The Detective Branch of police has been given the charge of investigation in Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu murder case as the local police could not unearth the mystery in six days.
“The case has been transferred to the DB police to speed up the investigation. We have got some clues and are now analysing those to solve the mystery behind the murder. We hope to arrest the real culprits as soon as possible,” Md Shah Abid Hossain, superintendent of police of Comilla, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.
Apart from the DB police, elite force Rapid Action Battalion is also investigating the case that has created much hype across the country since the murder took place inside Comilla’s Maynamati Cantonment on March 20.
In a statement issued on Friday night, the army authorities said that they were providing full support to the police in investigating the murder case.
The statement issued by Inter-service Public Relations (ISPR) says that the unconscious body of Tonu was found in the bordering area of the cantonment by her father and he then informed the military police. Tonu was taken to the Combined Military Hospital there and the duty-doctor declared her dead, it reads. “Efforts have been taken to dig out the reason behind the murder.”
The body of theatre activist Tonu, a second year history student of Victoria College, was found only 100 yards from their house inside the cantonment around 10pm on March 20. She was reportedly raped before being murdered while returning home from tuition.
Her father, Yaar Hossain, an office assistant of the Cantonment Board, filed a case with the Kotwali police the next day against some unidentified people.
Students and people from all walks of life including cultural activists have been demonstrating in Comilla, Dhaka and elsewhere demanding that the culprits be arrested immediately and given exemplary punishment. They are also campaigning on Facebook and blogs.
Family members interrogated
Meanwhile, members of RAB and DB police separately interrogated the victim’s family members regarding the murder.
A team of RAB 11 took away Tonu’s parents, two brothers and paternal cousin around midnight on Friday for interrogation. They were later brought back to the house around 4:30am, sources said.
Dhaka Tribune tried to contact with the family members but they were unavailable.
Alal Hossain, an uncle of Tonu, said that the RAB team had interrogated Tonu’s family members and also his daughter, who used to live in the same room with Tonu.
RAB 11 chief Khorshed Alam said that the victim’s family members were brought to the RAB office for some information. He refused to disclose any further details about it.
However, Benazir Ahmed, director general of the elite force, said that they launched a shadow investigation after the murder had taken place.
“We hope to give you some good news regarding the case shortly,” he said in response to a query at the RAB Headquarters in the capital.
After RAB, DB police members also picked up Tonu’s family members around 2pm yesterday and brought them back home after interrogating them for an hour at the Kotwali police station. AKM Manzur Alam, OC of district DB police who is investigating the case, confirmed it to the Dhaka Tribune.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday said: “We have solved many cases and hope that the mystery behind Tonu murder will also be solved. But it may take some time.”
Protests continue
Gonojagoron Moncho is set to start a road march from Shahbagh towards Comilla at 8am to protest against the murder. The activists would stage roadside rallies to drum up public support, a statement said.
The platform formed in 2013 to demand death penalty for war criminals has been demonstrating at Shahbagh for the last couple of days demanding punishment of the killers.
Meanwhile, thousands of students staged a demonstration in the town for the third consecutive day. The protesters earlier blockaded Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to demand the immediate arrest of the killers.
Moreover, a human chain was formed in front of the district Town Hall by Bangladesh Kobi Forum.
Protest programmes were also observed at different educational institutions across the country yesterday.