail-8 MP and district Awami League general secretary Md Joaherul Islam has returned to Bangladesh from Kolkata, India, via the Benapole border checkpoint.

The body was brought into the country around 9:30pm on Sunday night (March 1) under a special travel permit.

Earlier, at 10:40pm, it had been sent from India’s Petrapole checkpoint to Benapole.

Joaherul Islam passed away on Friday (February 27) at Phoenix Medical Center Private Limited in Dum Dum of Kolkata, after a prolonged illness. He had been admitted to the hospital a week earlier and was on life support. The reported cause of death was multi-organ failure and heart disease.

According to family sources, Joaherul had moved to India illegally on August 5, 2024, following political unrest in Bangladesh and settled in New Town of Kolkata, where his wife later joined him on a visa.

Joaherul Islam became the Tangail district Awami League general secretary in 2017 and was elected MP from Tangail-8 (Bashail-Sakhipur) in the 11th national parliamentary elections. During his student life, he served two terms as vice president of the student union at Kartia Government Sa’adat College and was popularly known among grassroots party workers as “VP Joaherul.” He hailed from Berbari village in Sakhipur upazila.

SM Sakawat Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Benapole Immigration Police, confirmed, “The ambulance carrying Joaherul Islam’s body arrived in the country around 9:00pm. After completing the formalities, his family members left for Tangail with the body.”