September 20, 2026

Apratim killed only for iPhone, says police superintendent

Four people have been detained on suspicion of involvement in the 13-year-old’s murder

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bdnews24.com News Service

Published : 20 Sep 2026, 03:44 PM

Updated : 20 Sep 2026, 04:09 PM

Cumilla school student Ishayat Shahriar Apratim had been killed in order to snatch the iPhone he was carrying, police say.

Cumilla Police Superintendent Mohammad Anisuzzaman shared the information at the Cumilla District Police Superintendent’s Office around 2:15pm on Sunday.

Police had previously said that four people had been detained on suspicion of involvement in the killing of 13-year-old Apratim, the son of Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Department of Bengali at Cumilla University.

The iPhone that Apratim had been carrying was also recovered from the detainees.

On Friday afternoon, Apratim went missing from the Kotbari area of Cumilla while taking photographs with his mother’s iPhone. When he did not return home by night, his father KM Firoz Shahriar filed a missing person’s report at Sadar South Model Police Station.

The following day, Saturday afternoon, police recovered his body from a bush on Lalmai Hill in Sananda village, near Comilla University.

Apratim was a seventh-grade student at Border Guard Public School in the Kotbari area of Cumilla.

Police said Saiful Islam Tuhin, 19, was initially detained after CCTV footage was examined in connection with the incident.

He had been a Class 11 student at Cumilla City College but dropped out after failing an examination in 2025.

Based on information obtained during Tuhin’s interrogation, police detained two more teenagers, both aged 15. They are ninth-grade students at Mainamati Technical School and College.

Police also said Siam, a Class 12 student at Abdal Khan Degree College, was taken into custody for questioning.

On Saturday night, Apratim’s father Firoz filed a murder case with Sadar South Police against unidentified persons.

At a press conference, Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman said Tuhin and the two teenagers had been shown arrested in the case.

On Friday afternoon, Apratim went missing from the Kotbari area of Cumilla while taking photographs with his mother’s iPhone. When Apratim did not return home that night, his father, KM Firoz Shahriar, filed a missing person’s report at the Sadar South Model Police Station.

The following day, Saturday afternoon, police recovered his body from a bush on Lalmai Hill in Sananda village, near Comilla University.

Apratim was a seventh-grade student at Border Guard Public School in the Kotbari area of Cumilla.

Police said Saiful Islam Tuhin, 19, was initially detained after CCTV footage was examined in connection with the incident. He had been a Class 11 student at Cumilla City College but dropped out after failing an examination in 2025.

Based on information obtained during Tuhin’s interrogation, police detained two more teenagers, both aged 15. They are ninth-grade students at Mainamati Technical School and College.

Police also said that Siam, a Class 12 student at Abdal Khan Degree College, was taken into custody for questioning.

On Saturday night, Apratim’s father Shahriar filed a murder case with Sadar South Police Station against unidentified persons. At a press conference, Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman said that Tuhin and the two teenagers had been shown arrested in the case.

Another person was arrested on Sunday in connection with the incident.

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