Former Air Force officer who filmed Hasina's departure found dead in Dhaka river a day after going missing

Police in Bangladesh pulled a body from the Turag River in Dhaka on Thursday and identified it as that of KM Tahsif Souri, a former Air Force Flight Lieutenant in his late 20s. He had gone missing a day earlier. Local media have reported that Souri filmed the video showing deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina leaving the country in an Air Force aircraft on August 5, 2024.

Firoz Uddin, officer-in-charge of the Tongi River Police Outpost, said officers recovered the body from the Rajabari Ghat area of the river after getting information on Wednesday afternoon. The dead man was wearing white trousers and a black shirt. A phone and a wristwatch found with him helped establish who he was, according to the Daily Star newspaper. The body was then sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for an autopsy. Asked whether there were injury marks on it, Uddin did not give a direct answer.

The account of Souri's last day comes from Prothom Alo, the Bangla-language newspaper. It reported that he spent all of Tuesday shopping with his mother. In the evening he left home after a friend called him. Later that night he sent his mother a message saying he was on his way back. He never arrived.

Souri's career had already ended. He was dismissed from service in August 2024, the same month as the video, and was reportedly under intelligence surveillance. In a social media podcast in July, he was asked whether he lost his job because he filmed Hasina's departure. His answer was brief: "could be."

The military has given a different account. In a statement last August, the army said Souri had been retired under institutional rules, in different circumstances, and without any allegations against him.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed was asked by reporters whether the death might be tied to hostility over the release of the video. He declined to speculate. "I don't want to say anything about this as there has to be a preliminary investigation. The body has been sent for autopsy. We will speak after we know all the details," he said.

Much therefore remains unestablished. The cause of death has not been determined, and police have not said whether the body bore injuries. Nothing in the reporting so far connects the death to the video, the surveillance or his dismissal; those threads are part of his recent history, not findings about how he died. The autopsy result and whatever the preliminary investigation turns up will be the first real answers, and the minister has said he will speak once they are in.