Hafizur sent to jail after bail stay

PBI says he was arrested after failing to surrender within the deadline set by the Appellate Division chamber court.

Retired army personnel Hafizur Rahman was sent to jail on Saturday after being arrested following a stay on his High Court bail in the Sohagi Jahan Tonu murder case.

The Police Bureau of Investigation arrested Hafizur from his residence in Keraniganj, Dhaka, and later produced him before Comilla Senior Judicial Magistrate Court-5.

Judge Tayeb Uddin subsequently ordered that he be sent to jail.
PBI Inspector Tarikul Islam, also the investigation officer in the case, confirmed the development.
He said Hafizur was arrested to prevent him from fleeing and to comply with an order issued by the Appellate Division’s chamber court.

Hafizur had been released from Comilla Central Jail on August 4 after the High Court granted him bail on August 2.

The state subsequently filed a leave-to-appeal petition seeking a stay on the bail order.

On August 6, Appellate Division Chamber Judge Justice Md Rezaul Haque stayed the High Court’s bail order until August 9 and directed Hafizur to surrender within 24 hours.

The court also instructed law enforcement agencies to arrest him if he failed to surrender within the stipulated time.

According to Comilla Court Police Inspector Sadequr Rahman and Comilla Central Jail Senior Jail Superintendent Shah Alam Khan, Hafizur did not surrender by the Friday evening deadline.

Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a history student at Comilla Victoria Government College and a theatre activist, went missing on March 20, 2016, while on her way to a private tutoring session inside Comilla Cantonment.

Her body was recovered later that night from a bush near the cantonment’s power house.
The following day, her father, Iyar Hossain, filed a murder case with Kotwali Model Police Station against unidentified people.

As part of the investigation, the PBI arrested Hafizur from Keraniganj on April 21.