Babu Sheikh alias Mahbub Alam, arrested in connection with the murder of seven-year-old child Ira Moni by taking her to a remote hill in Sitakunda, Chittagong, and slitting her throat, has confessed to the crime by giving a statement in court.
After recording the statement on Wednesday, the court ordered him to be sent to jail and directed that the charge sheet be submitted by 27 April.
State prosecutor Md Sarwar Hossain Labhlu informed that Babu Sheikh gave his statement before the court of Judicial Magistrate-1 Saima Afrin Hima. After recording the statement, the court ordered him to be sent to jail.
At the same time, the court instructed that the investigation be concluded and the charge sheet be submitted by 27 April.
Earlier, when the accused was brought to the courtroom, lawyers present, under heavy police guard, chanted slogans demanding his execution.
Ira died in the early hours of Tuesday while undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH). She was recovered on Sunday with her throat slit from a remote hilly area of the Eco Park in Sitakunda municipality.
Police said that on 1 March at around 10:30am, neighbor Babu Sheikh took seven-year-old Jannatul Nisa Ira to Sitakunda Eco Park by hand, luring her with chocolate. Later, Ira walked out of the park alone with her throat slit.
It has been learned that a long-standing dispute was ongoing between rickshaw puller Monir Hossain, a resident of the Kumira area, and his neighbor Babu Sheikh. Due to that feud, Babu took his child daughter to the Eco Park hill, luring her with chocolate, with the intention of killing her and attempted rape. When Ira screamed, he slit her throat with a knife and, believing her dead, fled, leaving her behind.
After the incident, police launched an investigation. The accused was identified by reviewing CCTV footage from various locations, from his residence to the crime scene. Police recovered various evidence, including chocolate wrappers, from the scene. The main accused in this incident, Babu Sheikh, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon.
