Police probing if agribusinessman Duranta Biplob’s death was murder or accident

His body was found floating on the Buriganga river, which he used to cross by boat

Police are investigating if the death of Duranta Biplob, a businessman in the agricultural sector, was a murder or an accident.

A former general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Jahangirnagar University unit, Biplob was not too involved in politics lately, although he was a member of the Awami League’s sub-committee on agriculture.

His body was recovered from near Pagla Ghat in the Buriganga River in Narayanganj’s Fatulla on Friday, five days after he had gone missing. The family later identified the body.

Biplob, 51, hails from Netrokona and lived with his family in Dhaka. He ran a farm, Sonamati Agro, in Keraniganj. He went missing on Nov 7 on his way from Keraniganj to his mother’s house in Mohammadpur.

The last known location on his mobile phone was the Muslimbagh area of Kamrangirchar, said Imrul Khan, Biplob’s brother-in-law.

A man fell from a boat in the area while crossing the river the same day Biplob went missing, said Shah Zaman, chief of South Keraniganj Police Station. Biplob often used the route to avoid traffic congestion. 

“But we aren’t saying now that the man who fell from the boat was Duranta Biplob. Our investigation is ongoing,” Shah Zaman said.

Nakib Wayezul Haque, in-charge of river police’s local station, said they regularly patrol the area, but did not hear of any such accident.

Mofiz Uddin Nipun, the doctor of Narayanganj Victoria General Hospital who conducted the post-mortem examination, said Biplob had signs of wounds on his chest and the back of his head, which appeared to be caused by a metal object.

“It initially seems Duranta Biplob was murdered,” the doctor said, adding they were waiting for the viscera report to confirm the cause of his death.

“My brother did not deserve this kind of death,” wrote Biplob’s younger sister, Shashati Biplob, on Facebook. “Not at all. A legend like my brother should not be floating helplessly in the water in Narayanganj’s Pagla Ghat.”