Bangladeshi origin tech CEO’s dismembered body found in NYC luxury flat

PTI, Jul 16, 2020, 10:49 AM IST

New York: The dismembered body of a 33-year-old tech entrepreneur was found inside his luxury Manhattan condo where an electric saw was left behind, police said Wednesday, July 15.

The victim, identified as Fahim Saleh, was found at around 3:30 p.m. Tuesday inside his luxury seventh-floor apartment on the Lower East Side. There have not been any arrests in connection with Saleh’s death.

“A relative called police after going to check on Saleh and making the gruesome discovery. Responding officers discovered a clothed torso, bags containing a head and arms, and the electric saw in the living room,” police said.

Investigators also recovered security video showing Saleh exiting an elevator that leads directly into the full-floor, two-bedroom apartment earlier Tuesday afternoon closely followed by someone dressed entirely in black, including a mask, according to a law enforcement official who was briefed on the case.

It also shows a struggle between the two ensuing at the entrance to the apartment, said the official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Police believe that the relative may have interrupted the intruder before that person fled out a back exit.

The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide after an autopsy found the cause of death was multiple stab wounds to the body.

Saleh was the chief executive officer of a ride-hailing motorcycle startup called Gokada that began operating in Nigeria in 2018.

The company confirmed his death on Twitter Wednesday and said, “Fahim was a great leader, inspiration, and positive light for all of us.”

Investigators were exploring whether the killing could have been related to Saleh’s business dealings. They also were checking security camera video from the neighborhood to try to locate the suspect.

Saleh’s LinkedIn biography described him as a self-taught businessman who founded Gokada building on his experience of first “seeing an opportunity in his parent’s native country of Bangladesh” and starting that country’s largest ride-sharing company. It said that he also was invested in a similar venture in Colombia.

Apartments in the 10-story building where Saleh’s remains were found sell for more than $2 million. The building was completed in 2017 as part of a wave of gentrification in the neighborhood.