Interpol Red Notice against two accused in Tonu murder case

Interpol has issued Red Notice against two accused of the much-discussed Sohagi Jahan Tonu murder case of Cumilla, retired army personnel Md. Zahiduzzaman and Md. Shahin Alam. The international crime police organization Interpol issued separate Red Notices against them on Tuesday (September 1).

On the basis of information and evidence obtained in the investigation, Zahiduzzaman and Shahin Alam have been identified as important accused of the case. Investigation-related sources informed that although the need to collect their DNA samples arose at a later stage of the incident, they did not give the samples. Currently their location is unknown and they are absconding.

Investigation-related sources said that at the time of the incident Md. Zahiduzzaman was working as a sergeant and Md. Shahin Alam as a soldier at Cumilla Cantonment.

Case investigating officer Inspector of Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) Tariqul Islam said that in this case retired army personnel Hafizur Rahman was arrested from his own house at Keraniganj of Dhaka on April 21. He is currently in Cumilla Jail. Hafizur Rahman is a former Senior Warrant Officer of the army. He retired from the army in 2023. He was working at Cumilla Cantonment at the time of the Tanu murder.

Investigation-related sources informed that National Central Bureau (NCB)-Dhaka of Bangladesh Police took the initiative to issue Red Notice through Interpol at the request of PBI with the aim of internationally identifying the two absconding accused, determining their location and arresting them as per the law of the concerned country. After verifying the necessary information and documents, Interpol issued separate Red Notices against them.

Due to the issuance of Red Notice, the law enforcement agencies of the member countries of Interpol will be able to provide international police cooperation in identifying the two accused and determining their location. If their location is identified in any country, subsequent legal measures will be taken under the law of the concerned country and the applicable international cooperation framework.

Tonu did not return home after going to a house inside Cumilla Cantonment for tuition on the evening of March 20, 2016. Later her body was found in the bushes near the power house of the cantonment after searching. It is initially assumed that she was raped and then murdered. The next day Tonu’s father Yar Hossain filed a murder case against unknown accused at Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station.

The Forensic Department of Cumilla Medical College Hospital informed that the cause of Tonu’s death could not be determined in the two autopsy reports of April 4 and June 12, 2016. Currently the case is being investigated by PBI.