Police claim they have unravelled a mystery after they discovered the body of a man named Ismail Hossain with his mouth taped shut on the Dhaka Elevated Expressway.

A message sent by the Dhaka Metropolitan Police Media and Public Relations Wing on Saturday night made the claim, stating that several people have been detained in connection with the incident.

Police are planning to hold a press conference at the DMP Media Centre on Sunday afternoon to provide details.

However, an officer from the police’s Gulshan Division said that three people have been taken into custody in connection with the incident. Among them are a bus driver named Sohel Rana, his assistant Monir, and supervisor Saju – two of whom were identified with single names. One of them has been taken into custody by the Rapid Action Battalion and two by the police.

The officer said, "We are interrogating them, trying to find out the details of the incident."

RAB-1 said in a statement on Saturday night that bus driver Sohel Rana has been arrested in Mohakhali. He is the “prime suspect”.

"A bus named Raj Classic used in the murder has been seized," the force said.

Banani Police Station chief Faridul Islam said, “We identified several vehicles during the investigation. Based on that information, several people have been arrested, along with the seized vehicles. Our operation is still ongoing.”

Police recovered the body of an unidentified man from the Dhaka Elevated Expressway on Friday morning. The body had tape over the mouth. It was also wearing a blue shirt and lungi, a common mode of dress for autorickshaw drivers.

Later, after taking fingerprints and comparing them with the national identity card database, the police identified the 50-year-old victim as Ismail Hossain, who hailed from Jamalpur Sadar Upazila.

On Saturday, the family said that Ismail was returning to Gazipur from his village home in Jamalpur with Tk 500,000 after selling land to finance his daughter’s wedding. His family members said that the money was “missing”.