Mystery Surrounding Tahsif’s Death Must Be Unravelled

The mysterious death of retired Air Force flight lieutenant Mr. Tahsif Souri has spread worry and fear across the country. Naval police members recovered his body from the Turag river in Tongi on Wednesday afternoon. This came about 21 hours after he left his home in Sector 18 in Uttara and went missing. In the July revolution of 2024, a video of the then Prime Minister Ms. Sheikh Hasina fleeing the country was spread. People learned that Mr. Tahsif Souri was linked to it.

Soon after the July revolution, he retired from his job. He was widely discussed because of the video of Ms. Sheikh Hasina’s escape and the end of his job. So people are now asking whether he was killed in a conspiracy, whether he took his own life, or whether it was only an accident. On Tuesday evening, a junior friend of Mr. Tahsif named Dwip came below his home and called him. Mr. Tahsif went down, saying he would talk to Mr. Dwip and return. He never came back.

His mother tried many times to reach him on his mobile phone but failed. At about 1:30 am, a message came from Mr. Tahsif’s phone saying he was coming home. He never made it. His father, Mr. Enayetul Karim Helal, has ruled out suicide. He says the question does not arise. He says Mr. Tahsif was a very lively person. Mr. Helal says clearly that his son was called out of the house and killed.

A maternal cousin of Mr. Tahsif calls it a “planned murder”. She says Mr. Tahsif was under the watch of an intelligence agency. His uncle calls it a very clean and planned killing by a high level group. No believable source has yet revealed the aim, the reason or the motive of the killing. Home Minister Mr. Salahuddin Ahmed said the real cause of death will be known once the postmortem report arrives. He said it would not be right to comment before that.

Experts see the killing as politically motivated and a planned conspiracy. People of the country became sure that Ms. Sheikh Hasina had fled only after they saw that video. The video has historic weight, because after watching it people came out on the streets in groups and carried the July revolution to its final success. Nothing else matches the unique role the video played in making the people’s flood unstoppable. The fallen autocratic rulers, their followers and their Indian masters cannot look at this kindly.

It would not be strange if this side had a hand in Mr. Tahsif’s killing. Everyone knows why BNP leader Mr. Ilias Ali went missing. He suffered that painful end because he spoke against India and joined programmes against India. We have not forgotten Mr. Abrar Fahad, a BUET student. Chhatra League terrorists brutally killed him because he posted on social media demanding Bangladesh’s fair share of water from India. No one can count how many people like Mr. Ilias Ali and Mr. Abrar Fahad were lost for standing against the Awami League and India.

No one knows how many people went missing or were killed outside the law. Ordinary people now ask whether retired flight lieutenant Mr. Tahsif has joined that list. To get a simple and right answer, there must be an unbiased probe into everything before and after the incident. DFI, NSI and other intelligence agencies must investigate it together. The dead man was a former member of the armed forces, and he was linked to a historic change. So a full and detailed probe must take place.

Various political parties have strongly condemned the incident. They have demanded a fair and neutral probe and that those responsible face the law. After this heartbreaking incident, worry, anxiety, fear and panic among the people have naturally grown. Criminal activity has risen in the country lately. Theft, robbery, snatching, mugging, extortion, land grabbing, murder and terror keep growing. Law enforcement agencies keep failing to protect law and order and the safety of citizens. In this reality, Mr. Tahsif’s killing is a big blow.

People often raise the question of intelligence failure when a sensitive incident remains a mystery, and they have raised it this time too. How does a person “under intelligence watch” die so helplessly? The Sagar and Runi murder mystery is still not solved. There can be no bigger example of intelligence failure than that. Success and failure exist in every field, and in intelligence work too, and no one can deny it. But the scale of failure now looks a little too big. This is not a good sign.

Intelligence agencies must become more responsible and accountable. Experts believe that intelligence failure is largely behind the failure to keep law and order that we see now. In any view, one must accept that the government holds the duty to ensure law and order and the safety of citizens. The government must show zero tolerance on this.