All involved in Apratim murder arrested within 12 hours: Home minister - Prothom Alo English

Home Minister Salahuddin AhmedFile PhotoHome Minister Salahuddin Ahmed has said that everyone involved in the murder of Ishayat Shahriar Apratim, 13, the only son of Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Bangla Department of Comilla University, was arrested within 12 hours of the incident.

He said the police deserved praise for recovering all the circumstantial evidence related to the murder in the shortest possible time.

The home minister also said steps would be taken to ensure that the investigation report in the Apratim murder case is submitted quickly, similar to the case involving the brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old child in Pallabi, Dhaka.

Speaking at an emergency press conference in the meeting room of the Home Ministry at the Secretariat in Dhaka on Sunday, the home minister said that social decay and moral degradation had begun many years ago. Various signs of this are now visible, he said. All citizens of society have a responsibility to address the situation, he added.

The minister said the incident in Cumilla was tragic and had deeply saddened the people of the country. Apratim’s body was recovered within 24 hours of his disappearance, and the suspects were arrested within 12 hours of that. They have also confessed to being involved in the crime, he said. Further legal proceedings are under way.

Salahuddin Ahmed further said that those involved in the crime were somewhat like juvenile offenders. They were five to 10 years older than the deceased teen, he said. The mobile phone involved in the murder has been recovered, along with some other evidence.

The home minister said, “We can praise the police here for arresting the accused within 12 hours. Forensic analysis is under way. A post-mortem was conducted and he (Apratim) has been buried.”

In response to a question, the minister said that drugs and gambling were found to be linked to many crimes when their underlying causes were examined. He stressed the need to increase motivational activities to address the problem.

Greater emphasis should be placed on sports and cultural activities at the primary and secondary school levels so that children can grow up to become responsible members of society, he said.

Also Read'If you had asked for 10 such phones as ransom, we would have given them'21 hours agoResponding to another question, the minister said what needs to be focused on is whether justice was being delivered when crimes were committed. He said the current government had been able to quickly uncover the mysteries behind every heinous crime since taking office. Proceedings in cases that require more time are continuing, he added.

Apratim left home on Friday noon carrying his mother’s iPhone, saying that he would take photographs with his friends, and subsequently went missing. Police recovered his body nearly 22 hours later from a forest in the Lalmai hills in Sananda village, near Comilla University.

Apratim was a Class Seven student at Border Guard Public School in the Kotbari area. He lived with his parents in the Kotbari area of Ward 24 under Sadar South police station in Cumilla. His father, KM Firoz Shahriar, runs a mobile accessories business.