CUMILLA — Police have arrested three people, including two teenagers, in connection with the killing of 13-year-old Ishayat Shahriar, also known as Apratim, whose body was recovered from a secluded area of the Lalmai hills in Cumilla.
Police said preliminary findings indicate that Apratim was deliberately taken to an isolated forest in the Sananda area with the intention of taking an iPhone he was carrying.
When he resisted an attempt to snatch the phone, he was allegedly struck on the head with bamboo sticks and died at the scene.
Cumilla Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman disclosed the findings at a press conference on Sunday. He identified one of the arrested suspects as Saiful Islam, alias Tuhin, 19, of the Sananda area near Comilla University. The other two suspects are aged 15 and 16. Police said none of the three had a previous police record.
Another 19-year-old man has also been detained while investigators examine whether he had any involvement in the incident.
Apratim was the only son of Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Department of Bangla at Comilla University. He was a seventh-grade student at Border Guard Public School in Cumilla.
According to his family, Apratim left their rented home in the Gandhamati area of Kotbari on Friday afternoon, taking his mother's iPhone with him after saying he was going out to take photographs with friends.
When he failed to return, family members began searching for him and informed the university authorities and law enforcement agencies.
Police said their investigation began after a general diary was filed over his disappearance. Investigators examined CCTV footage collected from the university area and surrounding locations. Footage allegedly showed Apratim with Saiful near the university's main gate and later heading towards the secluded Sananda area of the Lalmai hills at around 3:15pm on September 18.
After Apratim's body was recovered, police took Saiful into custody for questioning. Investigators said information obtained during the interrogation led them to the two teenage suspects.
According to the police account, an attempt was made to take Apratim's phone between 5:00pm and 6:00pm in a secluded, hilly forest. A struggle allegedly broke out when the boy resisted.
Police said Saiful and the two teenagers then struck him on the head with sticks. After Apratim died, the suspects allegedly took the phone and left the area.
Police said the iPhone used by Apratim was subsequently recovered during the investigation.
His body was found on Saturday afternoon in a remote forest in Sananda village under Bijoypur Union of Cumilla's Sadar Dakshin upazila. Police and local sources said there were injury marks on his head.
The body was later sent for a post-mortem examination.
Authorities stressed that the account of the killing is based on preliminary information obtained during questioning of the suspects and that a full investigation remains underway.
Police are also investigating whether the suspects had links to any juvenile gang.
The Cumilla police chief said law enforcement agencies were examining allegations involving juvenile gangs, drug users and criminal activities in and around the university and Lalmai hill areas.