Entertainment Report :
Noted lyricist Russell O’neil was found dead at his residence at Lichubagan in the capital’s Tejgaon area at midnight on December 31. According to reports, after having dinner, he went to his room. His family alerted the police, when he was not responding to door knocks. Police found the 47-year-old’s body hanging from the ceiling fan at his room after being informed by the family of the deceased.
The body was sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College morgue for autopsy. Police primarily suspected the lyricist committed suicide, but the real reason can only be known after the autopsy, said the police official.
Describing the incident, Hafiz Al Farooq, Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Tejgaon Industrial Zone of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, the suicide note says, “No one is responsible for my death. I committed suicide voluntarily. No one can be involved with this. And there will be no postmortem of my body.”
The lyricist’s family and friends initially confirmed his handwriting. However, the police said that the matter will be further investigated. Russell O’neil penned well-known songs like Din Bari Jai and Surjo Snane Chol, composed by celebrated musician Bappa Mazumder. The lyrics for Habib Wahid’s popular jingle Rekho Na Ko Bhoy Mone was also written by Russell O’neil. He wrote many popular jingles throughout his career and was a regular contributor to songs by Bappa Mazumder and band group, Dalchhut.
Russell was also a journalist for many years and worked for an advertising agency. His Facebook profile shows that he was a former Associate Creative Director at Interspeed. People from the showbiz industry have been in shock, since they learned about Russell’s untimely demise.
