Police recovered the skeleton, pants, and t-shirt of a 19-year-old youth named Rashedul Islam in Phulpur upazila of Mymensingh, 25 days after he went missing. Around 10:30 pm on Sunday, these items were recovered from a jungle in the 'Garor Vita' area of Chandpur village in the upazila.
Father Md. Shahjahan identified the skeleton as that of his son Rashedul based on the clothing he was wearing. Rashedul was a resident of Krishan Maheshpatti village in the upazila. He used to work as a laborer at a brick kiln with his father. As there was no work there, he had been at home for about a month and a half. During this time, he developed a relationship of hanging out and working as a laborer in various places with three young men from the neighboring area: Jasim Uddin (24), Rafiq (28), and Mozammel Hossain (27). Police have arrested the three men on charges of involvement in the incident. Police stated that during initial interrogation, they admitted to strangling Rashedul to death. However, the specific motive for the murder has not yet been confirmed.
According to family and police sources, around 9:00 pm on August 12, Jasim called Rashedul out of his house over a mobile phone. After that, he went missing. The next day, a woman called Shahjahan from Rashedul's number and demanded a ransom of 50,000 taka. Shahjahan filed a General Diary at the police station on the same day regarding the incident. Later, an abduction case was filed at Phulpur police station on August 25. During the investigation of the case, police arrested Jasim from the Shyamganj railway station area yesterday. Based on the information provided by him, Rafiq and Mozammel were also arrested.
Later, based on their information, police conducted a drive in the jungle and recovered various bones, a skull, and clothing. Shahjahan alleged that Rashedul had a dispute with Rafiq over wages for work in a cucumber field. Following that dispute, the three of them together strangled Rashedul to death by wrapping a gamcha around his neck. Sub-Inspector Zikrulislam, the investigating officer of the case, said that the accused are giving different statements at different times. The motive for the murder is still not clear; the matter is being verified. Police stated that the recovered bone fragments will be sent to the morgue of Mymensingh Medical College for autopsy and DNA testing. The process of sending the accused to court is underway.
