The Drowned Man & The Headless Priests

The incident I'm about to tell you about happened in 2006. So, suddenly, that day, Asad Ali, who was in ninth grade at the time, suddenly it was noticed at school that there were no teachers. What was going on? Where had the teachers gone? When the person in charge of the gate was asked, he said that many teachers had gone to see a dead body. Someone had fallen into the water and gone missing. They hadn't been able to find him anywhere since that morning. As soon as Asad Ali heard this, he ran towards his house. When he got home, he saw everyone discussing the matter. Then, when he asked one of his uncles about it, he became somewhat aware of the situation. It turned out that the Ita Khola River, a branch of the Surma River, flowed past their house. The river is small, and a large part of it dries up during the dry season, but during the monsoon season, the river looks very dangerous. Its current increases a lot, which is why no one really dares to go into the river during the monsoon season. And villagers often hear strange stories about this river from the elders. Asad Ali and many of his friends used to swim in the river all the time. Nothing scary ever happened to them, but they only swam when the monsoon season was ending and the river water was low. Anyway, there's a reason I described the river. Now, let's get back to the main story. So, his uncle, Asad Ali's uncle, told him that that morning, a man from a neighboring village had left home with some cows to graze in the field. But the man thought, "Today, I'll take the cows to the other side of the river. There's a lot of grass there, and the cows will be able to eat their fill." Thinking that, he decided to take the cows across the river. It should be noted that the man was not a resident of their Sylhet area. The man was from somewhere in Mymensingh. And when he left with the cows, he met a man on the way and told him that he wasn't going to feed the cows here today, he was going to take them to the other side. So, this is the decision the man made and whom he told about it.

So, the person who heard it thought, "Yes, that's right, you can actually take them to the other side. It's not really a big deal." Anyway, when he was about to take the cows into the river, he first sent some of the cows ahead. The cows swam in front of him and almost reached the other side. Then, he was going to swim across with one of the cows. He was holding the tail of a cow, thinking he would go along with it. At that time, many people were walking along both sides of the road. It was daytime, so there was nothing to be afraid of. So, he was crossing with the cows. When he reached the middle of the river, most of his cows had already crossed and were on the road. People were watching him coming. Some people in the area recognized him. Suddenly, people noticed that one cow was swimming back to this side, but the man who was holding onto that cow wasn't coming. Meaning, that man didn't come out of the river. Since people were watching this, there was an uproar everywhere. "Where did the man go?" Then, news was sent to the house from where he had brought the cows, meaning the householder's house, the house where he lived. People from there came. People from the whole village were coming, people from the entire union came. When Ashrad Ali Bhai heard this, he also went to the place. Then he saw many people around. There were divers, and various other people who were diving themselves. Many curious people were also diving to search the surrounding area.

For about two or three kilometers, hundreds of people, along with the divers, helped search or tried to search. Even after searching until evening, there was no trace of the man. Three to four days passed. Then, a good scholar was sought from that householder's house where he lived. At that time, they went to a famous scholar of Sylhet at that time.It's good to remember that this religious scholar was aware of various miraculous powers under the water. Apparently, he had solved various incidents of this kind, which many people in Sylhet know. Anyway, after hearing about this incident, the cleric arrived at the location the day after he heard about it. He confirmed with the person exactly where he had started from, that the man had descended with the cow from this very spot. He collected a handful of soil from that place, and said, "I am leaving from here now. God willing, I will come here again tomorrow, and I will come after the Zuhr prayer. Let's see what can be done." The next day, many people were present there to witness what miraculous event would unfold after he arrived for the Zuhr prayer. This Ashadari brother was also there.

The cleric arrived as scheduled after the Zuhr prayer. He addressed the people of the household, and some relatives of the missing man who had come from Mymensingh. He also addressed the large crowd that was present, saying, "I have learned through inquiry (meaning he sent people, meaning Jinn, to find out) that when this man descended into the river with the cow, a group of water Jinn were on their way to a wedding ceremony in their community. At that moment, he was passing over them with the cow, so they imprisoned him underwater. I have tried a lot to rescue him alive, but I couldn't.

