Thirteen-year-old Apratim, son of a Comilla University teacher, was struck on the head with a bamboo stick and killed after he resisted an attempt to snatch his mother’s iPhone. Police have reviewed CCTV footage, arrested three individuals including two teenagers, and recovered the iPhone.
At a press conference held at his office this Sunday afternoon, Cumilla Superintendent of Police (SP) Md. Anisuzzaman revealed details behind solving the murder of Ishayat Shahriar, alias Apratim, son of Nahida Begum, Associate Professor of the Bengali Department at Comilla University. In the presence of Additional Superintendents of Police Lutfar Rahman and Pankaj Barua along with other senior officials, the SP stated that based on a General Diary (GD) and an analysis of CCTV footage, Apratim was seen heading into a secluded forest in the Lalmai Hills in the Sananda area with Saiful Islam, alias Tuhin (19), around 3:00 PM last Friday. Following the recovery of the body, Tuhin was detained and interrogated, during which he confessed to luring Apratim there to snatch his phone. Based on his statement, two other teenagers involved in the murder were identified and arrested.
According to information provided by the police, between 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM on Friday, September 18, an attempt was made to snatch Apratim’s phone in the isolated forest of Lalmai Hill. When Apratim resisted and a scuffle ensued, Saiful and the other two teenagers struck him on the head with a bamboo stick. Once the severe head injuries caused his death, Saiful fled the scene with the iPhone along with the two teenagers. The snatched iPhone was subsequently recovered from arrested Saiful’s home. The three arrestees are Saiful Islam alias Tuhin (19) from the Sananda area, a 15-year-old teenager from the Salmanpur area, and a 16-year-old teenager from the Hatigara area. Although they have no prior police records, another 19-year-old youth has been detained to verify his involvement in the incident.
Responding to reporters’ questions at the news conference, the SP stated that an investigation is underway regarding local juvenile gang links and law enforcement in the Lalmai Hill area. Over 250 juvenile gang members have already been arrested in Cumilla, and police are verifying whether those arrested in the Apratim murder case belong to any juvenile gang. Issuing a warning to parents, the SP emphasized that parents must remain vigilant about where their children are going, who they are hanging out with, and their phone usage. The deceased Apratim was a seventh-grade student at Border Guard Public School in Kotbari and became the victim of this brutal murder after leaving home with his mother’s iPhone under the pretext of taking photos with friends.
