I pray no one else has to suffer this fate: Journo Bibhuranjan’s brother
Bibhuranjan, 71, was the senior assistant editor of the daily Ajker Patrika. He had left his Siddheshwari home in Dhaka on Thursday morning (21 August) and went missing soon after
Journalist Bibhuranjan Sarkar's younger brother, Chiraranjan Sarkar, said that he hoped no one else would have to suffer the same fate as his brother.
"I pray that no one else has to suffer the same fate as my brother," said Chiraranjan after identifying the body of veteran journalist Bibhuranjan Sarkar at Munshiganj General Hospital morgue last night (22 August), reports Prothom Alo.
Bibhuranjan, 71, was the senior assistant editor of the daily Ajker Patrika. He had left his Siddheshwari home in Dhaka on Thursday morning (21 August) and went missing soon after.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
His body was recovered from the Meghna River in Gazaria, Munshiganj, yesterday afternoon.
Speaking through grief, Chiraranjan said his brother had no disputes within the family.
"We do not know if there was anything with his colleagues at work. We do not know if this was a suicide, a murder, or a planned incident. We do not want to comment on this. We do not know how he died," he said.
Notably, before leaving his Siddheshwari residence, Bibhuranjan emailed an article to bdnews24.com at 9:15am, adding in the footnote: "You may publish this as the last writing of my life."
The article, titled "Khola Chithi", or Open Letter, was published in the opinion section of the news portal yesterday.
In it, he wrote about his own and his son's illnesses, his daughter "failing" in a higher-level exam as a government officer, his son's "difficulty" finding a job after graduating from Buet, and his own financial struggles.
After identifying Bibhuranjan's body yesterday, the journalist's son Wreet Sarker said, "Blood was coming from my father's nose, and there were some signs of injury. We want to understand the reason for this. We want to get a clear picture from those who are experts in this field."
Wreet recalled that his father showed no signs of distress before leaving home.
"My father was always calm. On Thursday morning, he ate as usual, took his insulin, and left the house. Before leaving, he told my mother that he would be back home around 5pm. When he did not return, we called his phone and found it switched off," he told Prothom Alo.
The family searched among relatives and acquaintances before filing a general diary at Ramna police station.
Later, after being shown a photograph of the recovered body, they travelled to Munshiganj to confirm the identity.
"Thursday night was filled with extreme worry and anxiety. Even today, we tried in various ways to find any trace of him," Chiraranjan said.
He added that the family now hopes the investigation will uncover the truth behind his brother's death.
