Former staffer suspected in Pathao co-founder Fahim Saleh murder

Police in the United States have reportedly identified a former employee as a “person of interest” in the grisly murder of Bangladesh-origin tech CEO Fahim Saleh.

The former employee was involved in a “financial deal gone bad”, The New York Post reported on Friday, citing sources.

That person is not yet in police custody.

The sources in the New York Police Department described the “person of interest” as an ex-worker “whose financial agreement with Saleh soured”.

The body of the 33-year-old founder of the popular motorbike-hailing app Gokada, was discovered in his apartment last Tuesday.

Prior to Gokada, Saleh had founded mobile-app developer TapFury, which created popular crank-calling program PrankDial, as well as transportation-focused Pathao in Bangladesh.

Local media reported that his body had been decapitated and dismembered, the parts placed into separate plastic garbage bags. A power saw and cleaning supplies were found plugged in nearby.

Security camera video showed Saleh in the apartment building’s elevator with a man in a dark suit, mask and gloves, the media reports said. Video footage showed the suspect following Saleh into the seventh-storey apartment, where a struggle began.

Saleh, who was born in Saudi Arabia to Bangladeshi parents and grew up in New York, founded the Pathao ride company in 2015 and in 2018 the Gokada motorbike hailing app.

The New York Times, citing an unnamed law enforcement official, reported that investigators were trying to determine if Saleh's grisly murder, which made international headlines, was related to his business.