Accused in Tonu murder case produced before court under tight security
After completing a three-day remand, retired army personnel Hafizur Rahman, arrested in the Sohagi Jahan Tonu murder case, was produced before the court.
The court later ordered that he be sent to jail. The order was issued on Saturday around 2:00 pm by Senior Judicial Magistrate Abdullah Al Aman’s court in Cumilla.
Earlier on Wednesday, the investigating officer of the case—Inspector Md Tariqul Islam of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), Kalabagan unit in Dhaka—sought a seven-day remand from the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Court-1 in Cumilla. After the hearing, the court granted a three-day remand. He was then taken to the PBI’s special unit in Kalabagan for interrogation.
Hafizur Rahman is a former senior warrant officer of the Bangladesh Army. He is currently 52 years old and retired in 2023. He was arrested on Tuesday from his residence in Keraniganj, Dhaka, by PBI members. The following day, Wednesday afternoon, he was produced before the Cumilla court.
Earlier that same morning, his DNA sample was collected at the CID forensic lab in Dhaka. At the time of the Tonu murder, he was serving at Cumilla Cantonment.
On-the-spot observations at the Cumilla court showed that around 1:00 pm on Saturday, Hafizur Rahman was brought to the court from Dhaka in a microbus. He was produced before the court around 2:00 pm. The court later ordered that he be sent to Cumilla Central Jail.
At around 2:20 pm, PBI members took him to the jail. Tight security was maintained throughout the process. To prevent anyone from taking photographs, Hafizur Rahman wore a mask over his face.
He also tried to avoid being photographed by lowering his head inside the vehicle.
Investigation officer Md Tariqul Islam told Prothom Alo, “Retired army personnel Hafizur Rahman was thoroughly interrogated during his three-day remand. Several important pieces of information have been obtained during questioning. We are verifying those details. If necessary, we will again seek remand from the court later. As per court order, he has been sent to Cumilla Central Jail.”
On 6 April, the investigating officer appeared before the same court, presented the progress of the case, and sought permission to compare DNA samples of three suspects linked to the murder. The court approved the request. One of them is Hafizur Rahman. The other two are Sergeant Jahid and soldier Shahin Alam, who were serving at Cumilla Cantonment at the time of the incident. It is known that both are now retired.
The plaintiff and Tonu’s father, Year Hossain, claims that the soldier’s name is Jahid, not Shahin Alam. He says they have consistently mentioned this name from the beginning and were not aware of anyone named Shahin; rather, the name Jahid has repeatedly come up in discussions.
When asked whether the soldier’s name is Jahid or Shahin, investigation officer Md Tariqul Islam said, “According to our investigation and previous investigators’ findings, the soldier’s name Shahin has emerged. Shahin and soldier Jahid are two different individuals. Our investigation is ongoing, and everything will come out in due course.”
Regarding Hafizur’s DNA test, he added, “After taking the samples to the CID forensic lab, we collected his DNA. The test takes some time to complete. We will be able to comment further once the report is received.”
On the evening of 20 March 2016, Tonu went to a house inside Cumilla Cantonment for tutoring and did not return home. Later, after a search, her body was found in a bush near the power house inside the cantonment.