Pulak Chatterjee, a former general secretary of the Barishal Press Club and former bureau chief of Bangla daily Samakal, was found dead at the newspaper’s Barishal bureau office this evening.
Mamun-ul Islam, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station, said a journalist called him around 6:30pm to report that the Samakal office door was locked from the inside.
A police team, led by Sub-Inspector Sonet, reached the office around 6:45pm, he said.
SI Sonet told The Daily Star that local residents and journalists had begun trying to break open the door before police arrived at the scene.
“After the door was opened, I found Pulak’s body hanging from the ceiling inside the office,” he said.
The body remained at the scene until around 8:15pm, the police officer added.
Suman Chowdhury, who is currently in charge of the bureau, said Pulak Chatterjee, 55, was dismissed from Samakal in May 2023. Since then, he would often come to the office and spend time there.
Suman said Pulak called him around 2:47pm today and asked when he would come to the office.
He said that when he arrived at the office around 6:15pm, he found the door locked from the inside. He called out repeatedly but received no response.
Other journalists and local residents later gathered at the scene and began trying to break open the door.
Police then arrived and recovered Pulak’s body, he added.
OC Mamun said police initially believed Pulak may have died by suicide, adding that further details would be known after the autopsy.
Police were investigating the circumstances surrounding his death, he added.
Barishal Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abu Raihan Muhammad Saleh told this correspondent that police had found a note in Pulak’s pocket. Based on its contents, police suspect that he may have died by suicide.
Source: https://www.thedailystar.net/news/crime-justice/news/former-general-secretary-barishal-press-club-found-dead-4270421