Now, the thing is, if I rescue him, he will be given to you dead. And if no attempt is made to rescue him, he will remain alive with them underwater. Now the decision is yours. Should I try or not? If I try, you will receive him dead, and if I don't try, he will remain alive. Now you give the decision." Now, the people of the household cannot make the decision; the decision has to come from the missing man's relatives.Then the relatives said, "Since you couldn't bring him back alive from under the water, and there's no chance of that happening now, we at least want to see his body." The religious leader sighed because it was indeed a very painful decision, a very difficult decision that the man's relatives had made. Then the religious leader told everyone to spread out within a 500-meter radius around the river, near where the man had disappeared. He also said, "I will now pray. Everyone should participate in the prayer. Do not clench your fists during the prayer."

As the prayer began, the religious leader started praying. He prayed for 15 to 20 minutes. Suddenly, the atmosphere became still. The bright, sunny sky suddenly seemed cloudy. While still praying, the religious leader finished the prayer and told everyone to watch the river carefully. "The body will float up somewhere." And indeed, that's what happened. About 300 cubits away from where the man had drowned, a body suddenly floated to the surface of the river. The body was upside down, meaning face down. No one dared to go into the water out of fear. They were scared.

"He was about to get down again, but worried he might drag someone else down with him. Then the religious leader said there wouldn't be any more problems, and told them to go and bring the body. So, four or five people went and brought the body back. It was covered in mud, with mud caked all over its face. The body was very slippery, and it looked like he had just been killed, and his body was still warm. Imagine, a body underwater for four days, what condition it would normally be in. But it felt like his body was still warm, like he had just died, and like he had just been murdered. And his body was coated with some kind of slippery substance. So, they lifted him up, meaning they lifted up his dead body, cleaned him up, and his relatives took him to Mymensingh. After that, how they buried the man's dead body, or anything else about it, is unknown. But Ashad Ali Bhai witnessed this incident with his own eyes. Dear listeners, this incident on the Itakhola River was truly tragic. Who would have thought such a thing could happen in broad daylight? Dear listeners, I once went to that Tahirpur. When I was in Tahirpur, I was with several other people, a team. Ghulam Rabbi Bhai was there. We arrived at a place where the cremation ground and the cemetery were side by side. When we spoke to people there, we talked to a local member. He told us that sometimes, when crossing this canal, a whirlpool forms, and cows or buffaloes get lost in the whirlpool. This sometimes happens. The world beneath the water remains unknown to us. There's a lot of information we don't know. And these underwater spirits are called Matua Deho."

The incident I'm about to tell you about happened in 2006. So, suddenly, that day, Asad Ali, who was in ninth grade at the time, suddenly it was noticed at school that there were no teachers. What was going on? Where had the teachers gone? When the person in charge of the gate was asked, he said that many teachers had gone to see a dead body. Someone had fallen into the water and gone missing. They hadn't been able to find him anywhere since that morning. As soon as Asad Ali heard this, he ran towards his house. When he got home, he saw everyone discussing the matter. Then, when he asked one of his uncles about it, he became somewhat aware of the situation. It turned out that the Ita Khola River, a branch of the Surma River, flowed past their house. The river is small, and a large part of it dries up during the dry season, but during the monsoon season, the river looks very dangerous. Its current increases a lot, which is why no one really dares to go into the river during the monsoon season. And villagers often hear strange stories about this river from the elders. Asad Ali and many of his friends used to swim in the river all the time. Nothing scary ever happened to them, but they only swam when the monsoon season was ending and the river water was low. Anyway, there's a reason I described the river. Now, let's get back to the main story. So, his uncle, Asad Ali's uncle, told him that that morning, a man from a neighboring village had left home with some cows to graze in the field. But the man thought, "Today, I'll take the cows to the other side of the river. There's a lot of grass there, and the cows will be able to eat their fill." Thinking that, he decided to take the cows across the river. It should be noted that the man was not a resident of their Sylhet area. The man was from somewhere in Mymensingh. And when he left with the cows, he met a man on the way and told him that he wasn't going to feed the cows here today, he was going to take them to the other side. So, this is the decision the man made and whom he told about it.

So, the person who heard it thought, "Yes, that's right, you can actually take them to the other side. It's not really a big deal." Anyway, when he was about to take the cows into the river, he first sent some of the cows ahead. The cows swam in front of him and almost reached the other side. Then, he was going to swim across with one of the cows. He was holding the tail of a cow, thinking he would go along with it. At that time, many people were walking along both sides of the road. It was daytime, so there was nothing to be afraid of. So, he was crossing with the cows. When he reached the middle of the river, most of his cows had already crossed and were on the road. People were watching him coming. Some people in the area recognized him. Suddenly, people noticed that one cow was swimming back to this side, but the man who was holding onto that cow wasn't coming. Meaning, that man didn't come out of the river. Since people were watching this, there was an uproar everywhere. "Where did the man go?" Then, news was sent to the house from where he had brought the cows, meaning the householder's house, the house where he lived. People from there came. People from the whole village were coming, people from the entire union came. When Ashrad Ali Bhai heard this, he also went to the place. Then he saw many people around. There were divers, and various other people who were diving themselves. Many curious people were also diving to search the surrounding area.

