'Chased by cop', he drowns

The body of a man, who jumped into a river after being allegedly chased by police on Sunday night and remained missing since then, was recovered in Sarishabari upazila of the district yesterday.

The deceased, Ismail Hossain, 40, was a farmer and son of Hossain Ali of Jhalupara village in the upazila.

Police quoted villagers as saying that Ismail and three others of the village were playing cards near the bank of Jhalupara river on the night of December 31 when a team of patrol police approached them.

Seeing the policemen, the four jumped into the river to escape arrest, said Fakir Miah, 42, one of the three who managed to cross the river.

Ismail could not swim ashore and drowned in the river.

Then the three searched for Ismail for couple of hours, but failed to find him.

The following morning, the trio together with villagers searched for Ismail again but failed to find the body, Fakir said.

Finally, a three-member divers team from Mymensingh Fire Station launched a search operation in the river and recovered Ismail's body around 2:00pm.

Police chased Ismail forcing him to jump into the river, alleged the deceased's family members and locals.

Denying the allegation, Officer-in-Charge of Sarishabari Police Station Rezaul Islam said he had no idea whether any policemen chased the four or not.

They might have jumped into the river mistaking some other people as policemen, the OC added.