Death of Former Air Force Officer Tahsif Souri: Dip Gives Contradictory Statements, Girlfriend Disha Placed on Four-Day Remand

Investigators believe Ahmed Shahriar Reza Dip, arrested in connection with the recovery of the body of former Air Force officer K M Tahsif Souri and described as a friend-like younger brother of the victim, knows a great deal and may himself be involved in the killing. But Dip is giving a different account every time he is questioned.

Tahsif went missing on Tuesday evening after leaving his Uttara home in the capital at Dip's call. Naval police recovered his body the next afternoon from the Rajabari Ghat area of the Turag River.

On Friday night, Tahsif's father K M Enayetul Karim filed a murder case with Uttarkhan Police Station against unidentified persons. Dip was then arrested and taken on remand for interrogation.

Police officials say suspicion of Dip has grown because his statements repeatedly do not match. His first version was that, chased by police in Tongi's Mazar Basti area, Tahsif jumped into the river. But investigators are finding no match between that account, the questioning of the police members on duty there that night, and data on Dip's location. Investigators claim Dip had concealed that he himself was stopped and questioned by police that day.

The investigating officer, Inspector Firoz Uddin of the Tongi naval police outpost, said, "Dip is saying many things. Those are being verified. At this stage of the investigation it is better not to say everything."

At this point a young woman named Jerika Tasnim Disha, said to be Tahsif's girlfriend, has come into the picture. Dip gave information about Disha during interrogation. CCTV footage has been found showing the woman entering and leaving a bar in Uttara with Tahsif on the day of the incident.

Sources involved in the investigation say that, using technology and reviewing CCTV footage from different parts of Uttara, investigators learned that on the night of 27 October, before the incident, Tahsif had taken Disha to the Nest Bar and Restaurant in Uttara. That evening they also ate at CP Five Star Snacks. Disha was also seen with Tahsif in the CCTV footage of a motorcycle garage.

Officials say a review of Tahsif's mobile phone call list showed he had spoken with Disha several times. After learning these details, police arrested Disha from the Kafrul area of Dhaka on Saturday night.

On Sunday, investigating officer Firoz Uddin produced Disha before the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ripon Hossain and sought a seven-day remand. After the hearing, the court granted a four-day remand, state counsel Muhammad Shamsuddoha Sumon said. Officials say she was remanded to unravel the mystery of the killing, identify and arrest the other unnamed accused, determine the place of the murder, recover evidence, and compare her statement with Dip's.

On the day of the incident, Dip had gone with Tahsif at midnight to Tongi's Mazar Basti area, known as a place for drug selling and consumption. In police questioning he said that when a police team chased them in Mazar Basti that night, he hid behind a pillar on the bank of the Turag River while Tahsif jumped into the river.

As part of the investigation, the investigating agency has questioned the Tongi West Police Station patrol team that was on duty that night. The patrol members said Dip's body was covered in dirt and filth; finding him suspicious, one patrol member stopped and questioned him. At that time Dip introduced himself as an army captain. According to one patrol member, the lower part of Dip's trousers and his shoes were covered in mud and dirty water, but as he had identified himself as a captain, the members let him go without further questions.

Investigators suspect several people together may have killed Tahsif by drowning him in the Turag River, which could explain why there were no injury marks on his body. But to confirm the actual cause of death, the investigation findings and the autopsy information need to be compared. Police want to interrogate Dip and Disha face to face to get a clearer picture of the incident.