Tonu murder: HC bail of ex-army man Hafizur stayed, surrender ordered

The Appellate Division's Chamber Court has stayed the bail granted by the High Court to former army member Hafizur Rahman, 52, in the murder case of Cumilla Victoria Government College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu. The court has also ordered him to surrender within 24 hours; otherwise, police have been directed to arrest him, said Attorney General Ruhul Quddus Kajal.

Chamber Judge Md Rezaul Haque passed the order on Thursday, August 6, after hearing the state's petition seeking stay of the High Court's bail order.

Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kajal argued for the state.

After the order, the Attorney General said, "The Chamber Court has stayed the bail granted to Hafizur Rahman by the High Court. He has been ordered to surrender within 24 hours. If he does not surrender within this time, the court has directed police to arrest him."

The matter will be placed before the regular bench of the Appellate Division on Sunday for further orders, he added.

Earlier, on August 2, after hearing the bail petition, the High Court bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Sathika Hossain granted him six months' interim bail and issued a rule asking why he should not be given permanent bail. Following that order, he was released from Cumilla Central Jail on August 4.

The state filed a leave-to-appeal petition on Thursday seeking stay of the High Court's bail order. The petition was placed on the supplementary cause list today.

According to the Attorney General's office, Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kajal argued the petition with special permission from the Chamber Court around 6pm.

Hafizur Rahman, a former senior warrant officer of the army, was arrested from Keraniganj in Dhaka on April 21. At the time of Tonu's murder in 2016, he was serving at Cumilla Cantonment. He retired from the army in 2023. After his arrest, CID collected his DNA samples.

On March 20, 2016, Sohagi Jahan Tonu went missing while going to give a tuition at Cumilla Cantonment in the evening. Her body was later recovered from bushes inside the cantonment. Tonu's father Yar Hossain filed a murder case against unidentified persons with Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station. Despite a long time, the mystery of this nationally discussed murder has not yet been solved.