His body was recovered from the river near Salimগঞ্জ in Nabinagar upazila of Brahmanbaria on Sunday. Shyamal was the son of Promod Das and a resident of Rahimabad village in Amirganj Union, Raipura, Narsingdi. He worked for Nestlé Distribution Company, delivering products to shops in several riverside areas.
According to family members and local sources, Shyamal regularly transported the company’s products by boat to shops in Alokbali, Bottoli and Char Aralia. On Friday, 30 October, he travelled to Alokbali to deliver goods, as he did on other working days. He used a boat operated by a boatman named Zahirul.
After completing the deliveries around midday, Shyamal boarded the same boat to return home. However, the journey took an unexpected turn when Zahirul allegedly abandoned the usual route and began steering towards a different direction.
When Shyamal asked why they were taking an unfamiliar route, Zahirul reportedly reassured him that it was a shorter and quicker way home. The boat gradually moved towards Salimগঞ্জ in Nabinagar upazila, across the district boundary into Brahmanbaria.
At one point, Zahirul approached another boat and asked Shyamal to board it, claiming that he would reach home more quickly that way. Unaware of the alleged plan, Shyamal followed the instructions.
According to the allegations, Zahirul had arranged to hand Shyamal over to the occupants of the other boat in exchange for Tk 10,000. The men on board were reportedly members of a robbery gang.
Once Shyamal was on the second boat, the gang allegedly subjected him to a severe beating and seized more than Tk 100,000 that he was carrying from the company’s sales. The assault left him seriously injured.
The criminals then allegedly used Shyamal’s mobile phone to contact his family. Introducing themselves as police officers, they claimed that Shyamal was seriously ill and needed blood urgently. They demanded that the family send Tk 25,000 without delay.
Believing the callers’ claims, his relatives transferred the money as instructed. However, they were unable to speak to Shyamal afterwards. Repeated attempts to contact him through his mobile phone went unanswered, increasing the family’s anxiety and suspicion.
When relatives later questioned boatman Zahirul about Shyamal’s disappearance, he reportedly admitted that he had handed the worker over to other boatmen in exchange for Tk 10,000.
The family subsequently received news on Sunday that a body had been spotted floating in the river near Salimগঞ্জ. Members of the Salimগঞ্জ Police Outpost went to the location and recovered the body. It was identified as that of Shyamal Chandra Das.
Police sent the body to the mortuary at Brahmanbaria General Hospital for a post-mortem examination. The family said they planned to take his body to their village home in Raipura after the examination had been completed.
The incident has raised serious concerns about the safety of workers who depend on river transport to carry out their professional duties, particularly those who regularly travel with substantial amounts of cash collected from sales.
The alleged use of a police identity to obtain money from Shyamal’s family has also added another disturbing dimension to the case. His relatives were reportedly deceived at a time when they were desperately seeking information about his condition.
The allegations point to the possible involvement of several individuals in the incident, from the boatman who allegedly arranged the handover to those who assaulted and robbed Shyamal. The circumstances surrounding his death, the identities of everyone involved and the full sequence of events will need to be established through investigation.
