Police probing mystery deaths of two cousins in car at Malibagh hospital basement

Police are investigating the mysterious deaths of two men whose bodies were found this afternoon inside a car parked in the basement of Sirajul Islam Medical College and Hospital in Dhaka's Malibagh area.

The victims have been identified as Zakir Hossain, 40, and Mizan, 42, from Gomatoli village in Noakhali's Chatkhil upazila. They were cousins.

According to Masud Alam, deputy commissioner of Ramna Division Police, officers went to the scene after receiving information and recovered the bodies -- Zakir in the driver's seat and Mizan in the passenger seat.

It is not yet clear whether the men were murdered or died from other causes, Alam said, adding that CCTV footage and other evidence were being collected. The bodies were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for autopsy.

Police said the white private car entered the hospital parking lot around 5:30am yesterday.

One person got out of the car at the hospital gate and went away. Since then, the car remained in the parking lot. Police noted that the bodies had already begun decomposing when discovered.

It was later found that the person who got off the car was its owner, Zubair Al Mahmud Sourav, also from Noakhali's Chatkhil.

Contacted, Sourav told The Daily Star he ran a rent-a-car service and Zakir was working as a driver for the last three months.

"I came to Dhaka to drop off a person at the airport. Mizan tagged along as his relative booked the car. Zakir and Mizan were supposed to pick up some relatives from Sirajul Islam hospital around 11:00am yesterday and return to Chatkhil. Since there were too many passengers, I got off at the hospital gate and took a bus to Noakhali from Sayedabad," he said.

"I called Zakir in the evening since he was supposed to be back in Noakhali by then, but got no response," he added.

Md Mizan, the hospital's security-in-charge, told reporters he was conducting his routine inspection when he noticed the men inside.

"I knocked on the window but got no response. When I pulled the door open, I found them unconscious. I immediately informed the hospital authorities, who called the police," he said.