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Bangladeshi held over Rhine body parts case

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The river Rhine has less boat traffic due to low water levels during a heat wave and a prolonged drought, by Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, Monday, Aug. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

A Bangladeshi man living at an asylum centre in Switzerland has been arrested following the discovery of his Burundian roommate’s dismembered body in the River Rhine, prosecutors said Friday.

The 33-year-old victim had been reported missing by acquaintances on Saturday.

The next day, the same people discovered a bag along the nearby river banks containing a human leg.

Subsequent police searches led to the discovery of additional bags containing other body parts.

“The body had been cut into pieces and deposited in garbage bags in the Rhine and near the shore,” the public prosecutor’s office in Switzerland’s northern Aargau canton said.

The police searched the asylum centre and evidence gathered during the investigation “corroborated the suspicion surrounding a 43-year-old man from Bangladesh, who shared a room with the victim in the asylum shelter”.

The suspect was arrested on Tuesday.

“The exact course of events and the background to the crime are the subject of ongoing investigations,” the statement said.

“To date, there is no evidence of a politically or religiously motivated homicide.

“In the course of the investigation, the suspect showed signs of psychological disorders.