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DHAKA, Dec 8, 2025 (BSS) – The exhumation of the bodies of 114 unidentified martyrs of the July Uprising began at Rayerbazar Graveyard on Sunday morning for their forensic test.

It’s a significant step toward identifying those who lost their lives during last year’s anti-discrimination movement, police said.

So far, eleven members of seven families have provided DNA samples to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) with hopes of tracing out the remains of their loved ones. 

“It is a huge task to confirm the identity of the July Martyrs to hand them over to their family members,” Special Police Super of the CID (media) Md Jasim Uddin Khan told BSS. 

On Sunday, two bodies were lifted from the grave for DNA collection and post-mortem examinations. Later the bodies were reburied with due honour.
 
The CID official confirmed that the DNA samples from four bodies were collected and post-mortems were conducted today.

International forensic expert Louis Fondebrider and a team of forensic anthropologists are supervising the large-scale operation. 

The CID's crime scene unit has installed specialized tents and equipment inside the cemetery to facilitate the sensitive work.

The initiative follows a court order issued by Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Mostafizur Rahman on August 4 last.

The court order issued upon a petition filed by Sub-inspector Mahidul Islam of Mohammadpur Police Station seeking exhumation of the bodies for legal and identification purposes.

The petition emphasized that exhumation is essential for conducting proper post-mortem examinations, collecting DNA samples, and ensuring the bodies are legally and accurately identified.

Authorities have assured that once identification is confirmed, the bodies will be handed over to their families and reburied with due dignity.

The process is crucial to ensuring justice, accountability, and recognition for those who sacrificed their lives during the July Uprising.