Forty-eight hours after being shot and taken away from his home, Swapan Bepari remains untraced. Family members are searching for his body on the Padma River by boat.
Although a case has been filed at the police station over the incident, police say that since the body has not been recovered, the case has not yet been registered as a murder case. The case has been filed based on the plaintiff's description. If the body is found, the case will be converted into a murder case.
A group of people shot Swapan Bepari, son of Siddique Bepari of Kalidaskhali village in Chak Rajapur Union of Bagha Upazila, Rajshahi, in front of his house around 11:40 pm last Monday night. Later, they put him on a boat and left. The assailants had arrived with two boats.
Police have not declared him dead until his body is recovered. However, his family claims that Swapan Bepari is no longer alive. He suffered profuse bleeding after being shot. A person cannot survive such blood loss.
The Padma River is adjacent to Siddique Bepari's house. Swapan recently built a separate house a few yards away from his father's house. He owns a grocery shop. There were 33 dredgers extracting sand from the river beside the house. The workers from the dredgers used to buy oil from Swapan's shop. Swapan Bepari has one son and one daughter. His son studies in the ninth grade, and his daughter is married.
Swapan's mother, Rokea Begum, said that on Monday night, her son came and sat in the breeze in front of their house because of the heat. At that time, 4-5 people from the sand dredgers came and sat in front of the house. Shortly after, two boats arrived. The people on the boats asked her son, 'Why are you here?' Her son replied, 'This is my house.' He answered three times, 'This is my house.' On the fourth time, her son said, 'This is my father's house.' As soon as he said this, they opened fire.
Swapan Bepari's mother, Rokea Begum, said hearing this, she opened the window of the house. Six people were standing by the window. They threatened her, saying, 'Close the window, or we will shoot you. Otherwise, we will burn you with acid.'
On Tuesday, Siddique Bepari filed a case at Bagha Police Station without naming any accused. As of 2:00 pm on Wednesday, police had not arrested anyone in this case.
Meanwhile, not finding any trace of his son, Siddique Bepari, along with family members, is searching the Padma River for his son's body. They are looking to see if any body has surfaced anywhere after 24 hours.
