Who was Tahsif Souri? Ex-Bangladesh air force officer linked to Hasina escape video found dead in Turag River

PTC Web Desk: Tahsif Souri, a former Bangladesh Air Force officer who has been linked to the video of Sheikh Hasina leaving the country, was found dead in a river in Dhaka. His family says he was murdered, but police have not yet confirmed how he died.

The body of 28-year-old former Flight Lieutenant KM Tahsif Souri was pulled out of the Turag River on Wednesday, a day after he went missing. Reports widely say he either recorded or shared the footage of Hasina boarding a military aircraft on August 5, 2024, though this has not been officially confirmed.

Bangladesh’s River Police confirmed the recovery on Thursday, October 29, and said the cause of death will be known only after a postmortem. Hours later, Souri’s cousin, Moshfeka Jahan, wrote on Facebook that he had been harassed over the video and was killed for it.

Authorities have not confirmed that Souri was involved in releasing the video, nor have they linked it to his death.

The incident comes only months before Hasina is expected to return to Bangladesh, as she has promised from exile in India.

Body found near Rajabari Ghat

According to The Daily Star, the police received a call on the national emergency helpline 999 about a body in the river. Souri had been missing since Tuesday, October 27.

Inspector Firoz Uddin of the Tongi River Police Outpost told The Business Standard that officers recovered the body around 4:30 pm near Rajabari Ghat in the Uttarkhan area of Dhaka. Souri was wearing white trousers and a black shirt. The police first treated it as an unidentified body and an iPhone found in his pocket helped them establish who he was. A wristwatch was also recovered.

The body was sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for an autopsy. Prothom Alo reports that Souri lived with his family in a flat in Sector 18 of Uttara. The police suspected drowning at first, but said nothing can be concluded until the postmortem report arrives.

Cousin alleges murder

The case took a political turn after Jahan posted in Bangla on Facebook at around 3:04 am on Thursday. She wrote that her brother was murdered and asked what his fault was. According to her, he did not record the video himself but shared it as a citizen, and it was one of his colleagues who had filmed it.

She alleged that he was mentally harassed again and again after the video spread and that he was pushed into retirement and tortured mentally even after that. She also claimed detectives kept following him after he left the Air Force, and that he was in good health but was called out of his home before he died.

His link to the Hasina video

Hasina fled Bangladesh on August 5, 2024, as mass protests ended her 15 years in power. Footage of her leaving on a military aircraft soon spread on social media. The Daily Star has described Souri as reportedly the person who recorded it, while his cousin says he only shared it. 

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