A decomposed body was found inside a container that left Chattogram port for Malaysia.
Security personnel at Malaysia's Penang port discovered the body while transporting the container to a depot.
According to bdnews24.com, the 40-feet long container arrived in Chattogram from the BM container depot in Sitakunda on Oct 4.
A cargo ship named Sawasdee Atlantic, operated by South Korea's Sinoc Shipping Lines, later set sail with the container from Chattogram on Oct 6, before docking at the Penang port four days later on Oct 10.
The Chattogram Port Authority and the shipping agent, Globe Link Associates, are trying to find out how the body ended up inside the container. However, it is still unclear whether the body belonged to a Bangladeshi national.
The container was sent to Malaysia in line with the instructions of the vessel's main-line operator, according to Moinul Haque Chowdhury, managing director of Globe Link Associates.
"The container was empty when it arrived from the depot and was loaded onto the vessel at Chattogram port on Oct 4," he said.
"On Oct 14, the empty container was on its way from Penang port to the depot when security personnel noticed a foul odour and checked inside it, only to find a body."
Malaysian police are now investigating the matter, according to Moinul. “We are yet to be formally informed of the matter. We came to know about it through the ship's main-line operator and traced the container number back to the source."
Captain Moinul Ahsan, executive director of BM Container Depot Ltd, said he learnt about the incident from media reports. "The container was empty when it left the depot. On its way to the port from the depot, a container goes through a security check, after which photos and videos are taken of its contents. The container left the depot empty."
Containers are also screened when they enter Chattogram port and if there was anything untoward, it would have been flagged there, according to him.
"We are trying to find out if anyone entered the container at any point. We are also looking to see whether the body is of a Bangladeshi or not," said Md Omar Faruq, secretary of Chattogram port.
However, the port authority has not constituted a body to investigate the matter, he added.
