Dhaka – After a year and a half of uncertainty and grief, families of the July uprising victims are finally seeing progress in their search for loved ones. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) began exhuming 114 unidentified bodies at the Rayerbazar graveyard yesterday to collect DNA samples for identification.
For 60-year-old Rasheda Begum, each Thursday at the graveyard has been a ritual of prayer and hope. She believes one of the graves may hold her son, Sohel Rana, who went missing while joining protests in Shyampur on July 18 last year.
Holding a photo of her son, she said tearfully, “My son went to Shyampur and never returned. After 34 days, I learned he had been buried here as an unidentified body. Today, the CID is collecting DNA samples. I hope we finally find him.”
Among other grieving families, 19-year-old Raiyan Hossain came seeking closure for his father, Rafiqul Islam, who disappeared on July 19 after leaving their Gopibagh home for evening prayers. “We searched everywhere, including Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Now that CID has begun exhumation for DNA identification, we hope to finally know if he was buried here,” Raiyan said.
The CID, supported by a forensic team from Dhaka Medical College and Argentine forensic anthropologist Luis Fondibrider, set up a temporary lab at the graveyard to facilitate DNA sampling and post-mortem analysis. Alvi Nabil Hossain, Sohel’s younger brother, confirmed that family members had provided blood samples at the CID headquarters in Malibagh to assist with the identification process.
CID Chief Md Sibgat Ullah emphasized that the operation follows international forensic protocols. “Once exhumation is complete, DNA tests will be conducted. Families may choose to receive the identified bodies for burial, or they will be reburied here with proper religious rites,” he said.
Fondibrider, who has supervised similar operations in 65 countries over 40 years, is overseeing the process. “All steps—from exhumation to post-mortem analysis, tissue sampling, DNA profiling, and reburial—are being carefully executed in phases. While 114 graves have been identified for exhumation, the final number may vary,” Sibgat added.
So far, ten families have submitted DNA samples, with the option for others to come forward in the coming days. Two bodies were exhumed on the first day for testing. Since the original burial of the July uprising victims, the Rayerbazar graveyard has been enclosed with marble and tiles by the city corporation to honor the victims.
Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Home Adviser, had previously announced in August the government’s initiative to identify all victims who had been buried as unidentified, providing a long-awaited step toward closure for grieving families.