A BNP leader from Jashore, who went missing from Paltan four days ago after coming to Dhaka to seek party ticket, has been found dead.
The body of Abu Bakar Abu was floating in the Buriganga River near the Faridabad dockyard on Tuesday afternoon, South Keraniganj Police Station OC Shah Zaman said on Thursday.
Abu’s relatives identified him at the Sir Salimullah Medical College Hospital mortuary on Wednesday night, the OC said.
“The body has almost decomposed. There were an undershirt and pajamas on the body. His nephews identified him as Abu Bakar Abu,” the police officer said.
One of his nephews, Jahid Hasan, a journalist working at a local newspaper in Khulna, said Abu went missing from the Metropolitan Hotel at Paltan on Sunday night.
“And now his body has been found,” he said.
Abu’s relatives said some people claiming to be his kidnappers had called them on the phone and demanded ransom. The relatives had paid Tk 170,000, but he had not been freed, they said.
Abu, 58, a bachelor for life, had been elected chairman of Majidpur union council in Keshabpur Upazila of Jashore four times.
He was a vice-president of the BNP’s Jashore district unit.
It was the first time he sought the party’s nomination to run for parliament.
On Wednesday, the party submitted to the Election Commission a list of five of its possible nominees, including Abu, claiming police had arrested them, bdnews24.com reported.
The law enforcers have no clue as to who has killed him and why.
His nephew Jahid said Abu came to Dhaka and checked in to the hotel on November 12. Saiful Islam, a member of Majidpur Union Parishad, was with Abu.
Abu had stayed in the hotel for interview by the BNP’s nomination panel after buying and submitting the nomination form.
His relatives suspect he was kidnapped after he left the hotel at around 8:00 pm on Sunday.