Police recovered the body of an eighth-grade student from Hatirjheel Lake on Sunday (2 February), 17 days after she went missing from Dakshinkhan in Dhaka.
Two individuals, Robin and Rabbi Mridha, were arrested in connection with the crime, based on whose information the body was recovered, said Dakshinkhan Police Station Inspector (Investigation) Suman Kumar Chowdhury.
Following their arrest, the suspects were presented before Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court, which granted a two-day remand for interrogation.
During questioning, Robin admitted that he, along with Rabbi and three others, lured the victim to a house in Mohakhali, where they tied her up, gagged her, and raped her.
They said the girl lost consciousness, and when she died, they conspired to dispose of the body.
According to police, the perpetrators stuffed her body into a sack and, in the early hours of 17 January, transported it from Mohakhali to Hatirjheel’s Police Plaza bridge by rickshaw, where they discarded it into the lake before returning home.
Robin, a driver by profession, was acquainted with the other three accused, while Rabbi was unemployed.
The victim had left her home around 2pm on 16 January, informing her parents that she would return shortly after running an errand.
When she failed to come back, her father filed a general diary (GD) with Dakshinkhan Police Station the next day.
A formal case was registered on 27 January.
Tracking the victim’s mobile phone records and location, police traced the Mohakhali residence and arrested Robin on 30 January from Gazipur.
His interrogation led to the arrest of Rabbi.
The body has been sent to Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College morgue for post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, police continue efforts to apprehend the remaining suspects.
