Tonu murder: Retired army officer Hafizur Rahman arrested again
Retired army personnel Md Hafizur Rahman, the only person apprehended in the murder case of college student Sohagi Jahan Tonu, was arrested again on Saturday after he failed to surrender within the deadline set by the Appellate Division’s Chamber Court.
The Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) arrested him from his residence in Keraniganj around 8am, following the court’s order, said investigation officer PBI Inspector Tarikul Islam.
“As he did not surrender following the court’s order, the PBI arrested him from his residence in Keraniganj. He will be produced before the court soon,” he said.
On August 6, the Chamber Court stayed Hafizur’s bail and directed him to surrender within 24 hours. It also ordered police to arrest him if he failed to comply.
Chamber Judge Md Rezaul Haque passed the order after hearing a petition filed by the state.
Hafizur was granted six months’ interim bail by the High Court on August 2 and was released from Cumilla Central Jail on the evening of August 4.
The state subsequently filed a leave-to-appeal petition seeking a stay on the High Court’s bail order.
Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kajal told journalists that the Chamber Judge had stayed the High Court’s bail order and directed Hafizur to surrender within 24 hours. Police were authorised to arrest him if he failed to do so.
The Chamber Court fixed Sunday for further orders.
Hafizur, 52, is a former senior warrant officer of the Bangladesh Army. He was serving at Cumilla Cantonment when Tonu was murdered in 2016 and retired from the army in 2023.
Police first arrested him from his residence in Keraniganj on April 21. The following day, his DNA sample was collected at the CID forensic laboratory in Dhaka before he was taken to a Cumilla court.
According to the case details, the PBI found a DNA match with the blood of one person and semen of five people.
The PBI said Hafizur was re-arrested in compliance with the court order and to prevent him from fleeing.
Tonu, a student of Cumilla Victoria Government College, went missing on the evening of March 20, 2016, after going to the Cumilla Cantonment area to provide private tuition.
Her body was recovered the following day from bushes near the cantonment power house.
Her father later filed a murder case with Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station against unidentified persons.
The investigation was initially conducted by local police, the Detective Branch and the Criminal Investigation Department. However, none of the agencies could solve the case.
Police Headquarters transferred the investigation from the CID to the PBI on October 21, 2020.
PBI Inspector Md Mujibur Rahman led the investigation for nearly four years before Inspector Md Tarikul Islam took over as the sixth investigating officer in September 2024.
As part of the renewed investigation, a Cumilla court in July this year ordered the collection of DNA samples from two more suspects – former soldier Jahidul Islam and Faisal Ahmed Rabbi.
Earlier, on April 6, the court ordered DNA cross-matching between profiles recovered from Tonu’s clothing and those of three other suspects – retired Sergeant Zahiduzzaman, retired senior warrant officer Md Hafizur Rahman and former soldier Shahinul Alam.
The court has also ordered Interpol Red Notices for Zahiduzzaman and Shahinul Alam, whom investigators identified as two prime suspects in the case. Investigators said Shahinul had fled to Kuwait, while Zahiduzzaman’s whereabouts remained unknown.
Investigators previously found DNA belonging to three unidentified individuals on Tonu’s clothing, but the profiles remained unmatched for years. The latest tests are part of the PBI’s efforts to identify those linked to the evidence recovered from Tonu.