Police say CCTV footage helped identify and detain the suspects’ involvement in the killing
Published : 19 Sep 2026, 09:31 PM
Three people have been detained for questioning over the murder of Cumilla’s Ishayat Shahriar Apratim.
Mofiz Uddin Bhuiyan, Cumilla Kotbari Police Outpost chief, on Saturday said the suspects were detained based on clues from CCTV footage.
Apratim, 13, had left home with his mother’s iPhone to take pictures with friends and went missing.
His body was recovered around noon Saturday from the foot of a hill at Dakkhin Mor in Salmanpur, beside Cumilla University.
A Class 7 student at Border Guard Public School, Apratim was the son of Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the university’s Bangla department.
Prof Mahmud Hasan, dean of the university’s Faculty of Engineering and a neighbour and colleague of Nahida, had been reviewing CCTV footage since morning.
Mofiz said CCTV footage from the university gate and nearby areas showed Apratim with a person identified as Tuhin.
Police first detained Tuhin, identified with a single name, as a suspect and later detained Anas, also identified with a single name, and Fahim Ahmed after questioning him.
The two are being questioned while a special police team is conducting operations, Mofiz said, adding that investigators expect to make progress soon.
A police officer said police and the former Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) detained the three.
CCTV footage showed Apratim with Tuhin, who was wearing a cap and white shirt, from near the university gate to the entrance near Sananda at Dakkhin Mor.
Asked whether there was any motive other than the iPhone, the police outpost chief said police were considering several possibilities but did not want to disclose details at this stage.
Speaking on Saturday afternoon, Apratim’s father KM Firoz Shahriar also said the boy had some older friends and urged investigators to determine whether he had been with them on the afternoon he went missing.
Apratim left his home near Gandhamati of Kotbari on Friday afternoon, taking his mother’s iPhone and telling his family he was going to take pictures with friends.
He did not return home, after which his father filed a general diary at Cumilla Sadar South Police Station.
Police said they recovered Apratim’s body around 1pm on Saturday from a secluded jungle at the foot of Lalmai Hill in Sananda village under Bijoypur Union.
There were marks of injury on his head, they said.
His mother’s iPhone was not found with the body.
Cumilla Police Superintendent Md Anisuzzaman said those involved in the killing would be arrested and brought to justice within 10 to 12 hours.
“As this is a sensitive case, we do not want to disclose everything at this stage. We will arrest the actual perpetrators and reveal the details,” he said.
