Man arrested for robbery, gangrape on bus in Tangail

Police believe he was part of a gang that took a bus hostage on Tuesday night, robbed the passengers and gangraped a woman

Police have arrested a man accused of robbery and the gangrape of a woman on a bus in Tangail. They have also recovered three stolen mobile phones in his possession.

The detainee, Raja Miah, is in his thirties and rented a house in the Tangail New Bus Stand area, according to Tangail Superintendent of Police Sarker Mohammad Kaisar at a press conference on Thursday.

On Tuesday night, a gang of robbers disguised as passengers boarded an Eagle Paribahan night coach from Kushtia to Dhaka, took control of the vehicle, beat the passengers, stole from them and then gangraped a woman on the bus.

Around 3 am, the group drove the bus into a sand dune opposite the Roktipara Jamme Mosque in Modhupur and fled.

Raja was the one who removed the bus driver and took control of the vehicle, law enforcers say.

Raja is a bus driver and mainly drove the Jhatika Paribahan vehicles on the Dhaka-Tangail route.

Raja has been taken to court, where law enforcers have petitioned for a seven-day remand to interrogate him, said Md Helal Uddin, chief of Tangail Detective Branch (North).

Hekmat Ali, a passenger on the bus, filed a case with Modhupur police over the incident. The case accuses around a dozen members of an inter-district robber gang of taking control of the vehicle for three hours.

The female victim was rescued and taken to Tangail Sadar General Hospital for tests, police said.

“She is in hospital and health tests are being conducted,” said Khondkar Sadiqur Rahman, supervisor at Tangail Sadar General Hospital.