Schoolteacher's Body Recovered from Shariatpur Hotel after Ransom Demands Sent from His Own WhatsApp Number

Police have recovered the body of a schoolteacher named Abul Bashar (39) from a residential hotel next to the police station in Bhedarganj, Shariatpur. His family allege that after an abduction, calls were made from his WhatsApp number demanding money — and it was by following that trail that the body was found.

The body was recovered at around 1pm on Tuesday (20 October) from the Dhaka Residential Hotel, adjacent to Bhedarganj police station. The hotel's manager, Mamun, has been absconding since the incident.

Abul Bashar was an assistant teacher at Kholapara Government Primary School in Gazipur city. His home was in the Deuliabari area under Kaliakair police station in Gazipur; his late father's name was Janab Ali Talukdar.

Family members said Abul Bashar's ancestral home was in the Chairman Bazar area of Naria upazila in Shariatpur, and he would visit there during holidays from time to time. Accordingly, he set off for Shariatpur on Sunday morning.

According to the family, he last spoke to his wife at 8:40pm on Sunday. He told her he was having dinner at the home of a friend named Nayeem and would stay there. After that, his family could not reach him again.

From Monday morning, his wife called his phone repeatedly but got no answer. Then, at around 3pm that day, a call came to his wife's phone from Abul Bashar's WhatsApp number. A man at the other end said Abul Bashar had been injured and that 2,000 taka was needed for his treatment.

According to the family, when they asked for a number to send the money to, the caller gave none. A little later, a photograph of a bloodied Abul Bashar was sent and 20,000 taka was demanded. From this sequence of events, the family concluded he had been kidnapped.

The family then informed Kaliakair police station in Gazipur. Police traced the phone's location and learned that Abul Bashar was near Padma Diagnostic Centre in Bhedarganj upazila of Shariatpur. That night the family travelled to Shariatpur and contacted Bhedarganj police.

On Tuesday afternoon, with the family's assistance, police recovered Abul Bashar's body from the Dhaka Residential Hotel. He was supposed to go to Naria — why he came to Bhedarganj, and in contact with whom, is now a central question of the investigation.

His elder brother Monirul Islam said contact was lost soon after Abul Bashar left to visit Shariatpur. Calls were then made several times from his WhatsApp number demanding money. When the matter was reported to the police station, police traced the location and said he was in Bhedarganj; later, with Bhedarganj police's help, his body was recovered from a residential hotel.

The victim's nephew, Md Kabir Hossain Khan, said: 'We believe our uncle was kidnapped and killed for money. We want justice for those who killed him so brutally.'

Shariatpur Additional Superintendent of Police (Gosairhat Circle) Samsul Arefin said the body has been sent for autopsy. There were no visible injury marks on the body, although there was blood on the nose and mouth, and no visible sign of stabbing or strangulation was found. Further steps will be taken after the autopsy report arrives.

Samsul Arefin added that Abul Bashar was meant to go to Naria, and investigators are looking into why and through whose contact he came to Bhedarganj, with necessary legal action being taken. The role of the absconding hotel manager, Mamun, is also among the questions before investigators.