Police Officer Found Dead Near In-Laws’ Home; Family Suspects Murder

Police have recovered the body of a Sub-Inspector attached to the Armed Police Battalion (APBn) from a pond adjacent to his in-laws’ residence in Paikandi village, Gopalganj Sadar Upazila. Authorities retrieved the body on Monday, 27 July 2026, after local residents spotted it floating in the water.

The deceased officer has been identified as 38-year-old Mahmudul Islam, hailing from Bijoypasha village in Gopalganj Sadar. He was serving as a Sub-Inspector (Armed) with the 6th APBn based in Mahalchhari, Khagrachhari.

Police and family sources stated that Mahmudul had arrived in Gopalganj on official duty last Friday. Upon completing his assignment, he went to stay at his in-laws’ house in Paikandi village that evening. Local residents noticed his body floating in the pond around 9:30 am on Monday and alerted the police. Officers subsequently recovered the body and sent it to the Gopalganj General Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Following the discovery, police took Mahmudul’s wife, Kaniz Fatema, and his father-in-law, Jhunu Sheikh, into custody for questioning.

Relatives disclosed that Mahmudul routinely stayed at his in-laws’ residence whenever he took leave or visited the area, as his wife resided there permanently. However, longstanding marital discord had plagued the relationship.

BM Ashikuzzaman, the deceased officer’s elder brother, alleged that a fresh dispute had erupted over financial demands to send Mahmudul’s brother-in-law abroad. He expressed strong suspicions that his brother’s in-laws murdered him and threw his body into the pond.

Echoing similar concerns, Mahmudul’s younger sister, Nadira Sultana, alleged that her sister-in-law prevented Mahmudul from maintaining contact with his own family. She claimed there had been two previous attempts to poison his food, suspecting that his wife and her family suffocated him before dumping his body in the pond.

Conversely, Jalal Sheikh, a cousin of the detained father-in-law, rejected the murder allegations. He claimed Mahmudul went to the pond to bathe around 8:30 am and failed to return, suggesting he might have drowned accidentally.

Gopalganj Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge Aminul Islam stated that the exact cause of death cannot be determined prior to receiving the post-mortem report. Necessary legal steps remain underway while interrogations continue.