Missing Bangladeshi jeweller found dead inside floating drum

Police in Bangladesh recovered the body of 50-year-old jeweller Niranjan Chandra Sutradhar from a plastic drum floating near a sluice gate in Mymensingh, with officers suspecting he was killed before being placed inside the container. Local residents spotted the drum in water near the sluice gate in the Begunbari area and alerted police, according to Dainik Ittefaq. The body was recovered on Wednesday.

Police identified the victim through a token from the Mymensingh Hindu Cooperative Credit Union Limited found in the pocket of his trousers. Officers contacted the organisation, whose members helped trace the token and establish his identity. Niranjan’s wife, Sumita Rani Sutradhar, and his son, Joy Sutradhar, subsequently identified the body.

Niranjan ran a jointly owned jewellery shop in the Atharbari Building area of Mymensingh. Sub-Inspector Ruhul Amin of Kotwali Model Police Station told Dainik Ittefaq that the token had enabled police to contact the family. Officers said the body bore injury marks, supporting their suspicion that Niranjan had been killed before it was dumped in the water.

No suspect had been detained as of Friday morning, and police had not established who killed Niranjan or why, according to the report. The investigation remained ongoing. Niranjan had left his home in the Stadium area on September 20 and was reported missing.

A nephew reportedly saw him the following day. His family initially expected him to return because he had previously stayed away for several days, and did not immediately file a general diary. The report noted that the case emerged amid political debate about the safety of minority communities in Bangladesh.

However, police have not identified a religious motive or said that Niranjan’s killing was connected to his Hindu identity.