Retired army member Hafizur Rahman, who was released on bail in the murder case of Cumilla Victoria Government College student and theatre activist Sohagi Jahan Tanu, has been rearrested by the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI).
Hafizur was arrested from his residence in Keraniganj, Dhaka, on Saturday (August 8, 2026), according to a statement issued by the PBI. The investigation agency said he was rearrested for failing to comply with a court order directing him to surrender within 24 hours. The same order had authorised law enforcement agencies to arrest him if he failed to surrender.
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The PBI said the process of producing Hafizur before a Cumilla court is underway.
Earlier, the High Court granted Hafizur Rahman bail for six months. He was subsequently released from Cumilla Central Jail on Tuesday evening.
The state challenged the High Court’s bail order before the Appellate Division. On Thursday, the court cancelled his bail and ordered him to surrender within 24 hours. It also directed the law enforcement agencies to arrest him if he failed to comply with the order.
The 24-hour deadline expired on Friday evening, but Hafizur did not surrender. A few hours later, the PBI rearrested him from his Keraniganj residence.
Hafizur Was First Arrested in April
Hafizur Rahman was initially arrested by the PBI on April 22 this year from his residence in Keraniganj, nearly 10 years after Tanu was killed.
The following day, investigators produced him before a Cumilla court and sought a seven-day remand for interrogation. Cumilla Senior Judicial Magistrate Mominul Haque subsequently granted three days of remand.
Investigators said that following his arrest, Hafizur’s DNA sample was collected and sent for testing. After the examination, the DNA-related report was submitted to the court.
Tanu Murder Case
On March 20, 2016, Sohagi Jahan Tanu, a student of Cumilla Victoria Government College, went missing while she was on her way to give private tuition inside Cumilla Cantonment.
Her body was later recovered from a bush inside the cantonment area.
The following day, March 21, Tanu’s father, Iyar Hossain, filed a murder case with Cumilla Kotwali Model Police Station.
Sohagi Jahan Tanu was from Mirzapur village under Bangra West Union, in the area that is now Bangra Upazila of Cumilla. Her murder has remained one of the country’s most widely discussed unsolved cases, with her family and the public continuing to demand justice.
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