Failed Drug Test, Explicit Footage, Seized Passport: What Tahsif Souri’s File Holds

Former Bangladesh Air Force Flight Lieutenant KM Tahsif Souri, 28, was found dead in the Turag River at Uttarkhan on Wednesday afternoon, a day after he went missing. Police have opened an investigation. The cause of death is unknown, and the autopsy and forensic reports are awaited.

Souri was widely linked to the video of Sheikh Hasina leaving the country by aircraft on 5 August 2024. The public record says his exit from service was routine. The Daily Campus has learned of a service file that tells a different story.

He did not record the footage

Another Air Force officer, Flight Lieutenant Rifat Ashrafi, filmed it. Souri posted it on his Facebook account, and it spread across social media. Souri himself said he did not shoot it.

What the Air Force said in public

On 4 August 2025, the Inter-Services Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) said Souri and Ashrafi had been retired through due process under the Air Force’s existing laws and regulations. It called misleading a media report that said the two had been compulsorily retired over recording and sharing the video. It said their retirement had no connection to that claim, or to allegations of links with foreign intelligence agencies.

The foreign-intelligence allegation concerned India’s RAW and came from a newspaper report. The Air Force rejected it, and Souri dismissed it as propaganda on a podcast. No evidence for it has been published.

What Has Not Been Reported

A source familiar with Souri’s service record, who requested anonymity, described a personnel file that, according to the source, contains details beyond those disclosed in the official statement. The Daily Campus has not independently reviewed the original documents. The following account is based solely on the source’s claims.

1. A failed drug test: According to the source, Souri tested positive in a routine drug test while serving in the Air Force. The source characterized the result as a serious disciplinary violation. It noted that Souri, then holding the rank of flight lieutenant, was transferred between several bases within a short period—an unusual pattern for an officer of that rank and position.
2. Proceedings over the footage: Official proceedings were initiated against Souri over the circulation of a video recorded inside a restricted military area, the source said. Souri has maintained that he did not record the footage. According to the source, however, the proceedings concerned its distribution rather than its recording.
3. A seized phone: The source said military authorities seized Souri’s phone during the investigation. Investigators allegedly found explicit material on the device, including recordings of several people made without their consent. According to the source, the proceedings continued while the military kept the phone.
4. A withheld passport and a stalled aviation career: The source said Souri’s passport was retained for approximately two years before being returned. The source further claimed that his flying hours were never reinstated in his official record, preventing him from flying for a commercial airline or pursuing other aviation work.

The source’s account differs from the position outlined in the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement, which described Souri’s retirement as routine and unrelated to the video. The source, by contrast, alleges that disciplinary issues arose both before and after the footage circulated.

These claims have not been independently verified by The Daily Campus, and the original records were not available for review.

The family says murder

Souri’s cousin, Moshfeka Jahan, wrote on Facebook that he was murdered. She said he had faced sustained mental pressure over the video, and that intelligence officers kept watching him after retirement, something she said he told her himself. She wrote that he only shared the video. She gave no evidence.

His father, KM Enayetul Karim Helal, said a younger acquaintance named Dwip took Souri out on Tuesday evening. Police have not said whether Dwip has been questioned.

Police have not said they suspect foul play, and have not ruled it out. Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed declined to comment until the preliminary investigation and the autopsy are done.

How he was found

Souri lived in Sector 18 of Uttara. His body drifted down the Turag and caught against a speedboat near the Rajabari ferry terminal, where it stayed for hours. Around 4:30pm, someone called 999. The Tongi River Police outpost recovered the body at Rajabari Ghat. Constable Mohammad Rakib of the River Police control room confirmed it.

He wore white pyjamas and a black shirt, with a wristwatch on his hand and an iPhone in his pocket. Police identified him by the phone. River Police Superintendent Abdullah Al Mamun said no injuries were visible on the outside of the body. The initial police report notes blood coming from the nose. The body went to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital for autopsy.