Police recovered the body of 13-year-old schoolboy Ishayek Shahriar Aprotim from a forest south of South Mor in Cumilla’s Kotbari area on Saturday, September 19, one day after he went missing from his home. Police said the body had signs of severe head injuries.
Aprotim was the son of Dr Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Bangla Department at Comilla University and a writer, and KM Firoz Shahriar. He was a seventh-grade student.
Additional Superintendent of Police Lutfur Rahman said he arrived at the scene with officers from Sadar South Police Station and the Detective Branch after receiving information about the body.
“Work is under way to recover the body. It will later be sent for an autopsy,” Rahman said, adding that several police teams were investigating the incident.
Family sources said Aprotim left his home in the Gandhamati area of Kotbari at about 3pm on Friday. He had taken his mother’s iPhone to take photographs with friends and did not return home.
Dr Begum sought public assistance through a Facebook post late on Friday night after failing to locate her son. The post said Aprotim had been wearing a panjabi when he left home and that the matter had been reported to police.
KM Firoz Shahriar said a general diary had been filed with Sadar South Police Station after his son went missing. He called for the swift arrest of those responsible for his son’s death.
Police said Aprotim’s phone was traced to the Gandhamati area until 6:15pm on Friday, after which no location data was available. Police have contacted all the friends with whom he usually spent time, and they were at their respective homes, his father said.
Police have not yet determined who was involved or what caused Aprotim’s death. The body will be sent for an autopsy.