The recovery of three bodies from the Turag River in separate incidents over two days has fuelled speculation on social media, with police dismissing claims linking the deaths to the banned Awami League's anniversary procession as "false and misleading".

The bodies were recovered on 24 and 26 June from different parts of the Turag River in Dhaka, confirmed police officials.

According to police, social media posts have claimed that police and BNP activists attacked the banned Awami League's anniversary procession and that seven party activists subsequently went missing, with three or four of their bodies later recovered from the river.

Bangladesh Police, however, said no such incident has been reported and urged the public not to be misled by what it described as a coordinated disinformation campaign.

Three separate incidents

Ashulia police recovered the partially decomposed body of 17-year-old Md Sumon from the Turag River near Goruhata Ghat shortly after midnight on 26 June.

Sumon, who traded vegetables at Kamarpara market, had shared videos of Awami League activities on his Facebook account.

Earlier, on the morning of 24 June, Aminbazar River Police Outpost and Darus Salam Police Station recovered the partially decomposed body of Arif Hasan Rakib from the Turag River near Gabtoli. According to media reports quoting his family, Arif was associated with Awami League politics. Both Sumon and Arif were residents of the Ranabhola area under Turag Police Station.

On the same day, another young man, Rony Molla, drowned while bathing at Diabari Ghat in the Turag River in Uttara. His body was recovered about 30 minutes later by locals. He worked at a hotel in the Diabari area.

Humayun Kabir, sub-inspector and in-charge of Aminbazar River Police Outpost, told The Business Standard that Arif's uncle had filed an unnatural death case, stating that Arif had left home on 22 June and later fell into the Turag River while spending time with friends.

Rony's father also filed an unnatural death case following his son's drowning, he added.

Police deny political link

Following the circulation of the claims online, Police Headquarters issued a statement on Saturday (27 June), saying rumours that the bodies of seven Awami League or Chhatra League activists had been found floating in the Turag River were entirely baseless.

"The Bangladesh Police has not received any information regarding such an incident. We urge everyone not to be misled by false propaganda being spread on social media," the statement said.

Police also warned that legal action would be taken against those found spreading misinformation aimed at creating confusion and undermining public confidence in law enforcement.

SP says no complaints of missing activists

At a press briefing today (28 June), Dhaka Superintendent of Police Shamima Parvin said Sumon's family had filed an unnatural death case stating that he had fallen into the Turag River while getting off a boat during a trip with friends on 22 June.

She added that Rony had drowned while bathing in the river and that both incidents were unrelated.

The SP said vested interests were attempting to give the incidents a political colour to create a negative perception about the country's law and order situation.

She also noted that 170 unnatural death cases had been filed in Dhaka district between March and May this year, many involving unidentified bodies.

"Dhaka district is intersected by several rivers. Sometimes bodies are dumped here after murders committed elsewhere, while drowning incidents also occur regularly in the Turag River," she said.

Responding to a question about the alleged disappearance of seven Awami League activists, Shamima said police had received no complaint or information supporting such claims.

"We have no information that seven people went missing. No one has filed any complaint with us regarding such an incident," she said.

Asked about social media claims that two of the deceased had attended the Awami League procession, she said police rely on evidence rather than online speculation.

"A banned political party is spreading these rumours. We investigate information based on evidence, not social media posts. We have verified the claims and found them to be completely false," she added.

No such incident reported in Turag: DMP

At a separate briefing at the DMP Media Centre, DMP Joint Commissioner (Crime) Mohammad Faruk Hossain said police had thoroughly reviewed the claims circulating on social media.

He said no serial recovery of bodies, homicide or similar incident had been reported within Turag Police Station under the Uttara Division.

He added that no general diary, complaint or case related to the claims had been filed with Turag Police Station by any individual or organisation.