Immigration Desk/

Bangladeshi expatriate activist Sohel Miar, who was kidnapped in Malaysia, was finally found. But not alive, the body of this 39-year-old remittance fighter was recovered.

On Thursday (October 6), Sohail’s body was recovered from the forest behind a factory on Road No. 10 in Taming Jaya Industrial Park, Serikambagan, Selangor state, 30 kilometers from the capital Kuala Lumpur, the local Kajang police station. This information has been confirmed by the Bangladesh High Commission and Sohel’s expatriate relatives.

Malaysian Kajang OCPD Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zaid Hassan said the body was partially decomposed and the victim’s hands and face were bound with cellophane tape and a sarong. He said that Sohail’s body was recovered based on the confessional statement of 4 expatriate Bangladeshis detained in the kidnapping incident. Kazang Police launched the operation based on a complaint lodged by Sohail’s uncle Mizan.

Sohail’s expatriate uncle Mizan Bhagina identified Sohail’s body after bringing the body to Sardang Hospital on Friday morning. The body has been kept at the hospital for postmortem.

Sohail Mia was abducted from his home in Tamil Jaya area on the night of 25 September last. Sohail’s family also sent the ransom of Tk 5 lakh demanded by the abductors through a bank branch in Barisal, Bangladesh on September 27 under threat of death. But still not released, Sohail’s family filed two cases in Malaysia and one in the country. Also, his family has applied for the assistance of the Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia.

Sohail Mia, son of late Ahmed Mia of Dakshin Dhalapara village of Ghatail upazila of Tangail, has been living in Malaysia for 15 years. Sohail worked in a factory there.

According to the Kajong Police, two Bangladeshis were arrested from Beranong area on the afternoon of October 5 and two more from Semonia area the next day on suspicion of involvement in the incident. The names of Mamun Shikder and Alamgir have been revealed among the arrested, but the police have not disclosed the names of the other two for the sake of investigation.

Meanwhile, RAB arrested a person named Nasir Uddin (38) with ransom money from Barguna on Tuesday (October 4). Nasir was arrested on the basis of the kidnapping case of Billal Hossain, Sohel’s sister-in-law, in Tangail’s Ghatail police station. On Wednesday, the court rejected the 7-day remand application of the Ghatail police station and ordered to send them to jail.

Bangladesh High Commission’s Counselor Consular GM Russell Rana said, Malaysia police administration has confirmed the recovery of Sohail Mia’s body based on the arrest of 4 kidnappers and their statements. Details about how he was killed are yet to be revealed. The Malaysian police are in the field to arrest those who are involved in other incidents – added the counselor.

Bangladeshi expatriates in Malaysia are speechless after hearing the news of the recovery of Sohail’s body on Friday morning. They demanded severe punishment for those involved in the heinous crime of abducting natives on foreign soil and killing them for ransom.

Expressing regret over the incident, Golam Sarwar, the High Commissioner of Bangladesh appointed to Malaysia, said that all the gangs involved in the abduction and murder of Sohel Mia will be brought under strict punishment. Those who try to tarnish the country’s image abroad will not be exempted.

He also said that since the abduction of Sohail Rana, the High Commission has been in constant communication with the police administration of Bangladesh besides the Malaysian law enforcement agencies.