Garo girl rape prime suspect roamed around with handcuffs after fleeing from court

Suspect Afsan Hossain Rubel was found with one of his hands cuffed, when he was nabbed on Tuesday, two days after escaping from police during a court appearance.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Nov 2016, 02:31 PM
Updated : 15 Nov 2016, 02:46 PM

Rubel, the prime suspect in the rape of a Garo girl in Dhaka, was rearrested at the capital's Badda early in the morning, said the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP).

He was produced before a court in the afternoon, when police were granted six days to quiz him in custody.

On Sunday, Rubel managed to give his police escort the slip in front of a magistrate's office, where he was taken for recording his statement.

Two policemen have been suspended for negligence of duty following the incident.

On Oct 25, a Garo girl was whisked away when she was with her fiancé in Badda and raped.

A case was started with the Badda police on Oct 28 naming Rubel as the prime suspect. Police arrested an accomplice of Rubel, one Salahuddin Mina the same day.

On Nov 11, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested Rubel in the Airport Railway Station area.

He was handed over to Badda police the next day and the following day he managed to escape.

"Badda police Sub Inspector BM Mamum spotted him at a bus stop in Badda and captured him," said DMP Deputy Commissioner Mostak Ahmed told a media briefing on Tuesday.

Police said one of his hands was cuffed, when he was caught and he had covered it with a piece of cloth making it look like a bandage.

"After escaping (from the court premises in Old Dhaka), he went to a mosque at Shankharibazar and stayed there until it was dark," said Ahmed.

Rubel had then called up a relative in Chittagong and received Tk 1,000 through mobile banking, he added.  "He then went to Badda via Gulistan and tried to get in touch with some of his friends, but failed."

Police said he spent the night at an under-construction building at Bhatara and took a bus to Gazipur's Tongi in the morning.

"He roamed around in Tongi alone before coming back to Dhaka on Monday evening," said Deputy Commissioner Ahmed.

According to him, Rubel spent the night somewhere at the slum near the multi-storeyed 'Suvastu Tower' in Badda. "He was waiting at the bus stop in the morning to catch a ride for somewhere out of Dhaka. But before that, he was spotted by a police officer in plain clothes."

In an attempt to escape, he shouted "muggers" to get public support, said the senior police officer."During the scuffle the handcuffs came out, and that's when the people cooperated with the officer."