Bangladeshi police began exhuming a mass grave on Sunday that is believed to contain around 114 unidentified victims of a mass uprising that toppled autocratic former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year.
The UN-supported effort is being advised by Argentine forensic anthropologist Luis Fondebrider, who has led recovery and identification missions at mass graves worldwide for decades.
The bodies were buried at the Rayerbazar Graveyard in Dhaka by the volunteer group Anjuman Mufidul Islam, which said it handled 80 unclaimed bodies in July and another 34 in August 2024 – all people reported to have been killed during weeks of deadly protests.
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The United Nations says up to 1,400 people were killed in crackdowns as Hasina attempted to cling to power – deaths that formed part of her conviction last month for crimes against humanity.
Criminal Investigation Department (CID) chief Md Sibgat Ullah said investigators believed the mass grave held roughly 114 bodies, but the exact number would only be known once exhumations were complete.
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“We can only confirm once we dig the graves and exhume the bodies,” Ullah told reporters.
‘Searched for him’