Police on Monday recovered the body of former army chief Lieutenant General (retd) Harun-Ar-Rashid from Chittagong Club.
His body was recovered from room 308 around 11:00am.
Deputy Commissioner of the South Division of Chattogram Metropolitan Police, Alamgir Hossain, said, "Harun-Ar-Rashid had entered the Chittagong Club around 5:00pm on Sunday. This morning, the club authorities, failing to get any response from him, informed the police.
"Subsequently, the police broke open the door and recovered the body. The body has been sent to the morgue of Chittagong Medical College Hospital."
Police initially suspected a heart attack, but the exact cause of death will be known after the autopsy, said Alamgir Hossain.
Harun-Ar-Rashid started his military career as a cadet of the 24th Long Course of the army.
He received his commission in the infantry corps on September 6, 1970.
Though he initially wanted to join the engineers corps, he joined the East Bengal Regiment instead on his company commander's advice.
In his post-Liberation War career, his first posting was with the 4th East Bengal Regiment in Cumilla.
Later, he served as the commander of the peacekeeping force in Georgia under the United Nations mission. In the army, he was known for his academic aptitude.
He taught at the Army Staff College and the School of Infantry and Tactics.
He became the army chief on 24 December 2000 and continued in the role until 15 June 2002.
After retirement, he became vice-chairman of the Sector Commanders' Forum and then joined Destiny Group as chairman.
He was arrested on charges of financial fraud involving Destiny, but was later released on bail due to illness and old age.
Destiny Group's Managing Director Rafiqul Amin said, "We received the news in the morning that his body had been recovered. We are grief-stricken."
During his tenure as army chief, he became the first president of the Army Golf Club.
The army, Sector Commanders' Forum, freedom fighter community, and various quarters have expressed grief over his death.
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