Questions Mount as Tahsif’s Murder Remains Shrouded in Darkness

Police and intelligence officers are still in the dark about the death of Mr. K M Tahsif Souri, a former flight lieutenant of the Air Force. The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) is questioning Mr. Ahmed Shahriar Reza Dwip, who was with Mr. Tahsif before he went missing. PBI officers took him to the scene. A motorcycle was also found about 50 yards from the place on the Turag river in Uttarkhan where Mr. Tahsif’s body was recovered.

People involved in the probe say the motorcycle belongs to Mr. Tahsif. Thana police, PBI, CID and other agencies are investigating the murder separately. Mr. Dwip told PBI officers, “We were talking there. Some people chased us. Then Tahsif jumped into the river and I ran away.” Mr. Arifur Rahman, officer in charge of Tongi West police station, said they had also heard that Mr. Tahsif jumped into the water after police chased him.

Mr. Arifur Rahman said they are checking which police team chased them and why. He said no case has been filed yet, but the case is being processed. Mr. Tahsif’s father, Mr. Enayetul Karim, told journalists that his son knew how to swim. He said Mr. Tahsif also completed a special swimming course as part of his pilot training and earned a certificate. He claimed that someone is trying to push the main incident in a different direction.

Mr. Tahsif was a former flight lieutenant of the Air Force. He became widely discussed in 2024, when he filmed the departure of the then Prime Minister Ms. Sheikh Hasina and the video spread on social media. He was later dismissed from the Air Force. Mr. Enayetul Karim said, “We have not thought about a case yet. We will talk as a family and decide later. But why would we need a case? I believe the government will show responsibility and be very sincere about this.”

He said, “A case means trouble in our country and running around courts. Who wants to fall into that trouble? We have an excellent government. I have already seen that its agencies are very responsible and working actively.” He called the statement about police chasing his son “ridiculous”. He said, “I do not think he ever went to that area. A defence officer running away because police chased him, is that not a ridiculous claim? The question does not even arise.”

Additional Inspector General of Police Mr. Mostafa Kamal said they got some information after taking Mr. Dwip into custody. He did not want to share it now for the sake of the probe. A motorcycle without a number plate was found in the Mazar Bosti area, about three and a half kilometres from the place where the body was recovered from the Turag river. Mr. Abu Yusuf, Superintendent of Police at PBI headquarters, said the motorcycle was found about 50 yards from the river in Mazar Bosti. He said it is Mr. Tahsif’s.

Mr. Abu Yusuf said the police recovered the motorcycle as Mr. Dwip showed them. CCTV footage shows that the motorcycle Mr. Tahsif took out of his home also had no number plate. PBI sources say officers took Mr. Dwip to their office for questioning the day before yesterday at night. Mr. Tahsif and Mr. Dwip were together before the incident. Investigators are trying to learn where they went, whom they contacted and what their last movements were.

PBI has not said clearly whether Mr. Dwip has been formally arrested. Sources say River Police are leading the main investigation. PBI and other police units are giving technical help and collecting data. According to police and family sources, Mr. Tahsif left his home in Sector 18 in Uttara at night earlier this week. Before that, Mr. Dwip came to his home. People saw the two leave on two separate motorcycles. The family says Mr. Tahsif left home because Mr. Dwip called him.

Nobody has heard from Mr. Tahsif since then. The next day, at about 4:30 pm, River Police recovered his body from the Turag river near Rajabari Ghat in Uttarkhan, after someone called the national emergency number 999. Relatives identified him by the watch on his wrist and the iPhone in his pocket. Police sent the body to the morgue of Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for a postmortem.

The cause of Mr. Tahsif’s death is not yet confirmed. The first inquest report found no visible injury on his body. It did note blood from the nose and a swollen stomach. Those involved say the real cause will be known after the postmortem and forensic reports arrive.

Dwip tells police some people chased them, Tahsif jumped into the river and he ran away

Mr. Shahriar Reza Dwip told police during questioning that they were talking at the scene that day. He said some people chased them, Mr. Tahsif jumped into the river and he ran away. Several PBI officers said they ran operations at different places with Mr. Dwip all night the day before yesterday. Mr. Dwip also claimed that the people who chased them were police. Police are now checking this and other information from his questioning.

CCTV footage shows that Mr. Tahsif met this man earlier this week at night in front of a garage at the RAJUK Uttara Apartment Project in Sector 18. They shook hands and left on two separate motorcycles. The footage also shows no number plate at the back of Mr. Tahsif’s motorcycle. The motorcycle that police recovered also has no number plate.

Mr. Mohammad Enayet Hossain Mannan, Additional DIG of PBI Metro North, said they visited the scene with Mr. Dwip and checked the information he gave. He said, “We are investigating to find the real truth. We are looking for answers to why they went there, whether someone killed him, whether it was an accident or whether it was suicide. The answers we have so far need to be verified. For now we are investigating, and we will tell you when the mystery is solved.”

My son could swim and had a certificate, they are trying to change the story, says father

Former flight lieutenant Mr. K M Tahsif Souri knew how to swim. He also completed a special swimming course as part of his pilot training and earned a certificate. So his father, Mr. A K M Enayetul Karim, refuses to accept what Mr. Dwip told PBI, that Mr. Tahsif jumped into the river when people chased them. He claims that someone is trying to push the main incident in a different direction.

Yesterday, asked about the information Mr. Dwip gave PBI, he said, “No, no, this cannot happen. Why would anyone chase him? These are nonsense words, the question does not arise. My son knew how to swim. He is a pilot. They do a swimming course and he has a certificate. He did a major course on swimming.”

Asked whether he fears a cover up or a conspiracy, he said, “Normally that is what it looks like. Why would people chase him at all? Someone is trying to push the incident in a different direction. I feel they are trying to present the matter in another way.”

Mr. Rezaul Karim, chief and Additional IGP of River Police, said they are waiting to see whether the family files a case over Mr. Tahsif’s death. If the family does not, police will file a case as the complainant under the law. He said River Police and PBI are both investigating. He said PBI took Mr. Dwip into custody and is questioning him. Police have found some information and are verifying it.