Police claim Apratim murder mystery largely resolved, press briefing at noon

Police have claimed that the mystery behind the murder of Ishayat Shahriar Apratim (13), the only son of Comilla University Bangla Department Associate Professor Nahida Begum, has largely been solved. Police will provide details at a press conference at 12:00 pm today.

A district police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Prothom Alo on Saturday that the mystery of the murder has largely been resolved.

According to investigators, preliminary information and evidence have made it fairly clear that Apratim may have been killed over an iPhone.

District police media officer and Additional Superintendent of Police Md Lutfor Rahman told Prothom Alo last night, “We will present details of the entire incident at a press conference at 12:00 pm on Sunday. We request everyone to wait until then.”

Apratim went missing after leaving his home in the Gandhamati area of Kotbari, Cumilla, on Friday afternoon. He had left home carrying his mother’s iPhone and subsequently went missing.

His body was recovered around noon yesterday from a secluded jungle in the Lalmai hills in Sananda village under Bijoypur union in Sadar Dakshin upazila. There were injury marks on his head.

Following Apratim’s disappearance, the university authorities and law enforcement agencies reviewed CCTV footage from various locations. In one of the recordings, a teenage boy was seen with Apratim near the university’s main gate.

Police have detained that teenager. Based on information obtained during his interrogation, police raided his home and recovered the phone last night.

Another teenager was detained in connection with the incident yesterday. Law enforcement officials said he is currently being interrogated.