Cumilla, Oct 10 (V7N)- Police have arrested a 35-year-old CNG-powered autorickshaw driver in connection with the rape and murder of a 15-year-old schoolgirl whose body was recovered from a paddy field in Lalmai upazila of Cumilla district.
The accused, identified as Sumon Mia, was arrested in Chattogram on October 9, police said at a press conference on Saturday, October 10. Police also said the victim's iPhone was recovered from an area near a pond in Jhalmuri Bazar based on information obtained during the investigation.
The victim, Jannatul Tajmin, was a seventh-grade student at Farida Vidyathan in Cumilla city. Her family originally comes from Jashore district but lives in the city's Race Course area because of her father's employment.
According to police, the National Emergency Service 999 received a call on the morning of October 8 reporting a girl's body beside a paddy field in Bhoraljagpur (Uttar Para) village in Lalmai upazila. Lalmai Police subsequently reached the scene, began investigating and identified the victim with the help of her father.
A murder case was filed at Lalmai Police Station, after which the district detective police and local police jointly launched an investigation.
Investigators said the girl had hired Sumon's autorickshaw in front of the Tisha bus counter on Bishwa Road in Padua Bazar on October 8 to travel to her home in the Race Course area. The fare was reportedly fixed at Tk 300.
According to the police account of the suspect's statement, Sumon diverted from the expected route, taking the vehicle through Chandpur-bound Road and Bijra Bazar. He allegedly stopped at a dark, isolated location and misled the girl when she asked where they were.
Police said the girl tried to flee after becoming frightened. The suspect allegedly restrained her, strangled her with a towel during a struggle and later assaulted her sexually. Investigators further alleged that he dragged her into a paddy field and fatally injured her by crushing her head with his foot.
Police said the suspect took the victim's iPhone from her handbag and discarded the bag in the field. He allegedly left the autorickshaw at the scene, bathed in a nearby pond and later travelled to Jhalmuri Bazar, where he hid the phone in vegetation near another pond before leaving for Chattogram.
The phone was subsequently recovered following the suspect's arrest, police said. The investigation is continuing, and the allegations against the accused remain subject to the judicial process.
END/SMA/AJ
