DNA Tests Identify 10 Killed in Inani Resort Fire in Cox's Bazar, One Woman Still Missing
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of police has identified, through DNA testing, 10 people killed in a fire at the TupTup Restaurant and Resort at Patuartek in Inani, Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar.
Among those identified are six members of one Dhaka family and four members of another. However, Nasrin Akter Mukta, 27, who was on the missing list, has still not been identified. Her DNA did not match samples from any of the 10 recovered bodies.
Rimon Ghosh, the investigating officer of the case filed with Ukhiya Police Station, said on Monday night (26 October) that the DNA test report had been received. The 10 recovered bodies have been identified, but the DNA of the other missing woman did not match the samples from the bodies.
He said there is a plan to hand over the bodies to the families on Tuesday (27 October), and that details of the investigation's progress would also be given to the media on the same day.
Six of the dead were members of a family from the Banashree and Khilgaon areas of Dhaka. They are Moulita Mehjabin Alvi, 19, Layla Jahan Nabila, 25, Israt Jahan Maliha, 27, Faria Kabir, 33, Faria's six-year-old son Mohammad Faizan Noor, and Faria's brother Mohammad Nafis Tehami, 24.
Nafis Tehami was also known as Zerif. He studied Chinese language and culture at the University of Dhaka's Institute of Modern Languages in the 2020-21 session. Moulita Mehjabin Alvi was studying population and public health sciences at East West University. Layla Jahan Nabila was a chemistry student at Jagannath University.
The other four dead were members of the same family from Shyamoli in Dhaka. They are Grand Power Limited official Mohammad Nahidur Rahman, 41, his wife Afsana Matin, 36, and their two daughters Rozaina Inaya, 9, and Munaina Ihana, 6. The family's permanent home is in Manirampur, Jashore.
The missing Nasrin Akter Mukta was a teacher at Swapnabilas Niribili School in Ashulia, Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka. She had come to Cox's Bazar on a trip with two friends. Her husband Dewan Faysal is a former leader of the Dhaka district Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal. Mukta's father's name is Mostafa Kamal.
After the fire, 10 bodies were reported recovered from the resort, but 11 people were on the missing list. There was therefore a gap from the start between the number of recovered bodies and the count of missing people. With DNA tests identifying 10 people but finding no match for Mukta, her continued disappearance has become more significant.
Ukhiya Police Station officer-in-charge Atikur Rahman said further investigation is continuing in the search for the missing Mukta.
The fire broke out on 17 October at the resort adjoining Marine Drive in Inani, Ukhiya, and 10 bodies were recovered on that day.
