Tonu murder case: DNA sample of arrested ex-army officer collected

Investigators have collected the DNA sample of a former army officer arrested in connection with the high-profile murder of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a student of Cumilla Victoria Government College, marking a significant development in the long-pending case.

The sample of Hafizur Rahman, a retired senior warrant officer, has already been sent for matching, said the case’s current investigation officer Md Tariqul Islam of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) on Thursday (April 23).

Hafizur was detained from his residence in Keraniganj on Tuesday and later shown arrested in the case. He was produced before a Cumilla court on Wednesday, where the court granted a three-day remand following a seven-day plead by investigators.

According to officials, the DNA sample was collected at a forensic laboratory in Dhaka prior to his court appearance, and the matching process has already begun. Results are expected to take time.

The move comes years after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) reported in May 2017 that DNA analysis of Tonu’s attire had found the presence of semen from three unidentified men. Although DNA profiles were created at the time, they were not matched with any suspects. This marks the first attempt to match a suspect’s DNA with the evidence.

Investigators earlier sought court approval to collect DNA samples from three suspects, including Hafizur. The other two—identified as former military personnel—are also under scrutiny.

Sohagi Jahan Tonu went missing on March 20, 2016, while on her way to private tutoring inside Cumilla Cantonment. Her body was later recovered from a bush near the cantonment’s power house. Initial findings suggested she was raped and murdered.

A murder case was filed the following day by her father at Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station. However, two post-mortem reports failed to determine the exact cause of death, leaving DNA evidence as a key element in the investigation.

Authorities said interrogation of the accused is ongoing as part of efforts to uncover the truth behind the widely discussed case.