Tahsif death probe: Dip's changing account, plateless motorcycle recovered from Tongi
The mystery over the death of former Air Force flight lieutenant K M Tahsif Sauri, 28, remains unsolved. What happened after he left his Uttara home at a friend's call, how he reached a secluded spot on the Turag river, what role his younger friend Ahmed Shahriar Reza Dip played, and how a motorcycle came to be recovered near the river — investigators are looking for answers to all of these questions.
The river police are leading the investigation into the recovery of Tahsif's body, while the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) is running a shadow investigation given the case's national importance. Dip has been taken into custody for questioning, and on Friday (October 30) investigators visited the scene and several nearby places based on information he provided. A motorcycle without a number plate has also been recovered. Police have not yet reached any firm conclusion about the cause of Tahsif's death.
The sequence began on the evening of October 27, when Tahsif left his Uttara home telling his family that a younger friend, Dip, had come and he would return after talking to him. CCTV footage from the house shows Dip arriving at the garage at about 6:24 pm; Tahsif came down shortly afterwards, and at 6:31 pm the two were seen leaving on separate motorcycles.
In interviews with several media outlets on Thursday, Dip's first account was that he had gone to the house because Tahsif's motorcycle had broken down. Together they tried to start it, then took it to a workshop for repairs and an oil change. Afterwards they had dinner together at a restaurant in Uttara and parted at the House Building area. Dip claimed they separated around midnight, and that when he phoned Tahsif after reaching home, the phone was switched off.
In a later statement under questioning, however, Dip said they had gone to the Rajabari ghat and Mazar Basti areas, where they ran after seeing two men dressed like police. Tahsif jumped into the river, he said, while he himself escaped. PBI officials say they are not taking Dip's account at face value: it is being checked against CCTV footage and other evidence. The agency has collected footage from many locations, and the pair's movements — where they were, for how long, and at what time of night — are being verified with technology.
Tahsif's father, K M Enayetul Karim, called Dip's account “ridiculous” while speaking to reporters on Friday afternoon. “Isn't it a ridiculous statement? Who wants to fall into this kind of trouble? I don't think he ever went to that area. A defence officer running from a police chase — isn't that ridiculous? That is out of the question,” he said. He also said Tahsif knew how to swim.
PBI additional DIG Md Enayet Hossain Mannan of Dhaka Metro North told reporters on Friday that investigators are verifying whether the alleged pursuers were actually police members, whether they wore uniforms, and whether any police personnel were on duty at the scene. Every element of Dip's statement is being examined. PBI officials added that later questioning placed the pair in Tongi's Mazar Basti area at around 2 am, and that Dip also said he returned by motorcycle and reached home at about 2:30 am after failing to find Tahsif. His conduct and statements are being scrutinised closely.
Digital forensic expert Tanvir Hassan Zoha has raised questions about the inconsistencies in Dip's account: who were the pursuers, if the chase was real, and is there CCTV footage or any eyewitness to identify them? If Dip saw Tahsif jump into the river, he asked, why did that information not appear in his first statement? In his view, why a man would jump into a river even if chased must be established through evidence, not conjecture.
The motorcycle Tahsif took out had been missing. On Thursday night the PBI recovered a black, plateless Suzuki Gixxer from Tongi's Mazar Basti area. The agency's preliminary belief is that it may be Tahsif's, because CCTV footage showed his motorcycle also had no rear number plate when he left home. PBI superintendent of police Abu Yusuf said the recovered motorcycle's documents and other details are being verified and nothing final can be said before ownership is confirmed. Media reports quoting local tea-stall owner Zubaida Begum said the motorcycle had lain by the road near her shop for two days and no one had come for it; police took it away on Friday morning and later brought it back. When it arrived there, who left it, and how it got there if it was Tahsif's are now key questions, as is which of the two motorcycles ended up with whom after the pair left home.
Investigators also treat the last message Tahsif sent his mother as an important clue. According to the family, at 1:35 am on Tuesday night he messaged her saying he was returning home; there was no contact after that. An iPhone was found in his pocket when the body was recovered, and his wristwatch was intact; the phone played an important role in identifying him. Whether forensic examination of the phone reveals his final movements remains to be seen. Tanvir Hassan Zoha has stressed analysing the 1:35 am message, the phone's digital data, CCTV footage and the medico-legal report together.
Investigators still cannot confirm the cause of death. PBI officials say neither accident nor murder can be ruled out at this stage. The inquest report noted no major injury marks on the body, though there was bleeding from the nose. The autopsy was completed on Thursday at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, but the final report has not yet been received; tests will also show whether any intoxicant, alcohol or poison was present in his body. Investigators noted that the Rajabari ghat area is known for drug-related activity, but the PBI has reached no conclusion that either Tahsif or Dip had any dispute with drug dealers or that dealers were present at the scene.
