A quiet weekend in Comilla turned into a devastating tragedy when the body of a 13-year-old schoolboy was recovered from a hillock near the Magic Paradise park in the Sadar Dakshin sub-district on Saturday morning. The deceased, identified as Apratim, was a seventh-grade pupil at the Comilla Border Guard Public School and the only child of Dr Nahida Begum, an associate professor in the Department of Bengali at Comilla University.
The teenager had been missing since Friday afternoon, 18th September, after leaving his family’s residence in the Kotbari area. According to family sources, Apratim had borrowed his mother’s iPhone to take photographs with friends, a common pastime for young teenagers exploring the scenic surroundings of the university town. When he failed to return home by evening, his family grew increasingly desperate.
As anxiety mounted, Dr Begum posted an emotional plea on social media on Friday evening, begging the public and authorities for assistance in tracing her missing son. She recounted that the teenager was wearing a traditional panjabi when he left home at around 3:00 pm. In her distress, she noted that whilst Apratim had taken her mobile phone, his own device remained at home with his active social media accounts, making immediate contact impossible. Early tracking attempts by local law enforcement yielded few clues, as the phone appeared to have been powered off or separated from the boy shortly after his disappearance.
In response to the family’s plight, Apratim’s father, K.M. Firoz Shahriar, lodged a general diary with the Sadar Dakshin Model Police Station on Friday night, prompting an official investigation. Tracking data eventually pinpointed the last known active location of the device near a social forestry area adjacent to the Comilla University campus.
Mobilised by the agonizing news, groups of university students launched a localized search operation at dawn on Saturday. Traversing the dense terrain along the perimeter of the university, student search parties discovered the young boy’s body on a hillock in the West Sananda area behind the Magic Paradise park.
Officers from the Sadar Dakshin Model Police Station arrived swiftly at the scene to recover the body, complete necessary identification procedures with the family, and secure the area for forensic analysis. Officer-in-Charge Rokibul Islam confirmed the recovery of the body and stated that statutory legal proceedings are underway. Investigators are currently assessing whether foul play was involved or if the incident was the result of a tragic accident in the hilly forest terrain.
The tragic discovery has cast a deep pall of gloom over the Comilla University community and the surrounding region. Colleagues, students, and neighbours gathered to offer condolences to Dr Begum and her family, who remain utterly devastated by the loss of their only child. Police have assured the public that a thorough investigation will be conducted to uncover the exact circumstances leading to the young boy’s death.
