A 19-year-old woman whose decomposed body was recovered from the Phuldi River in Munshiganj's Gazaria upazila on May 29 was raped before being murdered, the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) said today.

The four arrestees have confessed to their involvement in the crime before a court under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, said Asma Ara Jahan, additional superintendent of police of Munshiganj PBI, during a press briefing at her office this evening.

The arrestees are Abu Kalam, 48, Jamal Hossain, 44, Al-Amin Pradhan, 50, and Russel Mia, 44.

The victim was a resident of the Jamaldi area under Hosendi union in Gazaria upazila.

According to PBI sources, a team of Gazaria River Police recovered an unidentified decomposed body from the Phuldi River on May 29. Later, the PBI crime scene team identified the victim.

Following the identification, the victim's sister filed a murder case with Gazaria Police Station, and PBI took over the shadow investigation.

During initial interrogation, investigators found that Abu Kalam and Russel had financial disputes with the victim, as they owed her Tk 25,000 and Tk 10,000 respectively. Another accused, Jamal, was acquainted with the victim.

The three, along with their associate Al-Amin, allegedly planned the murder around 15 days before the incident, Asma Ara Jahan said.

According to the investigation, the suspects called the victim to the riverbank in the Borobhaterchar area on the evening of May 26. They then took her by boat to a cornfield across the river, where they raped her.

The suspects later strangled her and dumped the body into the river in an attempt to conceal the crime, the PBI official said.

The arrestees were produced before a court, where they gave confessional statements. Further investigation is underway to determine whether anyone else was involved in the incident, she added.