2 corpses recovered from Meghna

Police said they have recovered two dead bodies from the river Meghna after locals sighted them at Hatia, Noakhali’s island Upazila.

But they could not yet be identified.

One dead body was salvaged from Bogula Khal at Charking Union at 12pm, said Additional Superintendant of Police (ASP) SM Ahsrafuzzaman on Monday.

One more body was salvaged from Killar Khal at 3pm, he said.

But the Hatia Upazila General Secretary of Workers Party, Anwar Hossain, claimed he saw another body being salvaged by police from Bou Bazar.

Police, however, did not confirm his claim.

Locals in the area, where the Meghna flows into the sea, have been saying they have seen corpses floating in the past four days.

A stench overwhelmed the area after bodies were seen floating in the waters around Chairman Ghat, Bou Bazar, on Ohab Khal, Horin Bazar and the river’s banks at Badsha Miah village.

“Police are continuing the search to find more bodies. But Meghna’s turbulent waters made it difficult for them,” said ASP Ahsrafuzzaman.

The police said they started looking for the bodies on Monday. They were not aware of the matter until Sunday.

The sightings

Coast Guard Senior Petty Officer Hamidur Rahman informed the police after seeing two bodies floating on north and south side of the ‘Bogula Khal’ at 10am.

“Our patrols are also trying to recover the bodies,” he told bdnews24.com on Monday.

Workers Party’s Anwar Hossain, a Sukhchor resident told bdnews24.com, he saw two dogs pulling on a dead body on the banks of the river at Badsha Miah village on Sunday morning.

Later at noon, he saw another body floating on the right side of the river’s water from the village.

Before that, on Saturday afternoon, he and other locals saw one corpse floating on the east side of the river at Chairman Ghat.

Char Amanullah Government Primary School teacher Bidhan Chandra Das and Anwar Hossain both said three human bodies were seen floating on the river’s east side from Bou Bazar.

SG Murtaza, headmaster of a local primary school, said he saw two bodies floating on Ohab Khal on Sunday afternoon.

Miraz Gowal, who commutes on the Meghna between Dhalchar and Moulovi Char to collect milk, said he saw two bodies floating east of Horin Bazar on Saturday noon.

A clear idea on the number of these unidentified bodies is not yet available.