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Retired Bangladesh Air Force Flight Lieutenant Tahsif Sauri, who came into the spotlight over a video allegedly showing ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina leaving the country, had left his home after receiving a call from a younger friend shortly before going missing, his family said.
His father, Enayetul Karim, said a man named Dip called Tahsif on Tuesday evening and asked him to come downstairs to talk.
Tahsif’s floating body was recovered from the Rajabari Ghat area of Turag on Wednesday afternoon by the Tongi River Police Outpost. He lived in the Korobi building of the Rajuk Apartment Project in Sector 18 of Uttara.
Speaking to journalists outside the apartment building on Wednesday, Enayetul said Tahsif had been told that disciplinary issues were the reason for his dismissal from the Air Force.
He later worked for the Bangladesh Cricket Board and Netra News, his father said, describing him as gentle and sociable, with good relationships with both senior and junior colleagues.
According to Enayetul, Tahsif had spent Tuesday shopping with his mother throughout the day and had also bought some items for his father.
In the evening, Dip called him from downstairs. Tahsif told his mother, “Dip is here. I’ll go and talk to him,” before leaving the apartment. He did not return.
His mother tried to contact him several times without success.
At around 1:35am on Wednesday, Tahsif sent a message to his mother’s phone saying that he was returning home. However, his father said the message gave the impression that he was busy.
The family was subsequently unable to locate him. Enayetul said he went to Turag Police Station on Wednesday afternoon, where he was told there was no bad news about his son.
At around 5:15pm on Wednesday, he received a phone call from Uttarkhan Police Station informing him that Tahsif’s body had been recovered.
The family said they did not know of any reason for Tahsif to visit the area where his body was found.
Tahsif was the eldest of two brothers and a sister. He owned a motorcycle, but his family had advised him not to ride it after an accident about a month earlier. However, a relative said he had taken the motorcycle with him on Tuesday and that it was missing from the apartment’s garage.
The family contacted Dip, who reportedly told them that he and Tahsif had eaten together that night before Dip dropped him off near his home and returned.
A relative said police had requested details and photographs of the missing motorcycle, which the family provided.
Uttarkhan Police Station Officer-in-Charge Habibur Rahman said police had not yet received a complaint and that the river police were investigating the matter.
Firoz Uddin, an inspector at the Tongi River Police Outpost, said no case had been filed yet and investigators were examining all aspects of the incident.
Tahsif had also drawn attention over claims that he recorded a video showing Sheikh Hasina leaving Bangladesh by aircraft from Kurmitola airbase on August 5, 2024, following her ouster.