For about two or three kilometers, hundreds of people, along with the divers, helped search or tried to search. Even after searching until evening, there was no trace of the man. Three to four days passed. Then, a good scholar was sought from that householder's house where he lived. At that time, they went to a famous scholar of Sylhet at that time.It's good to remember that this religious scholar was aware of various miraculous powers under the water. Apparently, he had solved various incidents of this kind, which many people in Sylhet know. Anyway, after hearing about this incident, the cleric arrived at the location the day after he heard about it. He confirmed with the person exactly where he had started from, that the man had descended with the cow from this very spot. He collected a handful of soil from that place, and said, "I am leaving from here now. God willing, I will come here again tomorrow, and I will come after the Zuhr prayer. Let's see what can be done." The next day, many people were present there to witness what miraculous event would unfold after he arrived for the Zuhr prayer. This Ashadari brother was also there.

The cleric arrived as scheduled after the Zuhr prayer. He addressed the people of the household, and some relatives of the missing man who had come from Mymensingh. He also addressed the large crowd that was present, saying, "I have learned through inquiry (meaning he sent people, meaning Jinn, to find out) that when this man descended into the river with the cow, a group of water Jinn were on their way to a wedding ceremony in their community. At that moment, he was passing over them with the cow, so they imprisoned him underwater. I have tried a lot to rescue him alive, but I couldn't.

Now, the thing is, if I rescue him, he will be given to you dead. And if no attempt is made to rescue him, he will remain alive with them underwater. Now the decision is yours. Should I try or not? If I try, you will receive him dead, and if I don't try, he will remain alive. Now you give the decision." Now, the people of the household cannot make the decision; the decision has to come from the missing man's relatives.Then the relatives said, "Since you couldn't bring him back alive from under the water, and there's no chance of that happening now, we at least want to see his body." The religious leader sighed because it was indeed a very painful decision, a very difficult decision that the man's relatives had made. Then the religious leader told everyone to spread out within a 500-meter radius around the river, near where the man had disappeared. He also said, "I will now pray. Everyone should participate in the prayer. Do not clench your fists during the prayer."

As the prayer began, the religious leader started praying. He prayed for 15 to 20 minutes. Suddenly, the atmosphere became still. The bright, sunny sky suddenly seemed cloudy. While still praying, the religious leader finished the prayer and told everyone to watch the river carefully. "The body will float up somewhere." And indeed, that's what happened. About 300 cubits away from where the man had drowned, a body suddenly floated to the surface of the river. The body was upside down, meaning face down. No one dared to go into the water out of fear. They were scared.

"He was about to get down again, but worried he might drag someone else down with him. Then the religious leader said there wouldn't be any more problems, and told them to go and bring the body. So, four or five people went and brought the body back. It was covered in mud, with mud caked all over its face. The body was very slippery, and it looked like he had just been killed, and his body was still warm. Imagine, a body underwater for four days, what condition it would normally be in. But it felt like his body was still warm, like he had just died, and like he had just been murdered. And his body was coated with some kind of slippery substance. So, they lifted him up, meaning they lifted up his dead body, cleaned him up, and his relatives took him to Mymensingh. After that, how they buried the man's dead body, or anything else about it, is unknown. But Ashad Ali Bhai witnessed this incident with his own eyes. Dear listeners, this incident on the Itakhola River was truly tragic. Who would have thought such a thing could happen in broad daylight? Dear listeners, I once went to that Tahirpur. When I was in Tahirpur, I was with several other people, a team. Ghulam Rabbi Bhai was there. We arrived at a place where the cremation ground and the cemetery were side by side. When we spoke to people there, we talked to a local member. He told us that sometimes, when crossing this canal, a whirlpool forms, and cows or buffaloes get lost in the whirlpool. This sometimes happens. The world beneath the water remains unknown to us. There's a lot of information we don't know. And these underwater spirits are called Matua Deho."