Body of Youth Missing After Idol Immersion Recovered from River After 36 Hours
The body of Bijoy Chandra Koch, 20, who went missing after falling from a boat into the Bangshai River while returning home after an idol immersion, has been recovered. About 36 hours after he went missing, locals spotted his body floating in the river on Friday morning (Oct. 23) near the Dumni Bari Jame Mosque area in neighbouring Basail upazila.
The body was later taken to the Dopapara area of Dariyapur, where family members identified Bijoy. The identification ended nearly a day and a half of anxiety and waiting for the family — though it ended in the most painful outcome.
Bijoy Chandra Koch was the son of Khanindra Chandra Koch of Dhoparchala village in Baheratail union under Sakhipur upazila of Tangail. The journey home of the 20-year-old turned out to be the last journey of his life.
According to police and local sources, Bijoy was returning home by boat from Ratanjanj on Wednesday evening after the idol immersion rituals ended. Like many others, he was travelling back by river after the ceremony.
On the way, he fell from the boat into the Bangshai River near Goyalbari and went missing. The report did not detail how he fell from the boat, but he could not be found after the fall.
The next day, a Fire Service diving team and local people searched the river throughout the day. Despite that joint search by divers and locals, he was not found that day, and the family's anxiety deepened as another night passed.
Finally, about 36 hours after he went missing, his body surfaced on Friday morning within Basail upazila's waters, some distance from the spot where he fell. Locals first saw the body floating in the river near the Dumni Bari Jame Mosque area.
On receiving the news, police went to the spot and recovered the body. Sakhipur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Md. Murad Hossain said police went to the scene and recovered the body.
The OC also said legal proceedings in the incident are under way. In other words, the next steps will be taken after completing the necessary legal process following the recovery.
An accident of this kind during river travel around the immersion has cast deep grief over the family and local residents. Losing a young man in this way on his way home after a festival ritual has cast a shadow of mourning over Dhoparchala village.
Now, after the family's identification, the body awaits the completion of the legal process. Police said further measures will be taken once the under-way legal proceedings are completed.
