Dhaka, Sep 28 (IANS): As Bangladesh grapples with a deteriorating law and order situation, police has recovered 920 bodies from rivers across the country over the 20 months until August this year, with incidents of murder, rape, abduction and robbery continuing to surface, local media reported.
Criminologists and human rights activists warned that the alarming trend has raised fears that professional criminals were using Bangladesh’s rivers to dispose of evidence after homicides, while police appear unable to effectively investigate and solve the cases.
They stated that weighing down a body and dumping it in a river gives the killers a crucial window to evade detection, while the river current can move the remains far downstream, making it difficult for investigators to trace the crime scene, Bangladeshi daily ‘New Age’ reported.
Citing Bangladesh River Police data, New Age reported that 541 bodies were recovered from rivers nationwide in 2025, while another 379 bodies were found between January and August this year.
However, the river police figures represent only a fraction of the grim picture, with bodies also frequently found dumped along roadsides and railway tracks, often after being dismembered.
In its latest report, human rights body ‘Manabadhikar Shongskriti Foundation’ (MSF) documented that at least 42 unidentified bodies were recovered from riverbanks, roads, railway lines, fields and other locations across Dhaka and elsewhere during the first 20 days of September 2026.
MSF data showed that as many as 465 unidentified bodies were recovered between January and August this year, New Age reported.
On September 14, police recovered the body of an unidentified man from the Bangshi River after locals spotted it floating near a playground in Depashai Noapara of Sambhog union and alerted the authorities.
Shahidul Islam, Inspector (Investigation) at Dhamrai police station, said on Saturday that the identity of the deceased remained unknown. An unnatural death case was registered in connection with the incident.
“A team of the Police Bureau of Investigation came to the police station and tried to take fingerprint impressions of the body to determine his identity but failed. Later, the body was buried as an unidentified man after collecting his DNA sample,” New Age quoted a senior police official as saying.
According to MSF Chief Executive Saidur Rahman, the organisation’s analysis showed that most of the recovered bodies appeared to have been thrown into rivers after the victims were killed at other locations.
Describing the recovery of numerous bodies from rivers and other locations as alarming, Saidur said, “Our analysis says that many of the victims are being dumped after being murdered over various disputes related to land, familial, financial, and political matters. Filing an unnatural death does not give the state a free pass for its responsibilities and accountability.”
