Distraught Sundrateki mourns horrific murder of four children

People of Sundrateki were anxious after four children had gone missing but things soon got worse as their anxiety soon turned into grief following the discovery of four bodies on Wednesday.

Habiganj CorrespondentRasel Chowdhury, bdnews24.com
Published : 17 Feb 2016, 08:04 PM
Updated : 17 Feb 2016, 08:04 PM

The people in this grief-stricken village in Habiganj’s Bahubal Upazila are unable to come to terms with the horrific incident.

Police arrested two men for their suspected involvement in the murders on Wednesday evening.

The suspects - Abdul Ali and ‘Jewel’ - are from the same area.

The bodies of the four boys, buried under heaps of soil, were dug up earlier in the morning at a dried out swamp in the village.

They went missing on Friday.

The boys have been identified as Monir Mia, 7, Zakaria Ahmed Shubho, 8, Tajel Mia, 10, and Ismail Hossain, 10.

Monir, Shubho and Tajel are cousins who went to Sundrateki Primary School. Ismail, their neighbour, studied at Sundrateki Madrasa.

Shubho’s father filed a general diary with Bahubal police on Saturday after a search for the boys drew blank.

Families of the four children have alleged that a disagreement over felling of trees has led to the killings.

Monir’s father Abdal Mia told bdnews24.com they had clashed with Abdul Hai and his people of the same village a few months ago following a quarrel over the cutting of the trees.

He alleged Hai and his men may have murdered the children to avenge that incident.

After the bodies were found in the morning, Habiganj disctrict Superintendent of Police Joydev Kumar Bhadra had said the children were probably buried in that spot after being murdered at a different location.

“It appears that it could have been the work of the rivals. We’ll learn more after we speak to their families,” he had added.

The bodies were handed over to their families in the evening, said Bahubal police OC Mosharraf Hossain.

Habiganj Modern Sadar Hospital’s physician Dr Debashish Das told bdnews24.com all of them had been strangled to death. Also, there were wounds on their bodies.

Sylhet Police DIG Mizanur Rahman, while visiting the scene in the morning, had announced a Tk 100,000 reward for anyone who finds the killers.