Dutch-Bangla chamber chief found dead

Four days after going missing from Dhaka’s Dhanmondi, Dutch-Bangla Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Hassan Khaled was found dead in Buriganga river today.

On information, police went to Signboard area on the bank of Buriganga River around 12noon and found the body floating in the river, Ferdous Hasan, officer-in-charge Keraniganj Police Station, told The Daily Star.

Hassan, 55, also the chief executive officer of New Era Trading, left his Dhanmondi home around 9:00am Saturday to buy medicines from a nearby shop but did not return.

Police found some visiting cards with the body and then called Nazrul Islam Chowdhury Didar, administrative officer of the DBCCI, to identify whether it was missing Khaled or not.

Didar rushed to the spot with Hassan Murad, younger brother of the victim, and identified the body.

Police suspected that Hassan was killed four days ago and was thrown into the river, the OC said. “There were no marks of injuries on the body.”

Until yesterday, police were clueless about Hassan’s whereabouts. They went through surveillance cameras in the neighbourhood but could not reach any definitive conclusion.

Hassan is one of the founders of the DBCCI, established in November 1999, and he has been involved in advocating bilateral trade between Bangladesh and the Netherlands.

He was residing on the third floor of a six-storey building in Dhanmondi over the last three years with his wife and daughter.

Besides, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry in a statement expressed deep shock and demanded immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers.