The passengers of the moving bus where the robbery took place on highways raised questions as the driver and the supervisor were not made accused in a case filed over the robbery and molestation of female passengers on the bus.
The police allegedly did not even read out the case statement to the plaintiff after the lawsuit was filed with Tangail’s Mirzapur police station early Friday.
The case was filed under section 10 (sexual abuse) of the Women And Children Repression Prevention Act and section 395 and 397 (dacoity) of the Penal Code.
One of the passengers and victims Omar Ali, from Baraigram in Natore, filed the case.
Omar Ali told Prothom Alo that he along with another passenger Sohad Hossain and their business partner Abu Hanif were brought to the Mirzapur police station by a police car around 4:00 am on Friday.
He further said their signature was taken on the case statement, but the statement was not read out to them.
He described the incidents of dacoity and molestation of two women in his deposition, but he did not know what had been written in the case statement.
When police were taking the signature of Omar Ali, the driver of that bus, Bablu Ali, 30, and his assistant Mahbub Alam, 28, and the supervisor of the bus, Sumon Islam, 33, were also at the police station. They too wanted to file a case, which the police refused.
Saying that he was surprised to see them there, Omar Ali said, “They (driver, his assistant and supervisor) are involved with the incident. They will be the accused. Yet, they came here and waited to file a case. I did not understand what was happening.”
Mirzapur police station officer-in-charge (OC) Mosharrof Hossain told Prothom Alo that if they find evidence of the driver, his assistant and the supervisor’s involvement in this incident, they will be made accused too. “Since the driver, his assistant and the supervisor are suspects, the matters of victims are getting more importance.”
According to the case statement, there were 30-35 passengers in the bus. At around 1:00 am, the bus stopped for a break at Chandra Bypass in Gaipur’s Kaliakair upazila.
At that time, three-four new passengers boarded the bus. Eight to nine robbers who were in the guise of passengers stood up after the bus crossed the Kharajora flyover near the Kaliakoir Hi-Tech City Park around 1:30 am.
They then threatened to kill passengers with knives and cleavers, if anyone screamed. Three of them took control of the steering, putting knives on the driver’s throat.
The robbers snatched money, mobile phones, gold ornaments from passengers, as well as sexually abused two-three female passengers. They then took the bus towards Dhaka and left the bus in the Baroipara area in Ashulia around 4:00 pm. The robber also threatened to kill the driver if he stopped the vehicle within 10 kilometres.