RAB arrests Milon, a suspect in the murder of a schoolgirl in Dhaka’s Banasree

The body of the Class 10 student was recovered late on Saturday afternoon

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has arrested Milon, a suspect in the murder of a schoolgirl whose body was found with its throat slit at a house in Dhaka’s South Banasree.

The elite police unit says Milon, a restaurant worker, was arrested from the Boro Singha area of Bagerhat Sadar Thana early on Monday morning.

The body of the student was found at the “Preetom Villa” building in South Banasree’s A Block late on Saturday afternoon. The 17-year-old girl was a student in Class 10 at Radiant School and College.

At the time of the killing, the victim’s parents and brother were at their ancestral home of Habiganj. Her older sister, Shobha Akhter, had gone to the gym that afternoon. She returned home to find her sister dead and called the police.

The victim’s father Md Shojib filed a case at Khilgaon Police Station on Saturday night over the incident. One or more unnamed suspects were accused in the case, but no one was listed by name.

The victim’s family said they believed Milon – an employee at their restaurant – may have been involved in the killing as he was caught on CCTV camera entering the house shortly before the body was recovered.

Sub-Inspector Abdur Razzak Raju, the investigating officer in the case, said on Sunday that though a suspect in the case had been apprehended, the mystery of the murder had yet to be solved.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Raju Ahmed took the case into consideration on Sunday. He ordered a case investigation report to be submitted by Feb 19, according to Sub-Inspector Marufuzzaman of the Prosecution Division.

The case documents say that Shojib, the victim’s father, owned a restaurant named Shahjalal Hotel in front of their house. He, his son Shakil, and their employees ran the store. On Jan 7, Shojib took his wife and son to Habiganj to address some land-related issues. His two daughters were left at home.

His eldest daughter Shobha left for the gym around 1:30pm on Saturday. She returned home at 3:30pm to find the girl’s body on the kitchen floor. Her screams brought her neighbours to the house. The incident was reported to the police and the body was recovered.