Published : 10 Oct 2026, 05:24 PM
Updated : 10 Oct 2026, 05:23 PM
Toufique Imrose Khalidi, who helped lead Bangladesh's news industry into the digital age, has been laid to rest at Mirpur Martyred Intellectuals' Graveyard.
The late editor-in-chief and publisher of bdnews24.com was buried around 5pm on Saturday.
Funeral prayers for Khalidi were held at the Banani Old DOHS Playground around 3:30pm.
His remains were brought to the venue at 2:30pm, where friends, relatives, colleagues, well-wishers and representatives from different sections of society gathered to pay their last respects.
Khalidi suddenly fell ill on the night of Oct 1 while on a personal visit to London.
He was taken to St Bartholomew's Hospital, where doctors diagnosed a brain haemorrhage. He was declared dead at 2:23pm local time the following day.
Funeral prayers were held at Brick Lane Mosque in East London after Zuhr prayers on Oct 8. Former colleagues and members of the local Bangladeshi community gathered there to pay their last respects.
Khalidi's remains arrived at Dhaka's Shahjalal International Airport on a Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight on Saturday morning.
His coffin was then taken to the premises of bdnews24.com's office in Mohakhali, a place Khalidi held dear. His remains stayed there from noon until 12:20pm, before being taken to his home, where family members and relatives saw him for the last time.
Khalidi played a pioneering role in bringing Bangladesh's news industry into the digital age, leading a transformation that began more than two decades ago.
The journey began in the first half of 2005. At the time, bdnews operated as a news agency supplying reports to media organisations. While other news agencies in Bangladesh distributed their reports through teleprinters, bdnews began using the internet.
Following changes in the agency's ownership and management in 2006, it underwent a sweeping transformation.
In July that year, a new management team led by Khalidi turned the news organisation into the country's first dotcom news company.
On Oct 23, bdnews24.com began operating in its new form as a 24-hour news service, marking the beginning of the digital news era in Bangladesh.
Khalidi began his journalism career in 1989, joining the Sunday Express after completing a Master's degree in English literature at the University of Dhaka.
Over a career spanning more than three decades, he played significant roles in journalism both in Bangladesh and internationally.
He worked at the BBC World Service in London from February 2000 to June 2005.
Before that, he held several senior positions at two of Bangladesh's leading English-language newspapers, The Daily Star and The Financial Express.
