The body of a young man who went missing after falling into the Padma River was recovered on Saturday morning in Ishwardi Upazila, ending a tense 20-hour search operation.
The deceased, identified as Rifat Hasan Raktim, was the son of Zakir Hossain from the Dilalpur area of Pabna Municipality.
According to local sources, Raktim and his friends were on a boat trip near the historic Hardinge Bridge on Friday afternoon when sudden, stormy winds caused him to fall overboard into the river at around 3:30 PM. In a desperate bid to save him, two of his friends jumped into the water but quickly found themselves in distress.
Upon receiving the alert, the Naval Police rushed to the scene and successfully rescued the two friends. However, Raktim remained untraceable.
A joint rescue mission was launched early the following morning. Following a three-and-a-half-hour search operation by divers from the Fire Service and Civil Defence alongside the Naval Police, Raktim's body was spotted and recovered from the river channel between the Hardinge and Lalon Shah bridges at approximately 11:30 AM.
