Police have recovered the bloodied body of a 66-year-old former border guard near the Ramgarh frontier in Bangladesh’s southeastern hill district of Khagrachhari.
The deceased, identified as Ongthepru Marma, was a retired member of the erstwhile Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), now reorganised as the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB). He resided in the Fenirkul area, a quiet border settlement situated along the Feni River, which forms a natural boundary between Bangladesh and the Indian state of Tripura. Law enforcement officials recovered the body at approximately 10:00 am on Saturday, 14 November.
According to family members and local residents, Ongthepru left his home at around 2:00 pm on Friday to gather grass for his cattle along the riverbanks. Concerns grew when he failed to return by 9:30 pm, prompting relatives to launch an immediate search across the surrounding areas.
“We searched every probable location, and when we found no trace of him, we alerted the local Border Outpost (BOP) around 10:00 pm,” said his son, Thoi Ongya Marma. Following the report, BGB personnel joined the effort to trace the missing veteran.
At dawn on Saturday, family members resumed their search alongside local villagers. Around 8:30 am, the search party spotted a sack of freshly cut grass abandoned on the bank of the Feni River in the Fenirkul area. Scanning the immediate vicinity, they discovered Ongthepru’s body submerged in the river water.
Thoi Ongya noted that his father had sustained a visible injury to his forehead, which was still bleeding when they pulled him from the water.
Upon receiving news of the discovery, joint teams from the BGB and local police rushed to the site near border pillar 2214/18 SBD. Before security forces arrived at the exact spot, relatives had already retrieved the body from the far side of the river and brought it back to the Bangladeshi bank. Police subsequently conducted an inquest at the scene before taking custody of the remains at 10:00 am.
Confirming the recovery, Ramgarh Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md Nazir Alam stated that preliminary examinations revealed distinct injury marks on the victim’s forehead and nose.
“The exact cause of death can only be confirmed once we receive the post-mortem report,” OC Nazir Alam said. He added that arrangements are underway to transfer the body to the Khagrachhari District Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy, while necessary legal procedures have been initiated to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.
