Journo’s body recovered from Meghna river bank 2 days after going missing

The body of veteran journalist Bibhuranjan Sarkar was recovered from the Meghna River in Char Balaki area of Munshiganj's Gazaria today (22 August), two days after going missing.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Ramna Division Deputy Police Commissioner Md Masud Alam confirmed the matter while talking to The Business Standard this afternoon.

His brother Chiraranjan Sarker and son Wreet Sarker told reporters that they had identified the body.

Earlier, police from Kolagachia River Outpost in Narayanganj retrieved the body around 3pm. Later in the evening, the body was sent to Munshiganj General Hospital morgue for autopsy.

According to hospital sources, the autopsy will be performed tomorrow.

Kalagachia River Police Outpost Inspector Saleh Ahmed Pathan told TBS that the body was found floating in the river. "The photographs of Bibhuranjan shown by several journalists matched the appearance of the body."

When asked about the initial inquest, the inspector said, "No injury marks were found on the body. He was floating face down in the river. His spectacles were still around his neck."

According to the family, Bibhuranjan, 71, a senior assistant editor at the Bangla daily Ajker Patrika and a columnist on current affairs, had not returned home since leaving for his office in Banasree yesterday morning.

After he went missing, his son, Wreet Sarkar, filed a general diary (GD) with Ramna Model Police Station.

In the GD, he stated, "Like every day, my father left for his office at 10am. But he did not return home by 9pm. We searched at his office and contacted the newspaper's acting editor Kamrul Hasan, who told us that my father had not arrived there either.

"After searching all possible places, when we couldn't find him, we filed a GD."

Speaking to The Business Standard, Wreet said, "My father had no personal disputes with anyone. We have checked everywhere but have not been able to trace him."

According to bdnews24.com, 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 bdnews24.com today.

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.

Bibhuranjan, born in 1954, began his career as a journalist in the late 1960s while still in school, working as a correspondent for Dainik Azad. He later studied in the Department of Bangla at Dhaka University.

Over his long career, he worked with several national dailies and weeklies, serving as editor of daily Matribhumi and weekly Chaltipatra, as well as executive editor of weekly Mridubhashon.

During the anti-Ershad movement of the 1980s, his political columns written under the pseudonym "Tarik Ibrahim" in the weekly Jai Jai Din gained popularity.

As a student, Bibhuranjan was an active member of the Bangladesh Students' Union, later serving as assistant general secretary of its central committee.

He was also a member of the Communist Party of Bangladesh.

Among his published books are Brittabandi Rajniti, Dosharoper Rajniti, Awami League Niye Asha O Ashanka, Nana Chinta Nana Mot, and Kar Cheye Ke Bhalo.

He also edited literary works including Kibria Smarakgrantha Baktrita, Krishak Neta Hatem Ali Khan, and Monaem Sarker Jokhon Nirbasone.