Staff Reporter:

A retired Bangladeshi army officer, accused in the high-profile murder and rape case of a college student in Cumilla, has been remanded and jailed.

The development brought a new momentum to an investigation that has remained unsolved for nearly a decade.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Abdullah Aman on Saturday ordered Md Hafizur Rahman, a retired senior warrant officer, to be remanded into custody after a three-day interrogation period concluded without extension.

PBI Inspector Md Tariqul Islam, the investigating officer, confirmed the development. “The accused was presented before the court following the expiry of his remand period,” he stated. “DNA cross-matching is currently in progress, though no further arrests have been made at this stage.”

Hafizur was taken into custody on April 21 from his residence in Arsinagar under Keraniganj Police Station. His arrest marks the first significant breakthrough in the case since the crime occurred in March 2016.

Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a 19-year-old student at Cumilla Victoria Government College, disappeared on March 20, 2016, after visiting a house within the Cumilla Cantonment to provide tuition. Her body was discovered the following day in a forested area near the cantonment power house.

Her father subsequently filed a murder case with Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station against unidentified individuals. The investigation passed through multiple agencies�”including local police, the Detective Branch, and the Criminal Investigation Department�”before being transferred to the Police Bureau of Investigation in October 2020.

For nearly four years, PBI Inspector Md Mujibur Rahman led the inquiry. In September 2024, Tariqul Islam assumed responsibility as the sixth investigating officer to take over the case.