Rapist kills 1st grader in Ctg to hide crime: Police

Marzana Haque Barsha, a first grader living in Jamalkhan area of Chattogram, was raped and murdered by Laxman Das as she was bleeding excessively after becoming the victim of the heinous crime, said police.

After killing Barsha, Laxman Das put her body inside a sack and threw it in a nearby drain, Md Mostafizur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Chattogram Metropolitan Police (South), told journalists yesterday.

After recovering Barsha's body from the drain on Thursday, the police noticed that the sack had TCB's seal on it. Then they started searching shops and restaurants in the vicinity where goods were sold in such sacks. At one point, they found bags with TCB seal in a warehouse of a shop named Shyamal Store. The police gathered information about the owner and employees of the shop and collected CCTV footage of the area where the crime was committed.

"The police identified accused Laxman Das after reviewing the CCTV footage and other evidence and arrested him from Shyamal Store's warehouse on Thursday night," said CMP Deputy Commissioner Md Mostafizur Rahman.

Laxman Das, 30, is the son of Pheloram Das from Lohagara upazila. He lived in Shyamal Store's warehouse at Jamal Khan Road in Chattogram.

Barsha, 7, daughter of Abdul Haque, lived with her family in a building adjacent to Jamalkhan Lichubagan Sikdar Hotel in Chattogram city.

Last Monday, she went to the Shyamal Store to buy chips around 4:30 pm. As he did not return home even after 30 minutes, her family members searched for her in the surrounding areas.

The next day, Barsha's sister Saleha Akhter reported to police about her disappearance. On Thursday afternoon, when a person named Belal Hossain informed police through an emergency helpline that a body was found in a drain, the law enforcers recovered it.

CMP Deputy Commissioner Mostafizur Rahman said Laxman Das used to give Barsha chips and chocolates from the shop at different times. On the day of the murder, he lured her with Tk100, took her to the shop's warehouse and raped her.

When the rapist saw Barsha was blooding excessively after the rape, Laxman strangled her and dumped her body in a sack. After some time, he put her clothes in another sack and threw it into the drain at the same place.