Police have arrested the three accused in the murder of Monir Hossain, an eight-year-old madrasa student from Demra, Dhaka.
The arrestees are: Principal of Nur-e-Madina Madrasa—where Monir studied—Abdul Jalil Hadi alias Hadiuzzaman, 42; teaching associate, Md Akram, 22; and Hadi's 15-year-old student.
Hadi and his student were detained from Signboard area in Jatrabari on Monday evening, the day Monir's body was discovered.
On Tuesday, a case was filed with the Demra police station, in connection with the incident, and Akram was arrested in Malitola area of Bangshal, that evening.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) (Wari) Deputy Commissioner, Farid Uddin, provided the information at a press briefing, held at the DMP media centre, on Wednesday morning.
The DMP Deputy Commissioner Farid said, on Sunday morning, Monir was dropped off at the madrasa by his older sister. However, when she came back to pick him up in the evening, the teachers told her that Monir had already gone home.
Monir's parents started to scour the area for his whereabouts, when his father, Saidul Haque, received an anonymous phone call asking for a ransom of Tk300,000, said Farid. Consequently, Saidul filed a general diary (GD) with the Demra police station.
Saidul managed to gather Tk100,000, and with the money, he went to Nur-e-Ayesha masjid, where the caller had asked him to meet. However, despite waiting all of Sunday night at the masjid, nobody came to meet him.
Later on Monday, police conducted a raid inside the masjid, and found Monir's body inside a sack. He had been tied and gagged with a gamcha (towel). Police immediately detained Hadi—also an imam at the Nur-e-Ayesha masjid—and his 15-year-old student, for interrogation.
Later, Md Akram was arrested in Bangshal area.
The DMP deputy commissioner continued, according to the confessional statements given on Tuesday evening, Hadi abducted Monir to ask for a ransom from his father. His student helped him with the plan by making the phone call to Monir's father, while Akram tied Monir's mouth and hands with the gamcha.
However, Monir died after being suffocated by the gag.
