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Tuhin killed Apratim over iPhone: police
Published : Sunday, 20 September, 2026 at 5:16 PM
Observer online report
Cumilla schoolboy Ishayat Shahriar Apotim was allegedly lured to a secluded area of Lalmai Hill by his senior friend before being killed when he resisted an attempt to snatch his iPhone, police said.
Cumilla Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman disclosed the details at a press conference on Sunday, saying the account was based on information obtained during the interrogation of those arrested and detained.
Apotim, 13, the only son of Cumilla University associate professor Dr Nahida Begum and mobile phone trader KM Firoz Shahriar, left home at around 3:30 PM on Friday with his mother’s iPhone. He told his family that he was going to Shalban Bihar to take photographs with friends.
Police said 19-year-old Saiful Islam Tuhin later contacted Apotim by message and lured him to a secluded area. CCTV footage showed Apotim near Cumilla University at around 4:30 PM, where he was seen meeting a young man and talking to him for nearly an hour. Police later identified the person as Tuhin.
According to the police, Tuhin took Apotim towards a secluded wooded area of Lalmai Hill, where he was joined by Mozammel Hossain Fahad and Md Kamrul Hasan.
The three allegedly tried to snatch Apotim’s iPhone. When he resisted, a scuffle broke out.
The SP said Tuhin first struck Apotim on the head with a hard bamboo stick, followed by Fahad and Kamrul. They allegedly continued hitting him until he died.
After confirming his death, Tuhin allegedly took the iPhone and left the scene with the other two, police said.
Apotim’s mother filed a general diary with Sadar Dakkhin Police Station after he failed to return home. Police then began examining CCTV footage and detained Tuhin.
Based on information obtained from him, police recovered Apotim’s body from a wooded area in the Lalmai Sananda hills near Cumilla University on Saturday afternoon.
Police also recovered Apotim’s iPhone from Tuhin’s house.
Tuhin, Fahad and Kamrul have been arrested in connection with the murder, while another youth, Md Siam, has been detained and is being questioned, police said.
Anisuzzaman described the incident as a planned killing, saying the youths had taken Apotim to the secluded area to snatch his phone and attacked him after he resisted.
The SP said the three accused were older than Apotim and were not his classmates, describing their friendship as unusual.
“We have uncovered the main mystery behind the incident and arrested the main accused,” Anisuzzaman said, adding that the iPhone had also been recovered from Tuhin’s house.
Police said the investigation was continuing to establish the individual roles of those involved and determine whether anyone else was connected to the killing.
The SP said a police report would be submitted to the court after completion of the investigation.
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Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
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Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296
