Bangladesh police have cracked the high-profile murder case of a 15-year-old seventh-grade student in Lalmai upazila of Cumilla, arresting a CNG-run autorickshaw driver and recovering the victim's iPhone based on his confession. Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Pankaj Barua disclosed the breakthrough details during a press briefing at the Cumilla district police super's office on Saturday morning (October 11), though several critical questions regarding the bizarre route detour and potential accomplices remain under active investigation.
According to police findings, the tragic sequence began on Wednesday night (October 8) when the teenager disembarked from a bus at the Tisha counter near Nurjahan Hotel in the Padua Bazar Bisroad area at around 11:45 PM, returning from Cox's Bazar after leaving home on October 4 to visit a friend. Around 12:30 AM, she negotiated a 300 taka fare with autorickshaw driver Suman Mia to return home. However, instead of taking the direct eight-kilometre route toward the Cumilla town's Racecourse area, which would have taken approximately 30 minutes, the driver detoured along regional highways, extending the journey to at least 30 kilometres through Bijra Bazar and toward the desolate crop fields of Vorajogotpur in Lalmai upazila.
Investigators revealed that the prolonged journey lasted between one and a half to two hours, during which the victim reportedly showed no outward reaction despite moving through regional highways that typically see vehicular movement and sporadic pedestrian presence. At approximately 2:58 AM, the victim managed to transmit her live location to her father via her mobile phone, though the father, who was asleep, failed to notice the alert in real time and only discovered it early in the morning while searching for her. Police stated that when the autorickshaw reached the isolated area, the teenager attempted to flee, prompting a physical struggle before the driver allegedly strangled her with a gachha (scarf), subjected her to assault, and pressed her face into the mud with his foot in a paddy field.
On Thursday morning (October 9), local law enforcement recovered the teenager's lifeless body from a paddy field in Vorajogotpur Uttarpara, alongside her abandoned autorickshaw, belongings, and a handbag. The grieving father subsequently identified his daughter's body at the scene after embarking on an independent search. Police reported that the arrested driver, Suman Mia, has confessed during interrogation to committing the brutal assault and murder, though authorities emphasized that final confirmation regarding the sexual assault allegations and its timing relative to the murder awaits conclusive forensic reports.
Despite the arrest, law enforcement is facing scrutiny over unanswered questions, including why the driver deviated so far off course and whether any other individuals were involved in the crime. While closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage captured the victim sitting in the rear left side of the autorickshaw, investigators stated that preliminary probes have not yet linked anyone other than Suman Mia to the incident. Highlighting the tragedy, Additional SP Pankaj Barua noted that a potential fatality might have been averted had the victim contacted the national emergency service hotline 999 during the harrowing transit, adding that the family had not filed any general diary (GD) with the police during the days she was away prior to the tragedy.
