Police recover Oprotim’s iPhone, to hold press conference today

Police have recovered the iPhone belonging to 13-year-old Eshiyat Shahriar Oprotim, who was found dead in Cumilla a day after he went missing, from the home of a detained suspect.

A team of the district Detective Branch (DB) recovered the phone during a raid at Tuhin’s home in the Sananda area near Lalmai Hill, adjacent to Comilla University, around 9pm on Saturday (September 19).

Mofiz Uddin Bhuiyan, inspector-in-charge of the Kotbari police outpost, confirmed the recovery to reporters that night.

Investigators said preliminary evidence and information gathered so far suggest that Oprotim may have been killed over the phone. Police, however, have yet to formally disclose the motive for the killing.

Oprotim, a seventh-grade student at Cumilla Border Guard Public School, had been missing since Friday afternoon. His body was found in the Sananda area around 1pm Saturday.

Before the body was recovered, CCTV footage reviewed by the university’s proctorial team showed Oprotim near the university’s main gate with a teenage boy wearing a cap. Another camera near the scene reportedly captured the boy taking Oprotim away. The footage led authorities to identify and trace the youth.

Following information from the detained youth, DB police conducted raids at several locations and recovered the iPhone from Tuhin’s house, officials said.

Police have detained three people—Tuhin, Anas and Fahim—in connection with the death. All are reportedly aged between 18 and 20.

District police media officer and Additional Superintendent of Police Md Lutfur Rahman said authorities would disclose details of the investigation at a press conference at noon on Sunday. He urged people to wait until then for official information.

Oprotim was the only son of Dr Nahida Begum, an associate professor of Bengali at Comilla University. The family lives in the Kotbari-Gandhamati area.