TONU RAPE, MURDER : 5 army men quizzed, protests continue

Several thousand people took to the streets on Thursday in the city demanding justice for the killing of Comilla Victoria College student Sohagi Jahan Tonu and threatened to call a countrywide general strike.
The Criminal Investigation Department officials, meanwhile, said five army men—ranking from soldier to sergeant—were quizzed on Thursday in connection with the killing of Tonu.
‘We are interrogating many people in this connection. We have also quizzed five army men,’ CID’s special superintendent Abdul Kahar Akand told New Age.
Comilla correspondent reported that the army men were taken to the district  CID office for interrogation.
Another CID official said they were verifying corroborative
evidence relating to a few people who might be involved in the killing.
‘A lot of the evidence has already been contaminated…but we need strong evidence before arresting anyone,’ said the investigator.
Tonu, 19, a second year history student of Comilla Victoria College and a theatre activist, went missing on March 20 after going out of her house at Comilla Mainamati Cantonment.
Tonu’s father Yar Hossain found her lying in a bushy area at the cantonment and she was declared dead when rushed to the Combined Military Hospital.
Progressive Students’ Alliance and Samrajyabad Birodhi Chhatra Oikya, a platform of left leaning student organisations, meanwhile, on Thursday announced a half-day general strike for April 25 across the country demanding justice for Tonu.
Ashraful Alam Shohel, the convener of the alliance, announced the shutdown at a rally after police barred their procession heading towards home ministry, by putting barricades at Doyel intersection.
Several activists sustained minor injuries during the scuffle with police who intercepted the procession marching towards the home ministry, to besiege the ministry protesting the murder.
Speakers at the rally condemned the government for its failure to arrest any culprit over the Tonu murder even after nearly three weeks had passed.
They also alleged that police had started a ‘drama’ in the name of investigation and were trying to hide the masterminds of the murder.
They also threatened to pull down the administration if the government remained indifferent in this regard after April 25.
Ramna division additional deputy commissioner Ibrahim Khan told journalists that police barred students in a bid to thwart any unwanted situation while a scuffle occurred where two police members were also injured.

News COurtesy: www.newagebd.net