Family demands probe into third party involvement

Mohammed Amin -- father of Tasfia Amin, whose body was found on concrete blocks at embankment of the Karnaphuli in the city's Patenga Naval area on May 3 -- yesterday demanded investigation to determine if there was involvement of any  third party in the incident.

Meanwhile, investigators are yet to receive the post-mortem report of Tasfia,19 days after the reports of chemical analysis and vaginal swab were sent to forensic lab of Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Tasfia, a ninth-grader of Sunshine Grammar School and College in Chittagong, used to live with her parents in the city's OR Nizam Road area.

After the recovery of the body, her father filed a case accusing six persons including a 16-year old friend of hers, with Patenga Police Station on May 03.

Police had sought remand for the prime accused in the murder case on May 6.

But a court in Chittagong sent him to Tongi Kishore Unnayan Kendra (juvenile correction centre) in Gazipur and ordered the IO to quiz him there.

Addressing a press conference yesterday at Chittagong Press Club, Tasfia's father Mohammad Amin said his daughter was brutally "murdered" by a section of criminals.

“The fate of the murder case now dependents on the viscera report.

I have sought assistance and cooperation from the administration so that the report is neutral and unbiased,” said the father.

The investigators should look into whether any third party was involved with the death, he demanded.

Replying to a question, Amin claimed her aforementioned friend, the prime accused in the case, is responsible for the murder and he knows everything.

“[He] planned the murder, after calling my daughter out over the phone to meet.”

NO VISIBLE HEADWAY IN PROBE

Talking to The Daily Star, Assistant Commissioner (AC) Jahedul Islam of Karnaphuli-Patenga Zone, said, “We are waiting for the post-mortem report to reach a conclusion whether it was murder.”

“I have talked with CID officials where they said the viscera report will be sent by next week, as there are many important tests,” said AC Jahed.

Contacted, CID's Chittagong Special Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dr Nazmul Karim told The Daily Star “Usually it takes 7-15 days to submit viscera reports. Then the reports will be handed over to doctors who performed the autopsy.”

“Tasifa's reports will also be handed over to the doctors, not the IO,” said the SSP.

After the arrest, the prime accused had told police that he met Tasfia at a restaurant in Golpahar area that evening, and later helped her rent a CNG-run auto-rickshaw to go home, as her family was looking for her.

Police have collected the CCTV footage of the vehicle and sent to experts for analysis to find its licence plate number. “The footage was sent to experts in China, but there is no significant headway,” Anwar Hossain, Investigation Officer of the case, told The Daily Star.

“Police are also looking for the other five accused in the murder case,” said the IO.