Published : 07 Nov 2026, 02:06 AM
Updated : 07 Nov 2026, 02:06 AM
Four years have passed since the body of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) student Fardin Noor Parash was recovered from the Shitalakshya River in Narayanganj, but the investigation has yet to be completed.
Although police detectives said Fardin died by “suicide”, his father filed an objection to the report. The court granted the application and assigned the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police to investigate.
However, the CID has not been able to submit the final report though two and a half years have passed. The plaintiff says that the date for submitting the report has been changed 40 times.
The last time the report was to be submitted in the case was on Oct 14. Since the CID did not submit the report that day either, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Al Biruni Mir has set a new date of Nov 17, said Sub Inspector (SI) Mominul Islam of the prosecution department.
As the trial has not been completed even after four years, Fardin's father Kazi Noor Uddin Rana says: "Just looking at this case, you can understand the reality of impunity in Bangladesh."
Calling for an investigation into what happened to Fardin, he said: "Forty dates have passed. The investigation into the case is still not over. I appeal to the government to leave behind this impunity and find the truth behind the incident."
'We Have Not Been Able to Do Anything New’
Fardin was a third-year student of the Civil Engineering Department of BUET. The body of the 24-year-old young man was recovered from the Shitalakshya River in Narayanganj on the night of Nov 7, 2022 by River Police.
Before that, his father had filed a general diary with the police station, reporting his son's disappearance for three days. Two days after the body was recovered, he filed a murder case with the Rampura Police Station on the night of Nov 9.
Fardin's girlfriend, university student Amatullah Bushra, was arrested over the incident. She is now free on bail.
On Feb 6, 2023, the Detective Branch (DB) submitted a report asking for Bushra to be dropped from the case. On Apr 16 of that year, the court granted Fardin's father's objection to that report and ordered a further investigation into the case by the CID. However, the CID has not yet submitted the report. The agency is seeking more time.
The investigation officer of the case, CID Police's Dhaka Metro East Additional Special Superintendent Tanjila Siddika, said: "We have not been able to do anything new yet. The case has been brought to the CID on the basis of whether the victim committed suicide or was murdered. The case needs to be investigated further."
'Do Something'
Fardin's father expressed his disappointment that the investigation has not been completed even after four years.
Recalling his son, he said: "He was a good debater. A month and a half after the incident, he was supposed to go to Spain to represent Bangladesh in a debate competition. But he was kidnapped. He was kidnapped and tortured for three days, killed on the fourth day and his body was dumped. It has been four years."
Regarding the police investigation, he said: “The DB police investigated and gave a report – ‘Fardin died by suicide due to family unrest, financial hardship, and drug addiction’. Then confirm it - say he was not murdered, that he died by suicide. Leaving the case hanging like this is a miscarriage of justice.
“And Bushra, the one I accused, is also suffering. She has a life, a family. If she is not guilty, she should be released. If she is guilty, she will be punished. Do something.”
Rana alleged that those involved in the murder of another BUET student, Abrar Fahad, also “murdered” Fardin.
“Fardin led the movement to ban politics on the BUET campus after Abrar’s murder. The Chhatra League was desperate to re-enter the campus. They were the ones who removed Fardin. We demand that the government investigate the case,” he said.
When the matter of Fardin’s father’s complaint against the Chhatra League was brought to the attention of investigating officer Tanjila, she said: “Just saying something isn’t enough. You have to find evidence.”
Bushra’s lawyer Md Akhtaruzzaman said, “The case has been going on for a long time. Last year, the court summoned the investigating officer to inquire about the progress of the case. There has not been much progress in the case.”
Regarding Bushra, the lawyer said: “The girl has completed her honours and is doing her master’s. She is married. The case is having an impact on the family. The family is in an uncomfortable situation.
“Every murder is condemnable. Whether he was murdered or died by suicide, let them investigate and bring it out. Is it right to keep her in this fog or shroud of darkness? If no charges are filed against Bushra, she will be acquitted. And if she is involved, she will face trial. At least something will happen.”
‘Fardin was Murdered’, Said Autopsy Doctor
Fardin, the eldest son of the family, lived with his family in Konapara of Dhaka’s Demra.
He left his house in Konapara on Nov 4, 2022 at noon, saying he would stay in the BUET hall at night as he had an exam the next day. He would return home after taking the exam.
But the next day, after learning about his absence from the exam, Fardin’s father filed a GD with the police station. Three days later, on Nov 7, his body was found on the banks of the Shitalakshya River in Narayanganj.
Fardin’s body was found in the dock area of the Barnali Textile Mill in Godnail. At the time of his rescue, he was wearing a watch; his clothes and pants were almost intact. His wallet was also with him, according to police.
However, after the autopsy at Narayanganj Hospital, Dr Sheikh Farhad told journalists that Fardin was murdered on the day he disappeared.
There were multiple injury marks on his head and chest. He was physically tortured before his death, he said.
‘Fardin Died by Suicide’: DB
Amidst heated discussions about Fardin’s death, Rana filed a murder case at Rampura Police Station, and the investigation was handed over to the DB. Then Fardin’s girlfriend Bushra was arrested by the DB and interrogated.
On the day Fardin went missing, he was with her after he left home. Her acquaintances did not see Bushra after she was taken to Rampura at night.
The DB tracked Fardin's mobile phone and identified his location on the opposite bank of the Buriganga River in Dhaka after that point in Keraniganj, Sadarghat, Gulistan and finally in Jatrabari.
On Nov 17 of that year, then DB official Harun Or Rashid said that a CCTV camera video showed Fardin getting into a three-wheeler from Jatrabari towards Tarab in Rupganj around 2am.
Then, at a press briefing on Dec 14, he said: "He dropped Bushra off and went to a bridge in Keraniganj after 9pm, then went to Johnson Road from there, then went to Jatrabari via Gulistan. He got into the three-wheeler at 2:07am. Later, he went to Sultana Kamal Bridge at 2:34am.
"After reviewing all the locations he had gone to, we saw that he was alone, no one was with him. Besides, we spoke to everyone he spoke to."
DB official Harun said that there was evidence to suggest that Fardin jumped from the Sultana Kamal Bridge in Demra at night.
He said, “Around 2:34am, a sound of something falling into the water was heard and according to the mobile phone we reviewed at that time, he should have been there at that time.”
The DB official at the time did not give details about how the sound that night was identified.
He said, “We looked into his mental state, his travel to different places and the mobile phone we saw near the bridge. He was last in the middle of the bridge and, from there, we vaguely heard a sound in the water from the bridge.
“To me, taking all this into consideration, it seems it was a suicide.”
