Half-Decomposed Body Recovered From Pond Beside Prime Minister's Rally Venue in Rajshahi

Police have recovered the half-decomposed body of a man from a pond beside the Prime Minister's rally venue in Rajshahi. The body floated to the surface at around 9am on Tuesday (20 October).

The pond lies on the southern side of Rajshahi's historic Madrasa field. Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to address, as chief guest at 3pm today, a public rally at that field organised by the metropolitan and district BNP.

The recovery of a body on the morning of the rally, from a pond adjoining the venue, created a stir in the area. Local people noticed the body floating and informed the police, according to accounts from the scene.

Police recovered the body and prepared an inquest report. The body was then sent to the morgue of Rajshahi Medical College for a post-mortem examination.

Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) spokesperson Deputy Commissioner Gaziur Rahman said the dead man was between 35 and 40 years old. He was wearing half pants.

He said police prepared the inquest report after examining the body. No injury marks were found on the body at that stage. The body had already begun to decompose.

Police's initial assumption is that the man drowned two to three days ago after entering the pond to bathe. That, however, is only an assumption; the exact cause of death can be confirmed only after the post-mortem report arrives.

Gaziur Rahman said the cause of death would be confirmed once the post-mortem report is received. The man's identity has not yet been established.

Police could not immediately provide the victim's identity, his exact age, or details about the cause of death. Efforts are under way to identify him, officials said.

Because the Prime Minister's rally is being held at the same field on the same day, the incident has drawn extra local attention. Questions have also been raised locally about whether a body could have remained in the water beside the venue for several days.

Police said the next legal steps would be taken after identification and the post-mortem report. Until then, no conclusion can be drawn about the incident.

Attention now rests on the post-mortem report and the identification process. Once those results arrive, much of the mystery around this death is expected to become clearer.