Bodies of four children including three cousins were found in Bahubal upazila of Habiganj today, five days after they went missing from the district.

The children are Monir Miah, 7, son of Afjal Miah; Zakaria Shuvo, 8, son of Abdul Wahid Miah; Mohammad Tajel Mia, 10, son of Abdul Aziz; and Ismail Miah, 10, son of Abdul Kader. They were all from Sondratiky village in the upazila.

The cousins -- Monir, Shuvo and Tajel, -- were students of class I, II and IV at Sondratiky Government Primary School respectively while Ismail was a madrasa student, reports our Moulvibazar correspondent quoting Mosharraf Hossain, officer-in-charge of Bahubal Police Station.

Their bodies were found in a balu mohal (an area from where sand is lifted), half kilometer off the village, around 10:30am today, the police official said.

The children went to play to a nearby field around 3:00pm on Friday but they did not return homes, the OC said adding that general diaries were lodged in this connection on the following day.

On information, Superintendent of Police in Habiganj Joydeb Kumar Bhadra visited the spot on Sunday and declared Tk 20,000 award for their rescue.

Meanwhile, OC Mosharraf Hossain today informed that no ransom money was demanded from the victims’ families.

Zakaria’s father filed a murder case, which has been handed over to Officer-in-Charge of Habiganj Detective Branch of police Md Moktadir Hossain for investigation, the SP said.