Ex-Air Force Officer Tahsif's Death: Dwip and Disha Questioned Face-to-Face, Dwip on Remand for a Third Time

New information keeps emerging in the investigation into the mysterious death of former Air Force flight lieutenant K M Tahsif Sauri (28). Investigation sources say fresh details are coming out as his two close friends, Ahmed Shahriar Reza Dwip and his girlfriend Jerika Tasnim Disha, are questioned face-to-face. They declined to disclose details at this stage for the sake of the investigation.

The case's investigating officer, Naval Police Inspector Firoz Uddin, said: 'Dwip, who is on remand, and the victim's girlfriend Disha are giving many sensational details about the incident — leaving the slain Air Force officer's home, going to a bar, then going to the Mazar slum to look for heroin. They have also given more information about that night. Those details are being verified.'

In reply to a question, he said: 'We still have no clear idea how he (Tahsif) fell into the river. To confirm this, the investigation is proceeding with information from the remanded accused and the help of information technology. Beyond this, it is not possible to say more right now.'

Investigation sources say the naval police are questioning Dwip and Disha face-to-face to resolve discrepancies in their accounts and uncover the real mystery of the incident. As major inconsistencies were found between Dwip's statement and Disha's, the investigating agency sat the two accused face-to-face on 2 and 3 November and questioned them intensively.

On the night before he went missing, Tahsif was seen with Dwip and Disha at a bar, CCTV footage of which has reached the investigators. Before going missing, Tahsif spent about five and a half hours with Dwip. Dwip has not given details of whether anything happened between them during that time.

In interrogation, Dwip claimed that on the night of the incident, some men chased Tahsif and him in the Mazar slum area. They were police members, and under the chase Tahsif jumped into the river while Dwip fled. Investigators are examining whether the chasers were drug dealers or someone else.

Dwip further claimed in interrogation that Tahsif had gone towards the Mazar slum area in Tongi that night because he was upset with Disha. Seeing two men in police uniform in the Mazar slum area, they panicked and ran in two directions. Investigators have not yet been able to confirm whether Tahsif died by jumping into the river while being chased by police.

Disha, on the other hand, tactfully avoided or stayed silent on several important questions during interrogation, investigation sources said. She did not give details in answer to any question.

After Disha, Tahsif's girlfriend, was arrested from Kafrul, the court granted her four days' remand on 1 November. On 4 November, on the prosecution's application, the court granted Disha a further three days' remand in a second phase.

Meanwhile, on Thursday (5 November), the naval police, the agency investigating the incident, took Dwip on remand for three days for a third time. The remand application cited five reasons for questioning Dwip again: confirming why and for what reason Tahsif was killed (prior enmity, financial dealings, political or personal conflict); recovering the evidence used in the killing; gathering information on the main planner and accomplices; learning whether another main planner, hired killers or helpers were involved; and matching the accused's statement with witness accounts and CCTV footage through face-to-face questioning, along with learning the nature and process of the crime.

Earlier, Dwip was first taken on four days' remand. After that remand ended, police produced him before the court again on 3 November and took him on a second phase of three days' remand.

Related sources say investigators are currently analysing the mobile call lists (CDR), CCTV footage and digital devices of Tahsif, Dwip and Disha. What exactly happened to Tahsif after Disha was dropped home that night, and how the motorcycle that was with him ended up in the Tongi slum area, are now the police's main focus.

On the afternoon of 28 October, the Tongi naval police recovered Tahsif Sauri's floating body from the Rajabari ghat area of the Turag river under Dhaka's Uttarkhan thana. The body was found a day after he went missing. On 31 October, Tahsif's father K M Enayetul Karim filed a murder case at Uttarkhan thana against unnamed persons. Law enforcers arrested Dwip and Disha in the case.