Warrant Officer Hafizur arrested, remanded for 3 days

In a significant breakthrough after a decade of investigation, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) has arrested retired Senior Warrant Officer Hafizur Rahman of the army in connection with the murder of Cumilla Victoria Government College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu. 

He was arrested from a residence in Keraniganj, Dhaka, on Tuesday night. 

Following his arrest, Hafizur was produced before a Cumilla court on Wednesday afternoon, where Senior Judicial Magistrate Md. Mominul Haque granted a three-day remand for questioning after the PBI sought a seven-day detention. 

Inspector Tariqul Islam of the PBI’s Dhaka office, who is currently overseeing the case, confirmed the arrest, noting that the agency had recently approached the court to cross-match the DNA samples of three named suspects: Sergeant Zahid, Warrant Officer Hafizur Rahman, and Soldier Shahinul Alam.

The arrest brought a sudden wave of emotion to Tonu’s family. Her brother, Md. Rubel, stated that the investigating officer had called him to the court on Wednesday afternoon. 

Upon arriving with their parents, the family learned of the detention. 

Expressing a mixture of relief and lingering anxiety, Rubel voiced his hope that the mystery surrounding his sister's death would finally be solved after ten long years.

The tragic case dates back to the evening of March 20, 2016, when Tonu left home to provide private tutoring at a house inside the Cumilla Cantonment and never returned. 

Her lifeless body was subsequently discovered in a wooded area near the cantonment's power house. 

The following day, her father, Yar Hossain, filed a murder case against unidentified assailants at the Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station. 

The investigation has seen multiple agencies take charge over the years. Initially handled by the local police and the district Detective Branch (DB), the case was later transferred to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). 

In May 2017, the CID revealed a crucial piece of forensic evidence, announcing that DNA analysis of samples recovered from Tonu’s clothing matched the sperm of three men. 

Despite this finding, the CID's investigation stalled, leading the police headquarters to transfer the case file to the PBI’s Dhaka headquarters in October 2020. 

For the past four years, the case was primarily investigated by PBI Inspector Md. Mojibur Rahman. 

In September 2024, Inspector Md. Tariqul Islam was appointed as the sixth investigating officer to take up the highly publicized case, ultimately leading to Tuesday's arrest.