Suspect put on two-day remand

A court in Chittagong yesterday put a trainee lawyer on two days' remand, in a case filed in connection with the murder of schoolgirl Ilham with Bakalia police station.

The court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Mohiuddin Murad granted the two-day remand on Rizwanul Karim, after the investigation officer (IO) of the case appealed for a 10-day remand, said Assistant Commissioner (AC) (Prosecution) Kazi Shahabuddin of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP).

Earlier, police arrested Advocate Rizwanul Karim in connection with the murder from his house in Bakalia early on Friday, and placed him before a court.

Ilham was slaughtered by unidentified miscreants at her residence at Landmark residential area of Bakalia on June 27. She was a student of Mern Sun School and College in the city and used to reside in a flat with her mother and two other sisters, said police.

Her father Nasir Uddin is a Saudi expatriate. Her three uncles are also expatriates, and their family members also reside in the building, along with tenants.

Arrested Rizwanul Karim is brother-in-law of Nasir's younger brother, and used to live in the flat adjacent to Ilham's. He was the one who took Ilham to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where on-duty doctors declared her dead.

After the incident, Ilham's grandfather filed a case accusing unnamed criminals.

Seeking anonymity, a police inspector told The Daily Star: “Police suspect that Ilham might have been drugged before the murder.”

“We are waiting for viscera report; after getting it, police will take the next course of action,” said the police official. He added that police was trying to interrogate Ilham's mother Nasrin Akhter about the incident, but she is not cooperating.

Ilham's father Nasir Uddin, who flew back to Chittagong after the incident, said he had a happily married life and had no enemies. “I want exemplary punishment for whoever committed the crime,” he said, adding that he has faith in the police's investigation.