Some Bangladeshi commentators have blamed India’s external intelligence agency R&AW for the mysterious death of a former Bangladesh air force pilot accused of sharing Sheikh Hasina’s escape video. But what Souri’s case actually exposes is fissures within the Bangladesh military.
R&AW remains one of the most enduring red herrings in Bangladesh. Be it the assassination of former Bangladesh president Ziaur Rahman, the contested results of the elections that brought Sheikh Hasina to power for a historic fourth consecutive term, her dramatic escape from Bangladesh in a military helicopter on 5 August 2024 or the petrol bomb blasts in Dhaka this week, R&AW has been conveniently blamed for any political upheaval in Bangladesh. This is not just by conspiracy theorists but by journalists, geopolitical analysts and politicians alike.
It’s no wonder, then, that R&AW is being invoked in the case of former Flight Lieutenant KM Tahsif Souri, whose body was recovered from the Turag River in Dhaka’s Uttarkhan on 28 October.
What has muddied the waters is that Souri was dismissed from the air force after being accused of recording and sharing the video of Hasina’s escape, allegedly at the behest of R&AW. What the unfortunate death of the young pilot should have done instead is force the Bangladeshi military to take a long, hard look at itself.
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A mysterious death and R&AW
Souri reportedly went missing on 27 October, and his body was recovered from the Turag River the next day. The cause of his death was not confirmed. Souri’s father, KM Enayetul Karim Helal, told the press that an acquaintance named Dwip had taken Souri out on the evening of 27 October. At around 1.30 am the next day, Souri sent his mother a message saying he would return home, but he didn’t.
Helal also said that the former air force pilot had told him he feared for his life.
Souri’s family alleged that his mysterious death was linked to the video of Hasina’s escape. In a Facebook post, his cousin Moshfeka Jahan said Souri had been subjected to mental torture for days because he had reportedly shared a video showing Hasina leaving the country. She claimed Souri had told her that detectives continued to follow him even after he was sent into retirement.
“My brother was murdered. What was his fault? Sharing the video of Hasina fleeing? He did not even record it himself; he shared it as a citizen. One of his colleagues had recorded it,” Moshfeka Jahan wrote on Facebook. “They were not satisfied even after sending him into retirement and subjecting him to mental torture day after day. They had to kill him.”
A report in Amar Desh, a Bangladeshi newspaper, said Souri and fellow air force officer Flight Lieutenant Rifat Ashrafi had shot and circulated the Hasina video. Amar Desh also wrote that a Bangladesh Air Force investigation had revealed links between its officers and R&AW. In a podcast, Souri said the allegations that he had links to R&AW were nothing but propaganda.
Interestingly, R&AW, which was accused of recruiting the young Bangladeshi pilot as an asset, is now being held responsible for his death.
Journalist and popular YouTuber Elias Hussain has further claimed that India’s external intelligence agency was responsible for the murder of former Bangladeshi president Ziaur Rahman and other political assassinations in Bangladesh, and that the powers that be in Bangladesh allowed it to murder the pilot.
Political commentator Pinaki Bhattacharya has said that Souri had no links to R&AW but that the ‘forces’ behind Sheikh Hasina were behind his death. Bhattacharya said shadow operatives of R&AW are working inside the Bangladesh Air Force and that Souri’s death should be investigated and the network exposed.
The point that the Bangladeshi commentariat has missed in the controversy is the rot that has set in within the Bangladesh military.
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The divisions within
Problems within the Bangladesh military had surfaced long before Souri’s death. Geopolitical analyst Raja Muneeb told ThePrint that the Bangladesh military and bureaucracy have largely followed the work culture of West Pakistan even after independence in 1971, and that the same pattern seems to be at play.
“The ISI has used conveniently the excuse of R&AW to purge the military of officers who dissented from the establishment line or exposed corruption. Souri’s mysterious death is a leaf out of that same ISI textbook of a purge. This will have long-term implications for the Bangladesh military, [which is] prone to political as well as institutional pressures within,” Muneeb said.
In October 2025, the Bangladesh Army took 15 of its own officers into custody after the International Crimes Tribunal issued arrest warrants against them for alleged involvement in enforced disappearances and crimes against humanity during Hasina’s rule.
Addressing a press conference at Dhaka Cantonment soon after, Major General Md Hakimuzzaman said that of the 15 officers detained, 14 were serving and one was on leave pending retirement.
“The arrest of 15 serving officers had sent shockwaves within Bangladesh, as many felt what the Army was trying to do was purge itself from officers allegedly close to the Hasina dispensation and promote ones who were close to the Jamaat-e-Islami,” a defence editor with one of Dhaka’s leading newspapers told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
Bangladeshi journalist Shahidul Hasan Khokon told ThePrint that the Bangladesh Army had prided itself on being a professional force. But since the fall of the Hasina government on 5 August 2024, the force has become increasingly politicised.
“If you are not on the right side of the political equation, you could be dismissed from service on cooked-up charges, arrested like those officers or end up dead like KM Tahsif Souri,” Khokon said.
The defence editor told ThePrint that since Souri’s death, there has been unrest within the Bangladesh Air Force, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence, the primary military intelligence agency of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, and the National Security Intelligence, the country’s primary civilian intelligence agency.
“What the Jamaat is trying to do is purge the Bangladesh military of all professional soldiers and promote only radicalised officers,” the editor alleged. “But Souri’s death has created unrest within. It will be difficult for the military to put a lid on this one.”
With social unrest and lawlessness spreading within Bangladesh in the run-up to Sheikh Hasina’s planned intention to return in December, a dispirited and divided military would complicate matters further.
Blaming R&AW will not help clear the mess.
Deep Halder is an author and a contributing editor at ThePrint. He tweets @deepscribble. Views are personal.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)