Police on Wednesday exhumed a body thought to be of the late BNP leader Harris Chowdhury from a cemetery in Savar, Dhaka, for a DNA test.
If the body is confirmed to be his, it will be buried in his hometown of Sylhet, according to his last wishes.
The exhumation process began at around 8:30am at the Jamia Khatamun cemetery in the Kamalpur area of Birulia union, Savar.
Dhaka Superintendent of Police Ahmed Muyeed, Executive Magistrate SM Russell Islam Noor, and other administrative officials were present.
By 10:30am, the body was being removed under strict security, with six workers handling the process while law enforcement officers ensured safety.
The High Court had ordered a DNA test on Harris Chowdhury's body on September 5, following a writ petition filed by his daughter, Barrister Samira Tanjim Chowdhury.
In compliance with the order, the district magistrate instructed Executive Magistrate SM Russell Islam Noor to oversee the exhumation and maintain law and order during the proceedings.
HC orders exhumation, DNA test to verify identity of Harris ChowdhuryBurial as Mahmudur Rahman
Earlier, in 2021, media reports stated that on September 4 of that year, Abul Harris Chowdhury, former political secretary to Khaleda Zia, was buried under the name “Mahmudur Rahman” in a graveyard in the Jalalabad area of Savar, Dhaka.
Harris Chowdhury's daughter said that the recently deposed authoritarian government and its intelligence agencies staged a drama to question her father's death. The media repeatedly said that there was still ambiguity surrounding Harris Chowdhury's death.
"It is heartbreaking and painful as a child to have doubts about my father's death. People still ask if he is really dead, and we are being harassed because of it. So, we turned to the court to put an end to this,” she said.
In 2007, following the declaration of a state of emergency in Bangladesh, Harris Chowdhury and his wife went into hiding, leaving authorities without any information about their whereabouts.
He was accused in the August 21 grenade attack case, leading to an Interpol red notice in 2015 and a life imprisonment sentence in 2018.
He was also sentenced to seven years in prison for corruption in the Zia Charitable Trust case and implicated in the Shah AMS Kibria murder case, which is still under trial.
In January 2022, reports of his death surfaced, stating he had died in Dhaka three months earlier. However, the information was not publicly disclosed by his family, and the exact burial location remained unclear.
Reburial
Harris Chowdhury's family said that per his final wish, he will be buried in his hometown of Sylhet.
His daughter, Samira Tanjim Chowdhury, expressed frustration, saying: "People refuse to believe that this is my father's body. My grandfather did not bring him home for burial, and they never issued a death certificate. Some still claim Harris Chowdhury is alive, hiding, or running away. A good, honest man has been wrongly portrayed as a criminal."
Samira's father-in-law, Md Nazmul Arif Khan, added: "Once the DNA test is done, I hope he will receive state honours. He will be buried in Sylhet, as he wished."
SP Ahmed Muyeed said: "We believe this is the body of Harris Chowdhury. At the time of his death, the world was in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and his family chose to bury him in a safe location. Following a writ filed by his daughter on September 24, representatives from five organizations are present, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Office of the Registrar General, the district police, local representatives, and Savar police.”
“The grave is being dug in their presence, and once the necessary samples are collected for identification, it will be confirmed if this is indeed the body of Harris Chowdhury. He is a freedom fighter, and the family has requested state honours, which the government will address. He will be buried in line with his family's wishes," he added.
