AL leader found dead at Cox’s Bazar hotel

Police recovered the body of an Awami League leader, hanging from a noose tied to a ceiling fan, at a hotel in Cox’s Bazar this afternoon.

The deceased was identified as Ismail Mehedi, 50, former general secretary of AL’s Naikhyangchari Upazila committee, our Cox’s Bazar correspondent reports quoting police.

The body was found hanging from ceiling fan at hotel Palonki at Lal Dighirpar in Sadar around 3:00pm, said Md Aslam Hossain, officer-in-charge (OC) of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Model Police Station.

On information from the hotel authorities, police broke open the door of his room and found the body hanging, he said. Ismail had checked into the room yesterday.

The body was sent to Cox’s Bazar Sadar hospital for autopsy, the OC said.

‘A murder?’

Meanwhile, family members and followers of the AL leader suspected that Mehedi was murdered. They suspect the murder was motivated from an internal feud, reports our Bandarban correspondent.

Josna Akthar, wife of the victim said her husband always felt unsecured as he received death threats several times from his party men.

Earlier on Saturday morning, Mehedi posted a status on his Facebook account where he mentioned one Md Shafiullah, an AL leader of the upazila “issued death threat to him over internal feud”.

Contacted, Shafiullah however denied the allegation. “Ismail committed suicide for his depression,” he claimed.