Top Court Halts Bail for Tonu Murder Suspect, Orders Immediate Surrender
A top court in Bangladesh has stopped the bail of a retired army officer accused in the tragic murder of Sohagi Jahan Tonu. The Appellate Division’s Chamber Court ordered Hafizur Rahman to surrender within 24 hours. This decision came on Thursday.
Chamber Judge Md Rezaul Haque issued the order. He heard a petition filed by the state. The state had asked the court to stop the bail previously given by the High Court. If Hafizur Rahman does not surrender, police have been told to arrest him.
On August 2, Hafizur Rahman had received six months of temporary bail from the High Court. He then walked out of Cumilla Central Jail on the evening of August 4.
Today, the state filed an appeal request to overturn the High Court’s bail. Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal presented this request. The chamber judge will give the next order on Sunday.
Hafizur Rahman, 52, has been in Cumilla Central Jail since April 25. He is a former Senior Warrant Officer in the army. He was working at the Cumilla cantonment in 2016 when Tonu was murdered. He retired from the army in 2023.
Police arrested Hafizur Rahman on April 21. They found him at his home in Keraniganj, Dhaka. His DNA samples were collected the next day at the CID forensic lab in Dhaka. This happened before he was taken to the Cumilla court.
Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a student of Cumilla Victoria Government College, went missing on March 20, 2016. She had gone for a private tutoring session inside Cumilla Cantonment. Her body was later found in bushes near the cantonment power house. Investigators initially believed she had been raped before her death.
The day after her body was found, Tonu’s father, Yar Hossain, filed a murder case. He was then an office assistant at the Cantonment Board. The case was filed against unknown people at Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station.
