Police and elite responders in Tangail have recovered the skeletal remains of a 14-year-old auto-van driver, ending a agonising 24-day search that began when the youth vanished alongside his vehicle.

The victim, identified as Sabuj, son of Sirajul Islam from Kaharta village in Sakhipur municipality, disappeared on the morning of 26 September after leaving home with his battery-operated auto-van. Following weeks of desperate searching by his family and local authorities, members of the Special Response Battalion (SRB) discovered his skull and bones early Tuesday morning inside the dense Andi forest in Sakhipur.

The harrowing scene unfolded as Sirajul Islam identified his son’s remains at the location by recognising a pair of shoes left lying on the ground. Overcome with grief, the distraught father accused local criminal suspects of murdering the teenager for his vehicle and demanded capital punishment for those responsible.

“They killed my boy,” Sirajul Islam said, demanding the harshest penalty under the law for the perpetrators.

The investigation took a significant turn shortly after Sabuj was reported missing. While his family initially filed a general diary with the local police station, law enforcement tracked down the stolen auto-van on 27 September in the Kalibari Market area of Gopalpur upazila, roughly a day after the boy went missing.

Following intelligence leads and the initial detention of two individuals, the SRB arrested two primary suspects, Habibur Rahman, 35, and Shaheen, 34. Information obtained during interrogated sessions with the suspects led investigators directly to the isolated forest site where Sabuj’s remains were ultimately located.

Officer-in-Charge of Sakhipur Police Station, Murad Hossain, confirmed the recovery of the skeletal remains and stated that legal proceedings and forensic examinations are currently underway.

Incidents involving the theft of battery-powered auto-vans and three-wheelers have posed a persistent security challenge across rural Bangladesh. Young drivers are frequently targeted by opportunistic criminals who lure them to secluded areas, steal their vehicles for resale in neighbouring towns, and resort to violence to eliminate witnesses. Authorities are continuing their drive to identify any further accomplices involved in the crime.