Severed leg of another found with body of truck crash fatality in Puthia

Panic spread in Puthia upazila of Rajshahi after a severed leg of one person was found with the body of another victim killed in a sand-laden truck accident. The incident came to light when family members of one of the deceased, Sentu, 45, from Salainnagar village of Bagatipara upazila in Natore, discovered the leg while preparing his body for burial.

According to family sources, following the accident in the Jholmolia area on Thursday morning, January 1, Puthia Highway Police identified the victims and handed over the bodies to their families. When Sentu’s body was brought home and the wrapping was opened for ritual washing, an extra leg was found with the body.

Local mosque muezzin Jhantu Ali said he noticed the additional leg during preparations for the funeral bath and immediately informed family members, who later notified the police.

Sentu’s cousin Kamrul Islam said police later informed them that another person injured in the same accident had both legs severed and his family was searching for them. It was later confirmed that one of the severed legs had mistakenly been sent with Sentu’s body. The concerned family has been informed and set out to retrieve it.

The injured man was identified as Raihan Hossain. His nephew Anik said Raihan lost both legs and one wrist in the accident and is currently undergoing treatment at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. The family learned through police that one of the severed legs was at Sentu’s house and immediately went there to collect it.

Rajshahi Medical College Hospital spokesperson Shankar Kumar Biswas said both of Raihan’s legs had to be amputated and he also sustained severe injuries to his right hand. His condition remains critical.

The accident occurred around 7:30am on Thursday at Jholmolia Bazar in Puthia upazila, when a sand-laden truck lost control and overturned at a banana trading spot, killing four people on the spot. The other deceased were Siam, 26, son of Shahin Ali of Kafuria village, Munker Pramanik, son of Akkel Pramanik of Paikpara village, and Islam Ali, 62, son of Mahatab Ali of Askarpur village in Charghat upazila of Rajshahi.

Raihan Hossain, a businessman from Khutipara village in Baneshwar area of Puthia, was seriously injured in the accident. Earlier, Paba Highway Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mozammel Haque said that three bodies were recovered from the spot and sent to Puthia Upazila Health Complex, while one body had been taken home by relatives before police arrived.