March 11, 2026
DHAKA – Police have arrested four people, including two dental students, for allegedly collecting human skeletons from graves across the country and selling them through an online network.
During raids conducted last night in Monipuri Para of Tejgaon and in Uttara, police recovered 47 human skulls and a large quantity of human bones.
Mohammad Ibne Mizan, deputy commissioner of the Tejgaon Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), disclosed the information at a press briefing at the DMP Media Centre today.
The arrested dental students are Md Faisal Ahmed, 26, and Kazi Jahurul Islam, also known as Soumik, 25.
Faisal recently sat for his final examinations at Sapporo Dental College & Hospital and was awaiting his internship, while Soumik is a final-year student at the same institution.
Police also two others identified as Abul Kalam, 39, and Asadul Munsi, 32.
DC Mizan said police had been conducting special drives since the beginning of Ramadan. Last night, Tejgaon police received information that human skeletons were being sold in Monipuri Para.
“Acting on the tip-off, our team went to the area and questioned a suspicious individual. During interrogation, we recovered a human skeleton from Soumik’s possession,” he said.
Based on information obtained from him, police arrested Abul Kalam and Asadul Munsi from in front of Tejgaon College with two more skeletons.
During further interrogation, investigators learned that the group was part of an organised network operating across the country. They also said more skeletons were stored in a room at the hostel of Sapporo Dental College in Uttara.
“Following the information, police conducted another drive at the hostel in Uttara Sector 9 and arrested Faisal. From the room, we recovered 44 human skulls and various human bones kept in bags and sacks,” the DC said.
He added that the group ran an online platform called “Bones Selling”, through which skeletons were mainly sold to medical and dental students.
According to DC Mizan, the online group has around 20,000 members, while nearly 700 people are involved in different stages of the operation.
During interrogation, Faisal told investigators that members of the network collected skeletons from graves in Gazipur, Mymensingh, Sherpur and Jamalpur.
“They usually waited for about a year after burial before digging up bodies from unprotected graves lacking security, lighting or CCTV cameras,” the DC said.
The skeletons were bought from field-level collectors for Tk 6,000–8,000 and later sold for Tk 15,000–20,000 after being processed with chemicals.
DC Mizan said Abul Kalam faces 22 cases on various charges, including skeleton theft and drug-related offences.
Asadul Munsi also has two cases against him.
“If any family suspects that the remains of their relatives were taken from graves, we will arrange DNA testing to help verify the identities,” he said.
Police will seek remand for the arrestees to identify other members of the network, he added.