*Please note the following story has graphic details of violence

Police yesterday recovered the body of a youth -- cut up into three parts by unknown assailants.

Following a drive, police found the man's bottom half in a sack at Dakshin Khan area, the torso near Dhaka airport and the head near a sewer in Uttara.

The man's identity was confirmed after running his fingerprint through the national database.

Deceased Helal Uddin (26) owned a mobile financial service and a Flexiload shop, said Shikder Md Shamim Hossain, officer-in-charge of Dakshin Khan Police Station.

Md Hozayafa, deceased's elder brother, filed a case against unidentified people with the police station.

Helal went out of his rented flat around 7:30am on Sunday and remained traceless since then, his roommate told Md Hozayafa.

Hozayafa, who works in Narsingdi, came to Dhaka and went to Dakshin Khan Police Station to file a missing person report where he learnt that a beheaded body was recovered. He then identified the body as his younger brother's after spotting a black mark on his leg.

According to the first information report, Helal closed his shop around 1:30pm on Sunday for lunch and was seen talking to some people on an auto-rickshaw.

Mashiur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Detective Branch (North) of Police, told The Daily Star they have started shadow investigation into the killing.

"We have detained Helal's roommates and are trying to get information about his personal life," Mashiur said.

They suspect the killers may have mutilated the body so that no one can identify the victim, he said.