Three-day delay in filing case over robbery, assault on Rajshahi-bound bus

Passengers suspect bus staff involvement as the driver refused to drive after the robbers left

A case has been filed at Mirzapur Police Station in Tangail three days after an incident of robbery and sexual assault on a Unique Road Royals bus headed from Dhaka to Rajshahi.

Omar Ali, a passenger from Natore’s Baraigram, filed the case around noon on Friday, said station chief Md Mosharof Hossain.

According to the case details, the bus left Dhaka’s Gabtoli at 11pm on Monday.

Near Kaliakair in Gazipur, a group of eight to nine robbers boarded the bus, posing as passengers, and took over the vehicle at gunpoint.

They then forced the driver to drive towards Tangail.

Around 1:45am, near Sohagpara in Mirzapur, the robbers began looting passengers, threatening them with weapons.

They took cash and gold jewellery before sexually assaulting female passengers while keeping the bus in motion for nearly three hours.

The case also states that after the robbers left, the driver refused to continue the journey.

Under passenger pressure, he eventually resumed driving.

Suspecting staff involvement, passengers took the bus to Baraigram Police Station at 11am on Tuesday.

With help from locals, police detained driver Babul Ali, 30, supervisor Sumon Islam, 33, and assistant Mahbub Alam, 28.

They were later sent to court and released on bail.