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Missing after photo trip, CoU teacher’s son found dead
Daily Sun Report, Dhaka
Published: 20 Sep 2026, 12:00 AM
A 13-year-old boy who left home to take photographs with friends was found dead the next day in a forest beside Comilla University, his skull bearing visible wounds, in a killing that has drawn nationwide protests and demands for swift justice.
The body of Ishayat Shahriar Opratim, a Class VII student at Border Guard Public School in Kotbari and the only son of Nahida Begum, associate professor in Comilla University’s Bangla department, and KM Feroz Shahriar, was recovered on Saturday from the Sunanda area of the Lalmai hills, adjacent to the university.
Police said three people – named as Tuhin, Anas and Fahim – have been detained and are being questioned.
Mohammad Rakibul Islam, officer-in-charge of Sadar Dakshin Model police station, said investigators believe the killing may be connected to a mobile phone.
“After the post-mortem, the body was handed over to the family,” he said, adding that a case was being prepared.
Cumilla Superintendent of Police Md Anisuzzaman said interrogation of the detainees had yielded some clues, though he gave no further details.
According to the family, Ishayat left home in Kotbari at around 2:30pm on Friday, telling his parents he was going out to take photographs with friends. He carried his mother’s iPhone.
Police later traced the phone’s location to Gandhamati in Kotbari until roughly 6:30pm, after which it was switched off.
His father reported him missing when he failed to return.
CCTV footage reviewed by police showed Ishayat, dressed in a panjabi and pyjamas, standing outside a shop looking at his phone on Friday afternoon before he was approached by a man in a white shirt and cap, identified by police as Tuhin.
The two shook hands, spoke briefly, and were then seen walking together past the Shalbon area.
Comilla University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr MM Shariful Karim said footage also placed the teenager at the university gate at around 3:30pm with another, older person wearing a cap.
Shariful Karim said the pair’s behaviour appeared suspicious, prompting the university’s proctorial team to alert police and confirm the second individual’s identity from the recording.
The body was first discovered by Mohammad Abdul Kader Jilani, a local labourer, who had gone into the woods with relatives to cut bamboo at around 11am on Saturday.
“My nephew said, ‘Uncle, there’s a child lying there.’ When I came over, I saw there was blood all around his head. We got frightened and left,” Jilani said.
He estimated the time from the position of the sun, having neither a phone nor a watch. On his way out of the forest, Jilani encountered a local man, Mamun, who told him a university teacher’s child was missing; Mamun then accompanied him back to identify the body.
Ishayat’s funeral prayers are due to be held at the university on Sunday morning.
His mother Nahida Begum said at the scene, “What wrong did my little boy do? I want an answer to that. I don’t accept any trial. I must be given an answer.”
She added, “You could have taken the iPhone, but why did you kill my son? Give me back my son!”
The killing has drawn condemnation from political and social figures. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar called the death “a grave warning for society as a whole,” asking, “If a child leaves home safely but cannot return home safely, where is the security of people’s lives and property in this country?”
Cumilla-6 MP Monirul Haque Chowdhury, reacting with visible emotion, said, “We could not protect an innocent boy,” and called for the killers’ arrest and a verdict within 90 days.
Hundreds of residents gathered at the recovery site on Saturday.
Several political and civil society leaders have urged the government to strengthen law enforcement nationwide amid rising concern over crimes including murder, mugging and extortion.