Neighbour held over death of girl found with throat slit at Ctg ecopark

Police have arrested the prime suspect in connection with the killing of eight-year-old Jannatul Nisha Ira, who died after being found critically injured in a remote hilly area of Sitakunda.

The accused, Babu Sheikh, also known as Mahbub Alam, 45, a neighbour of the victim.

He was taken into custody on Tuesday after CCTV footage revealed that the victim was entering the ecopark with him.

Chattogram's Additional Superintendent of Police (Industrial Zone and DB) Md Russell confirmed the news.

At a press briefing this evening, District Superintendent of Police Md Nazir Ahmed Khan said investigators collected CCTV footage from the route between Kumira and Sitakunda hills.

One clip shows Babu taking the girl by the hand into the Botanical Garden and Eco-Park of Sitakunda. Based on this evidence, he was arrested from Kumira Kazipara.

SP Nazir said Babu confessed to the crime during interrogation. Following his statement, authorities recovered a blood-stained trouser and other evidence from the scene.

Police noted that Babu had a long-standing family dispute with the victim's father, Monir Hossain. Investigators said he planned to harm the child, luring her from home on Sunday morning with chocolates, then taking her by bus from Kumira to Sitakunda.

According to police, the child screamed when Mahbub attempted to assault her. He then slit her throat and left her on a hillside, fleeing the scene.

After being rescued, she was taken to Sitakunda Upazila Health Complex for primary treatment and then admitted to Chattogram Medical College Hospital. Her condition worsened and she passed away around 4:30am today in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Chattogram Medical College Hospital.

The child's mother filed a case in this regard under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act on Sunday night, which police are now converting into a murder case.