Former army personnel Hafizur Rahman, the only accused who was arrested in the sensational Tonu murder case, was released from Cumilla Central Jail this evening after being granted six month's ad-interim bail by the High Court.

He walked out of jail at 7:05pm after the prison received the bail papers from the High Court, confirmed Cumilla Central Jail Senior Jail Superintendent Md Shah Alam Khan.

According to the full text of the High Court order, a bench comprising Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Shathika Hossain on August 2 granted Hafizur six months' ad-interim bail in the murder case of Sohagi Jahan Tonu.

The HC bench also issued a rule asking the state to explain why Hafizur should not be granted permanent bail.

Contacted, Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus Kazal and Deputy Attorney General Shiuli Khanom, could not immediately comment on the HC bail order.

Repeated attempts to reach Hafizur's lawyer, Md Muslem Uddin Bhuiyan, over phone were unsuccessful.

Hafizur Rahman was arrested by the PBI, the agency investigating the Tonu murder case, from his house in Dhaka's Keraniganj on the night of April 22 this year, more than a decade after the killing.

The next day, he was produced before a Cumilla court, which granted the PBI to interrogate him for three days in response to a 7-day remand prayer. Hafizur was sent to jail following his remand.

According to the investigating officer of the case, DNA samples were collected from Hafizur after his arrest. The DNA test report has since been submitted to the court.

Sohagi Jahan Tonu, a student of the history department at Cumilla Victoria Government College and a theatre activist, was raped and murdered inside Cumilla Cantonment on March 20, 2016.

The cause of death could not be determined despite two autopsies conducted at Cumilla Medical College Hospital. Officials from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) confirmed through DNA tests that Tonu had been raped before being murdered.