The body of a lighter vessel's crew who went missing near Bhasan Char coast in the early hours of Friday was recovered this afternoon.

The victim is Mostafa Kamal, 40, of Noapara village under the jurisdiction of Fakirhat Police Station in Bagherhat, said police.

His body was found floating in the Bay near Halishahar coast of Chattogram city.

He was an in-charge driver of a lighter tanker Mercantile-21, according to river police.

Lt Shakib Mehbub, media officer of Bangladesh Coast Guard East Zone, said they were informed by the lighter vessel workers association on April 25 that Kamal went missing when the lighter vessel on its way to Dhaka from Chattogram was crossing near Bhasan Char area in the early hours.

Coast Guard members then conducted search operations but failed to find the body.

Being informed about a body floating near Patenga coast, a team went there and rescued the body floating along the Marine Drive Way near CEPZ in Halishahar around 3:00pm and handed over to river police, Shakib added.

Sub Inspector Md Kamal Hossain of Sadarghat River Police Station said the relatives of the Mostafa identified the body which was sent to Chittagong Medical College morgue for autopsy.

Meanwhile, leaders of the lighter vessel worker's union and family members alleged that Kamal might have been killed.

The vessel's Master Ramjan filed a general diary with Hatiya Police Station on Friday stating that Kamal could not be found when the ship was crossing river Meghna along the coast of Kazir Bazar in Hatiya on Friday.

Meanwhile, the victim's nephew Afsarul Islam filed a GD with the same police station on Saturday accusing the master for not giving an immediate announcement about his in-charge driver going missing through the ship's VHF (very high frequency) radio to seek help from other lighter vessels.

In his GD, Afsarul also questioned why the master did not anchor the ship at Hatiya Ghat after finding out Kamal was missing and rather anchored at Char Gazaria.

He also expressed concern in the GD that his uncle might have been a victim of enforced disappearance.

Jahangir Alam, president of Bangladesh Lighterage Workers' Union, also suspected that Kamal might have been murdered as there was prior enmity between him and the ship's master.

Sandwip Nabik Bohumukhi Samabay Samity, an organisation of crewmen from Sandwip, announced to form a human chain in the port city on Monday afternoon demanding a probe into his alleged murder.