Afghan man waits for brother’s body
An Afghan man has been waiting for weeks to take his brother’s body back to Afghanistan after the remains were recovered from the Ichamati River near the Maheshpur border and buried in Jhenaidah more than four months ago.
Imal Mohammadi, brother of Afghan national Hasmat Mohammadi, arrived in Jhenaidah on Monday with DNA test reports, identity documents and letters from government authorities. However, the exhumation and repatriation of the body remain stalled because the Jhenaidah district administration has yet to receive formal clearance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Imal has reportedly been in Bangladesh for more than one and a half months, making repeated efforts to complete the process.
Advocate Mahmudul Hasan Masum, Imal’s Bangladeshi lawyer, said the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a no-objection letter on August 11, allowing the body to be exhumed and sent to Afghanistan. The letter was sent to the Foreign Secretary, Jhenaidah Deputy Commissioner and Superintendent of Police, with instructions to take necessary measures.
However, the district administration has not received the required formal directive from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Officials said the matter involves the remains of a foreign national, and the body cannot be exhumed and handed over until the necessary instructions are received from the Foreign Ministry.
How the Body Was Identified
Police and Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) recovered an unidentified body floating in the Ichamati River near the Polianpur border in Maheshpur on April 13.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) later collected fingerprints and checked the national identity database, but found no matching information. As the identity could not be established, the body was buried at the Jhenaidah Municipality Central Graveyard through Anjuman Mofidul Islam on April 14. An unnatural death case was also filed with Maheshpur Police Station.
Later, relatives in Afghanistan identified the deceased from photographs of the body shared on social media. They identified him as Hasmat Mohammadi, a resident of the Panjshir area of Afghanistan.
Hasmat’s brother Mir Wais Mohammadi, who lives in London, subsequently came to Bangladesh and attempted to take the body home but could not complete the process because of legal and administrative complications.
On August 24, another brother, Imal, arrived in Jhenaidah with additional documents, including DNA test reports and government letters.
Speaking from a restaurant in Jhenaidah, Imal said an autopsy report indicated that his brother had died of a heart attack. The family wants only to take the body back to Afghanistan and bury him according to their religious traditions.
He said repeatedly visiting different government offices had left him mentally exhausted.
Lawyer Mahmudul Hasan Masum urged the authorities to consider the humanitarian aspect of the matter and issue the necessary instructions as soon as possible.
Jhenaidah Deputy Commissioner Noman Hossain said the administration was ready to provide all necessary assistance.
“We are ready to provide all kinds of cooperation. The process of handing over the body will begin once we receive the letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” he said.
