Real Ghost Encounters: The Ambulance Driver and the Corpse Road

My name is Mohammad Akash. My hometown is Faridpur thana in Pabna district, and I now work for a company in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I will not waste time and will go straight to the story. Today I will share one of the real ghost encounters of my life.

The First Trip to Satkhira

This happened when I worked on ambulances in Dhaka, which I had been doing for a long time, in the days when I worked at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. The man I worked with was called Faruk bhai. His home is in Moheshkhali.

One day he and I went to Satkhira. We were taking a dead body from the hospital. The body was of a Hindu man, and his wife, his son and his mother were with him. The dead man was wrapped in a white shroud.

We left from here at about half past four in the afternoon. We filled gas at Jatrabari, then set off again toward Satkhira. At Mawa ferry ghat we waited a long time before we got a ferry. Alhamdulillah, we crossed very safely. Then we drove on and there was no problem. But after a long drive, the vehicle began to give us a little trouble. We thought maybe it was something to do with the hand fan or something like that. We stopped near a shop, had tea and snacks, and started again. After that there was no problem. We stopped at many places along the way for tea and snacks. It was almost dawn. We unloaded the body, rested and slept.

The Road From Gopalganj

Now the main part of the story, bhaiya. We drove straight on to Gopalganj. In the ambulance line, the rule is that when we drop a body or a patient somewhere, on the way back we tell many of our colleagues that our vehicle has come from Dhaka, and if there is a patient or a body, they can tell us and we will take it. They fix the fare, and then we bring it from any corner of Bangladesh.

At Gopalganj we stopped at a stall in front of the Police Lines and were having tea. After a while a police officer came with three or four others. He said, “We have a body here that has to be taken to Goyalia village in Faridpur.” After talking to the vehicle owner, the fare was fixed at five thousand taka. We were told, “Take him after the janaza prayer is offered here.”

This was the dead man’s story. He had a wife, and he was also in a relationship with another girl. That girl was blackmailing him in many ways. So he hanged himself, the police brother said. When we went and saw, there were many marks on his neck, the kind you get when someone dies by a rope. The hair on my body is standing up, brother, I do not know what to say, I am very afraid.

There were many police. Everyone offered the janaza prayer, and we two did as well. Faruk bhai and I parked the vehicle to one side. They said, “If you want to eat something, come to the canteen.” They took us to the canteen and fed us. After a long time we were told we had to set out before dusk. Two police pickups would go with us, one in front, us in the middle, and another at the back.

I started the vehicle. I was sitting on the left. Behind our vehicle were two people, the dead man’s two brothers, crying a lot. Of course it is sad when someone dies. We do not feel such things much any more, we had become used to it.

After we set off, believe me, Rasel bhai, I had never imagined I would land in something like this in the middle of the road. The police pickup was going at great speed, we were going at full speed too, but our vehicle would not go above fifty. It felt as if someone had caught hold of the vehicle from behind and was pulling it back. I did not let Faruk bhai realise it, but I understand, I have been on duty for many days, I knew why the vehicle was not running. We stopped, had tea and snacks. We had been on duty for two days and our bodies were very tired. We started again.

Lost Between Water and Water

After a long drive, about an hour later, the police vehicle behind us said goodbye and said, “All right, you follow the vehicle in front.” We went. A little later the police called and asked, “Where are you?” They could not find us behind them at all. I looked, and there was no police vehicle behind us. After a long time we stopped again. A very empty road. We both were a little afraid.

I said to the dead man’s brother, “Bhaiya, please make a call. Where is the police pickup?” In fact we had taken the wrong road and ended up on another one, and the police van had gone straight ahead. Now I could not find the road. Quickly I looked around, and there was only water and more water in every direction, with such a narrow road in the middle that there was no way to reverse or turn the vehicle. We had to go straight. There was moonlight that night. On all sides only water, with one small single road in the middle, the kind of road a bicycle could go along, not a van.

In that state, after about seven or eight kilometres, we reached a turn. At the turn I stopped the vehicle. I tried to check our location on GPS, but there was no network on the phone. None of us had network on our phones. Our heads were spinning. Faruk bhai had a button phone, and it had one bar of network, which went and came. But none of our phones had a network. Somehow we turned the vehicle and came back. Brother, I am very afraid to say this, only the one it happens to understands that situation.

After wandering for about an hour or an hour and a half, we managed to get in touch with the police. They said, “Come here.” They sent us a WhatsApp location. Following the location, we found them standing there. We set out together.

About twenty kilometres before their house, our vehicle stopped on its own in the dark. I phoned again. “Our vehicle has stopped, please see what has happened.” At that hour of the night in the countryside, no engineer or mechanic could be found. Two senior policemen and a constable came from the police van and said, “The vehicle has a bonnet in front, open the bonnet.” They told me, “You get down and see what has happened.” We always keep our vehicle in order. When I looked, there was no water in the radiator. I had topped up with water at Satkhira, so why was there none? Suddenly smoke began to come out of the vehicle. I was frightened. Now it would be my fault. They would scold me a lot. “Don’t you check, don’t do this, don’t do that.” Anyway, after a long time the engine cooled a little. Then I started the vehicle again. Faruk bhai was driving.

The vehicle would not go above fifty in any way. Do you understand what fifty speed means? Even a bicycle can go fifty. But the police pickup was racing ahead. We could not catch it at all. In this situation, one way or another, with great difficulty, we got there.

The Hand on the Stretcher

When we reached his house, I saw many people, so many people, to see a corpse. We unloaded the body. At the Gopalganj Police Lines they had already placed it in a coffin, and covered the whole body with tea leaves. While unloading, believe me, Rasel bhai, how can I explain it to you, when I unloaded the body, two or three people were helping me, but I was in front, at the head end. While I was bringing the body down, I felt as if the body had caught hold of my hand. In that situation I could not even scream. There were many people, but I understood that it had gripped my hand, and I could not make anyone understand. It would not let go of my hand. Everyone was looking at my hand. They said to me, “Why are you holding his hand?” I said, “Where? Am I holding his hand? He is holding my hand.” Then someone shoved me.

I said to Faruk bhai, “My body is very tired, I don’t feel well, I will sleep.” Faruk bhai said, “All right.” We stayed there until morning. Then we had breakfast at a hotel and came back to Dhaka.

After coming back to Dhaka I was ill for a long time. I had grown very thin. My eyes and my whole body had dried up. After many doctors and then a kabiraj, I was given a taweez. After that, InshaAllah, I got much better. After working for a long time, I left that job. After that I worked at Holy Family Red Crescent Medical Hospital. After some time I am now in Malaysia, and from here I am connected with you.

I am a very big fan of Bhootom, bhaiya. I will never miss it. Every day, from long ago, I used to listen to the FM in the ambulance. I would switch on the ambulance FM and listen alone, because we used to sleep in the ambulance at night. The drivers would go home, but I had not taken a house, so I had to stay in the ambulance at night. I used to wait for Friday to come, so I could listen to Bhootom. Later a few friends and I would open the doors and windows of the vehicle and listen together. I hope everyone is well. This was my story.