Police have detained a young man named Tuhin on suspicion of involvement in the killing of Ishiyat Shahriar Apratim, 13, the only child of a Cumilla University (CoU) teacher. Superintendent of police Md Anisuzzaman confirmed the detention. Apratim was the son of Dr Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Bengali department at Cumilla University, and a seventh-grade student at Border Guard Public School and College in Cumilla.
At around 3:30pm on Friday (September 18), he left the family’s home in the Kotbari area of Cumilla, saying he was going to take photographs with friends using his mother’s iPhone. He went missing after that. Using technology, law-enforcement officers traced the iPhone’s last location to the social forestry area adjoining Cumilla University. At around noon on Saturday, Apratim’s lifeless body was found on a hill in the Sananda area behind Magic Paradise Park, next to the university.
Abdul Kader Jilani, a local eyewitness, said: “We had come up the hill with my nephew to cut bamboo. My nephew suddenly noticed a child lying motionless. We then informed the police.”
Sadar South police station’s OC, Rafiqul Islam, said CCTV footage from the university and several surrounding areas showed Apratim with an unidentified young man, and that the investigation is being advanced by analysing the footage.
Superintendent of police Md Anisuzzaman said: “The incident is extremely tragic and heartbreaking. We have already detained one person named Tuhin on suspicion and are questioning him. Several police teams are working simultaneously to quickly identify and arrest anyone else involved.”