Police in Cumilla have arrested an auto-rickshaw driver in connection with the rape and murder of a 15-year-old schoolgirl whose body was recovered from a paddy field in the Lalmai area on Thursday morning.
The victim, a seventh-grade student, was returning home on the night of 8 October after disembarking from a bus at the Paduar Bazar Bishwa Road intersection in Cumilla Sadar South sub-district. Whilst searching for local transport near the Tisha bus counter, she negotiated a fare of 300 taka with the driver, identified as 35-year-old Suman Miah, to take her home in his CNG-powered auto-rickshaw.
According to statement details provided by the police, the teenager handed Miah 100 taka shortly after setting off, which he used to purchase bread and bananas. Miah then convinced the passenger that taking an unfamiliar short cut would ensure a quicker journey. He subsequently diverted the vehicle along the Cumilla–Chandpur road towards Lalmai via Bijra Bazar, eventually bringing the auto-rickshaw to a halt in an isolated, unlit area.
When Miah attempted to assault the girl, her cries for help prompted him to strangle her with a cotton scarf (gamcha). He then dragged her into an adjacent paddy field, where he raped and killed her.
In a desperate bid to save herself during the attack, the teenager managed to send her live location to her father’s mobile phone alongside an urgent plea for help. Tragically, her father did not see the message until early the following morning. By the time he arrived at the transmitted location, police officers were already on site recovering his daughter’s body from the edge of the field.
Details of the operation were disclosed on Saturday morning during a press conference at the Cumilla District Police Headquarters, led by Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime) Pankaj Barua, alongside Lalmai Police Station Inspector-in-Charge Mizanur Rahman and senior detectives.
Investigators revealed that after committing the crime, Miah abandoned his vehicle, washed in a nearby pond, and hid the victim’s iPhone in a patch of jungle before fleeing to Chittagong to hide at his brother’s residence. Detective branch officers tracked him down and detained him on Friday. Miah, originally from Kachua in Chandpur district, had been residing at his in-laws’ home in Lalmai and routinely operated hired auto-rickshaws around Paduar Bazar at night.
Police confirmed that the victim’s iPhone has been successfully recovered following directions provided by the suspect during interrogation. Initial investigations indicate Miah acted entirely alone, and he has formally confessed to his involvement in the crime.
