Police recovered the body of a class seven student from a char area in Chattogram this morning, 20 hours after he went missing from school.

Locals in the city's Hamid Char area found the body along the bank of the Karnaphuli river this morning and informed police, said family members.

Police detained four of his classmates in connection with the incident, said Arif Hossen, assistant commissioner (Panchlaish) of the Chattogram Metropolitan Police.

The victim, Rahat Khan, was a student of Sanowara Islam Boys High School. Rahat was the younger son of Liakat Ali, a resident of Purba Faridapara in Chandgaon area of the port city.

AC Arif Hossen told The Daily Star, "Rahat's parents informed police about him going missing yesterday afternoon. Police investigated the matter and learned that the boy along with four other classmates had left the school before going missing."

He said, "Among the four detainees, one had been involved in a brawl with the victim nearly a month ago over a trivial matter in school, and Rahat's mother had resolved the issue at that time. The family members alleged that, over this issue, the victim was brought away from school in the name of playing near the river and later murdered."

"Police interrogated the classmates, who admitted to taking the victim to the area. Police later conducted a raid but failed to trace the victim's whereabouts last night," he added.

He further said, "We have collected the CCTV footage and investigated the matter. Primarily, we detained the four classmates, and they will be shown arrested in the case."

"The body was sent to Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue, where the cause of death will be determined," he added.

Rahat's cousin, Adnanul Alam, said, "Rahat's mother went to the school around 2:30pm as he (Rahat) did not return on time. In the meantime, his school bag was found near the Hamid Char Road from where a pedestrian informed his teacher that the bag was found on the road."

Alam said, "After getting the phone call, we checked the school's CCTV footage and found that four other classmates took him out of the school. Rahat's mother identified a classmate who had a brawl with Rahat a few days ago. Taking his address, we went to the boy's residence and found the boy at his house. Later we informed police, who took the boy into custody, and then he revealed the location."

"At night, we searched the area but failed to find Rahat as there was tidal water. The classmates informed us that Rahat had drowned in the river, but we don't believe them as they provided mismatched statements during interrogation. This morning, locals spotted the body in the char area and informed police," he added.