Finally, after 29 hours, allegations of negligence in recovering the worker’s body surfaced.
Feni Correspondent:
A construction worker named Md. Abu Bakkar Siddique (23) suddenly disappeared while sitting on a geo-bag of sand on the banks of the Feni Mahuri River.
The incident took place at 5 pm on Friday (June 9) in the Feni Mahuri River in the villages of Purba Char Krishnajoy (Guchchagram), Charlamchi Dubba, Purba Sonapur and Badamtali of Amirabad Union of Sonagazi Upazila.
29 hours after the disappearance, the police recovered the body of the worker from the Feni River at around 9:30 pm on Saturday, May 10, with the help of locals.
The deceased Md. Abu Bakkar Siddique is a resident of Padua Union of Rangunia Upazila of Chittagong District.
Abu Bakkar renounced Hinduism and converted to Islam on July 26, 2020, with the help of Imam A’la Hazrat Sunni Parishad at the Notary Public Office of the Senior Assistant Commissioner and Executive Magistrate’s Court in Chittagong.
His previous name was Pranap Kumar Dey, his father’s name was Tapan Kanti Dey. After converting, he changed his name to Md. Abu Bakkar Siddique.
Eyewitness and labor supervisor Md. Sheikh Farid told Jugantor that on Wednesday evening, June 8, Abu Bakkar Siddique came to work as an assistant to deliver geo bags of sand and worked all night and went to sleep at around 4 am. Abu Bakkar woke up at around 9 am and went to the shop to have breakfast with three hundred taka. After breakfast, he filled ten geo bags with sand.
Abu Bakkar took a bath in the Feni River in the afternoon after working as a sand loader, came back and ate lunch and fell asleep. Construction worker Abu Bakkar suddenly disappeared from his sleep around 5 pm while sitting on a sand geo bag on the bank of the Feni River in the Guchchagram area of Amirabad Union.
Immediately after the incident, construction worker Ershad went to the scene and saw a gurgling sound in the river water and two plastic shoes on Abu Bakkar’s feet floating. Immediately, ten to twelve workers went into the river and searched extensively, but no trace of him was found.
On Saturday, June 10, at around 8:30 pm, Abu Bakkar’s body was found 29 hours later from the exact spot where Abu Bakkar had fallen into the river in the Guchchagram area. At that time, a man saw Abu Bakkar’s body with a flashlight and started screaming, and the news of the body spread throughout the area.
At that time, hundreds of men and women crowded along the river to see the body and get a glimpse of Abu Bakkar. Later, the police of Sonagazi Model Police Station arrived at the scene, recovered the body and sent it to the morgue.
When the construction worker could not be found, the Water Development Board contractor Manju informed him, but he wasted time by saying that he would inform the administration. The fire service did not even pay attention to the matter of the worker’s disappearance.
Local resident Kamal said that despite knowing that a new Muslim had gone missing in the river, the diving teams of the Sonagazi and Feni fire services did not even come to the scene, let alone conduct a rescue operation. Even after the incident, the Water Development Board contractor and the owner’s side people came to the ground, but did not talk to anyone. Locals also said that the Water Development Board contractor fled despite knowing about the incident.
SI Investigation Officer of Sonagazi Model Police Station Ahsanul Haque said that a correspondent of the local daily Jugantor reported the news after seeing the body floating in the Feni river. Later, the body was recovered and sent to the Feni Sadar Hospital morgue for an autopsy.
After the autopsy, journalists Dulal Talukder, Solaiman Dalim, Yasir Arafat Rubel, and Md. Abdur Rahim, working in Feni, took him into their custody and arranged to send the body to Rangunia in Chittagong via freezer ambulance.
Journalist Dulal Talukder said, we completed all the procedures at Feni Sadar Hospital and sent the body to Rangunia around 3 pm. They also said that the funeral will be held in his own area after Maghrib prayers at the initiative of the Gaushia Committee and Sunni Parishad in Rangunia. It is also known that Abu Bakkar’s family will not accept the body as he has converted to Islam.
However, it is also known that his father-in-law Md. Ayub Ali will accept his body in Rangunia.
Abu Bakkar’s father-in-law Ayub Ali said that Abu Bakkar died due to the negligence of the Water Development Board contractor.
They said that such deaths occurred because the workers were not provided with safety equipment while doing the work. They requested the administration to properly investigate the matter of the death. However, they also said that they will take legal action regarding the death.
No statement was received from the contractor or any official of the Water Development Board on this matter.
