A Cumilla court has granted a three-day remand for Hafizur Rahman, a senior warrant officer of the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) and the first accused in the murder case of Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a student of Cumilla Victoria Government College. The order was issued on Wednesday afternoon by Senior Judicial Magistrate Mominul Haque after Rahman was presented before Cumilla Sadar Court-1. He had been arrested earlier from his residence by PBI’s investigating officer Tarikul Islam.

According to court officials, the case has seen 80 hearing dates and has been handled by seven investigating officers from four different agencies over the past decade. On April 6, the seventh investigating officer sought permission to cross-match DNA samples of three suspects, including Sergeant Zahid, Warrant Officer Hafizur Rahman, and soldier Shahinul Alam.

Tonu’s parents and younger brother Rubel Hossain were present at the Cumilla court during the proceedings on Wednesday afternoon.