Tales of macabre corners: Haunted places of Dhaka where devilry holds sway
In the heart of Dhaka, terror walks unseen. Amid the relentless tide of 22 million souls, suffocating crowds, cacophonous traffic, and a nightlife that throbs with chaos, one might think the city is too alive for horrors to take root. Yet, the shadows tell a different story.
Myths passed down through whispers, grim histories buried beneath the streets, and places cursed with malevolent presences suggest that Dhaka harbours more than meets the eye. Beneath layers of concrete and time, something ancient and ominous festers. Roads, mansions, and parks stand like silent sentinels, hiding secrets that creep through the walls.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Some of such locations of Dhaka are mentioned below, where history lingers like a restless spirit, and every step unveils echoes of forgotten nightmares.
Bahadur Shah Park: Hauntings of Hanged Sepoys
During the Sepoy Revolt of 1857, Bengali sepoys who rebelled against the British East India Company were executed and left hanging from the trees in what is now Bahadur Shah Park, near Sadarghat. Their bodies rotted for days, a grim warning to others.
Despite renovations over the years, the park remains steeped in macabre sadness.
Though the park has been renovated time and again, the terror clings to it like a stain that time cannot wash away. At the twilight of dawn, joggers speak of hearing muffled moans — whispers of agony buried beneath the earth. Eerie voices drift through the trees, murmuring in long-forgotten tongues — Persian, Arabic — spoken by those who should no longer exist.
Md Sabbir, a resident of Kaltabazar near the park, shared his chilling account -- "This park is unsettling in every sense. My grandfather once saw a sepoy hanging from one of the trees as he walked home late at night. There's something lurking above the canopy — something not of this world, waiting in the branches, watching."
The hauntings of Bahadur Shah Park have been mentioned in "Chile Kothar Sepai", a classic novel of Akhtaruzzaman Elias.
Airport Road: Where Terror Stalks the Highway
The Airport Road glimmers with deceptive calmness -- a stretch of smooth asphalt running from Nikunja, Khilkhet, and Kawla to Shahjalal Airport and Uttara. Manicured dividers, pristine sidewalks, and ornamental road islands line its path. Yet, as the sun dips below the horizon, the road transforms.
The absence of bustling storefronts and building entrances along its edges leaves it eerily deserted at night, and it is in this emptiness that the real horror awakens.
Drivers tell unsettling tales of a shadowy, human-like figure that emerges from nowhere -- darting into their path just as they accelerate. Startled, they slam on the brakes, only to see the figure dissolve into thin air, as if it was never really there. What follows is worse -- tires screech, metal crumples, and shattered glass scatters across the asphalt -- grim evidence of accidents born from terror.
For the drivers of airport road, that shadowy figure is one sinister entity trapped in this world, intended to inflict harm to the commuters on the road.
Cursed Apartment of Dhanmondi 27: "It has never been empty"
If you pass through Dhanmondi 27, you'll come across an apartment complex that seems no different from the others -- until you notice the entire second floor sits eerily vacant. Something about it feels deeply unsettling, as if the building itself carries a dark secret, compelling you to wonder what went so terribly wrong there.
A local resident and student of OIS recalled, "On my way to school, I often felt eyes on me, watching from the windows of that empty apartment. The sensation was bone-chilling."
According to the story, a woman once lived there and took her own life within those walls. Since that day, sightings of her restless spirit have been reported. Those brave enough to rent the apartment never stayed long, driven out by the terrifying presence that lingers, ensuring no one finds peace inside.
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