Man goes missing after jumping off Padma Bridge

A man went missing after he jumped into the water off the Padma Bridge from a moving car on Monday.

Nuruzzaman, 38, a worker of Narayanganj's Urmi Garments, jumped off the bridge at the Mawa section at around 2:45pm on Monday.

Ahiduzzaman, in-charge of Mawa Naval police outpost, said, "Nuruzzaman hired a car to go to Tungipara on Monday night. But they were turned away from there as they did not have permission to give flowers."

Omar Farooq, who sat next to Nuruzzaman in the car, said that they left Kanchpur for Gopalganj at 7am and reached Tungipara around 10:30am.

"Staying there for two hours, we tried to place flowers at Bangabandhu's monument. Failing to do so, we left for home. Work is underway on the Dhaka-bound Lane of Padma Bridge, that's why the car was moving slowly. Nuruzzaman was in the back seat. He suddenly opened the car door and jumped into the river."

In a video that Nuruzzaman made before jumping, he said, "I wanted to lay a wreath on the grave of the father of the nation. But I saw only ministers and administrative officials there. There is no place for us. Are we nothing of the country?" 

Sabura, the wife of the missing person, said, "I came to know through the police that my husband jumped into the river from the Padma Bridge. Hearing that news, I came to bridge area and started looking for my husband. But I don't know why he jumped from the bridge into the river."

Meanwhile, the diver teams of Naval Police and Fire Service resumed the search operation on Tuesday but they were unable to go down to the bottom of the river due to strong current, said Fire Service Defence Officer Sanjay.

"However, with the help of naval police, the search is underway around the bridge," he added.