Tahsif murder case: arrested woman remand for four-day

A Dhaka court on Sunday granted four days’ remand for a young woman arrested in connection with the murder case filed over the death of former Air Force Flight Lieutenant KM Tahsif Sauri, whose body was recovered from the Turag River after he went missing from Uttara.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Ripon Hossain granted the remand after police produced the woman before the court shortly after noon.

The case’s investigating officer, Inspector Firoz Uddin of the Tongi outpost of the Dhaka region Naval Police, had sought seven days’ remand for the woman. Following a hearing, the court approved four days.

State lawyer Muhammad Shamsuddoha Suman confirmed the remand order.

Police detained the woman from a house in Dhaka’s Ibrahim Pur area at about 2am on Saturday, October 31. Investigators said she had been seen accompanying Tahsif at different locations before he went missing.

Police initially took the woman into custody after her detention. On Sunday, she was formally shown arrested in the case and produced before the court with a remand application.

Tahsif went missing after leaving his home in Sector 18 of Uttara on the evening of October 27. He had left after responding to a call from his junior and constant companion, a friend identified as Deep.

CCTV footage showed Tahsif with Deep in front of a garage at the Rajuk Uttara Apartment Project at about 6.30pm. The two shook hands and then left separately on two motorcycles.

Tahsif was later seen travelling around different parts of Uttara with Deep and the woman. The three were also seen at a restaurant in Uttara.

Members of the Tongi Naval Police outpost recovered Tahsif’s body from the Rajabari Ghat area of the Turag River at about 4.30pm on October 28, after receiving reports that a body was floating in the river. Police identified him through his wristwatch and an iPhone found in his pocket.

An autopsy was conducted at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital the following day. Tahsif was later buried at the Sector 12 graveyard after funeral prayers at the Central Jame Mosque in Uttara Sector 18.

On Friday, the Police Bureau of Investigation, or PBI, took Deep to the Mazar Basti area beside the Turag River in Tongi. Based on information provided by him, investigators recovered a black Suzuki Gixxer 150 motorcycle without a number plate from the area.

During questioning by the PBI, Deep said that he and Tahsif had gone to the area beside the Turag River on the night of the incident. He claimed that several people chased them and that Tahsif jumped into the river. His account could not be independently verified.

The PBI examined inconsistencies in Deep’s statement and handed over its findings and information collected from the scene to the Naval Police. Deep was subsequently handed over to the Naval Police. Police later detained the woman after her involvement came to their attention.

Tahsif’s father, KM Enayetul Karim, filed a murder case against unidentified people at Uttarkhan Police Station on Saturday morning. Although the case named unidentified accused, the first information report stated that Tahsif had been called out of his home by his friend Deep.

Deep was later shown arrested as a suspected accused in the case and placed on four days’ remand on Saturday.

The remand application stated that CCTV footage and information obtained through technology indicated that the woman had been with Tahsif on the night before the incident. Investigators said the two ate snacks together at a restaurant in Uttara and travelled around different areas on a motorcycle.

Police said the woman was suspected of involvement in the killing and that the investigation was ongoing. Investigators sought her remand to uncover the main facts of the case, arrest those involved, determine the location of the killing, identify further evidence and cross-check her statement with that of Deep.