Leading tech entrepreneur and Co-Founder of Gokada, Fahim Saleh was found dead in his New York apartment.
Saleh who is also the Co-founder of Pathao in Bangladesh was found dead in his New York Apartment – Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Tuesday.
According to US media reports, Saleh’s body was found dismembered in a flat on Monday afternoon.
Confirming the death, Gokada, one of the firms Saleh co-founded, tweeted to confirm his death.
We are deeply saddened to inform you about the sudden and tragic loss of our founder and CEO, Fahim Saleh.
According to US media reports, CCTV footage from the building in which Saleh lived showed him entering a lift with a man wearing a mask on Monday.
His body was reportedly discovered by his sister, decapitated and dismembered, with an electric saw placed nearby.
Saleh’s sister made the gruesome discovery around 3:30pm when she went to check on him after not hearing from him for a day.
The saw that was used to kill him was still plugged into an electrical outlet when the police arrived, leading detectives to investigate whether the arrival of Saleh’s sister at the condo might have interrupted the killing and prompted the killer to flee through another exit, the police said.
An unnamed source in law enforcement told the New York Post the crime scene looked like a “professional” killing.
The official added that a surveillance camera had captured a video of Saleh in the building’s elevator with another person, who was wearing a black suit and black mask.
In the video, the elevator door opens and Saleh goes into the apartment while the masked person follows directly behind him, and the two immediately start to struggle.
The sister is seen on the video arriving a short time later. There is a second way out of the apartment through a service entrance.
Homicide detectives say his torso, head, limbs, and an electric saw were found in separate places within the apartment, adding that effort had been made to clean up any evidence of what had happened.
His dog, Laila, was, however, found alive in the apartment at 265, East Houston Street near Suffolk Street.
According to the BBC, the 33-year-old, who was the son of Bangladeshi immigrants, created his first company while still in high school.
He went on to co-found the ride company Pathao, which is popular in Bangladesh and Nepal, in 2015.
More recently he helped found Nigerian motorbike taxi app Gokada, but the company faced a setback after authorities in Lagos banned motorbike taxis earlier this year.
Both companies have paid tribute to the entrepreneur.
Gokada described Saleh as “a great leader, inspiration and positive light for all of us” in its tweet
Hussein M Elius, who co-founded Pathao with Saleh, told Bangladesh’s Daily Star newspaper:
Fahim believed in the potential for technology to transform lives in Bangladesh and beyond.
He saw the promise in us when all we had was a common purpose and a shared vision. He was, and will forever remain, an incredible inspiration for Pathao and our entire ecosystem.
