Teen Dies During Turag, Banned Awami League Claims Worker Was Killed
Collected Photo
Police have recovered the body of a 17-year-old boy who went missing while on a picnic with friends on the Turag River near Dhaka, rejecting viral social media claims that multiple bodies had been recovered and that the incident was politically linked.
The body of Sumon (17), was recovered Friday night from the Turag River near Ashulia Bazar in Savar.
Ashulia Police Station Officer-in-Charge Tariqul Islam said the victim's brother Salauddin reported that Sumon had been missing since June 22.
According to the family, Sumon had gone on a boat trip with several people. During the trip, he reportedly fell into the river amid a rush of passengers. Unable to swim, he drowned. Police recovered his body after it surfaced.
The body was handed over to the family following an autopsy. The OC said an unnatural death case has been filed at Ashulia Police Station and that the exact cause of death will be confirmed after the autopsy report is received.
Meanwhile, several social media posts circulated on Saturday claimed that three bodies had been recovered from the Turag River and that seven more people remained missing. The posts also alleged that the incident was linked to political activities.
However, no identities of the alleged victims or missing persons, nor any verifiable information about the location, time, or official sources, were provided to support those claims.
Inquiries with police stations along the Turag River found no confirmation that three bodies had been recovered or that seven people were missing.
Siraj Uddin, officer-in-charge of the Tongi River Outpost, said he had no information about three bodies being recovered from the Turag River.
“There has been one body recovery, and that occurred in the Ashulia or Amin Bazar area,” he said.
Authorities also alleged that the banned Awami League and some of its supporters were deliberately circulating unverified information and old videos on social media to create public confusion and damage the reputation of Dhaka-18 lawmaker SM Jahangir Hossain.
Turag Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mostafizur Rahman dismissed the online posts as rumors.
“The claims being circulated on social media are false. Only one body named Sumon was recovered by Ashulia Police Station yesterday,” he said.
