Army man killed in Ctg training accident laid to rest beside mother in Rajshahi

Soldier Laid to Rest Beside Mother in Rajshahi

Bdbusinessdaily.com – Army serviceman Tasnim Rifat was buried beside his mother in his family cemetery in Rajshahi on 10 September, two days after he died during a firing exercise in Chattogram.

His final rites took place at Bindarampur village in Paba Upazila, where a large number of relatives, neighbours, friends and other local residents came to pay their respects. The gathering reflected the deep sense of loss surrounding the death of a soldier who had spent about a decade serving in the Bangladesh Army.

Rifat’s namaz-e-janaza was held after Zuhr prayers. He was then buried next to the grave of his mother, who died from cancer last year. Family members said he had frequently expressed a desire to return to Rajshahi after her death.

Military honours at final farewell

The Bangladesh Army presented Rifat with a guard of honour before his burial, offering him a final military farewell with state honours. The ceremony brought together the formal recognition of his service and the private grief of a family mourning a son, husband and father.

Earlier that day, his body was transported from Chattogram to Dhaka by air. It was subsequently taken by Army helicopter to Rajshahi Cantonment, before being carried to his village home in a refrigerated vehicle.

The journey home had particular significance for his relatives. Rifat had been expected to return to the family residence after finishing his training and was due to join the Army at Bogura Cantonment. Instead, the homecoming became an occasion for his final farewell.

Death during firing exercise

Rifat died on 8 September in an accident during an Army firing exercise at the Hathazari Field Firing Range in Chattogram. The Inter-Services Public Relations said the fatal incident occurred while the exercise was under way.

Training exercises are a central part of military readiness, but the accident left a family and community facing an abrupt and painful loss. The circumstances underscore the human cost that can follow even routine professional duties carried out away from home.

He was from Bindarampur village in Damkura Union of Paba. He was the second among four siblings, and his death has affected a family that had already endured the loss of his mother only a year earlier.

A family left behind

Rifat is survived by his wife and his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Jui. For those closest to him, the burial marked not only the end of military formalities but also the beginning of life without a husband, father, brother and son.

The choice to lay him beside his mother gave the funeral an added emotional weight. His relatives recalled that he had wanted to come back to Rajshahi repeatedly after her death, making the family cemetery the place where his service and personal life finally came together.

Residents of Bindarampur gathered as his body arrived in the afternoon, giving local people an opportunity to see him one last time. Such gatherings often provide families with a shared space for mourning, while allowing a wider community to honour someone whose life had taken him beyond the village but whose roots remained there.

Rifat had served in the Bangladesh Army for around 10 years. His career represented a substantial part of his adult life, and the honours offered at his burial recognised that commitment. Yet the details remembered most closely by his family were personal: his planned return home, his grief after his mother’s death, and the young daughter he leaves behind.

With his burial completed in Paba, Rifat’s family now faces the difficult task of moving forward after an unexpected tragedy. His grave beside his mother’s remains a lasting reminder of a life cut short during service and of the family bonds that continued to draw him back to Rajshahi.