Three arrested in Tangail bus robbery case, Police deny rape allegations

In a recent statement, Tangail‍‍`s District Police Superintendent Md. Mizanur Rahman clarified that no rape occurred during a robbery on a moving bus traveling on the Dhaka-Tangail highway, heading toward North Bengal. 

He mentioned, however, that there might have been a case of sexual harassment during the robbery.

The police have arrested three suspects in connection with the robbery. 

They were captured late Friday night in the Savar area. 

At a press briefing held at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, the police chief provided further details of the arrest, explaining that the three suspects are known members of an inter-district robbery gang. 

The police recovered three mobile phones, a knife, and a sum of 29,370 taka during the arrest.

The three arrested individuals have been identified as Mohit from Manikganj, Shabuj from Shariatpur, and Sharif from Dhaka.

Mizanur Rahman said that in their initial questioning, the suspects confessed to the crime. 

"We believe others may be involved in this incident as well, and we will arrest them shortly," he added.

When asked about rumors of rape, the police superintendent responded, saying, "Our initial investigation shows no rape occurred on the bus. However, during the robbery, the robbers may have committed acts of sexual harassment while taking gold jewelry and money."

He also mentioned that the police have already spoken with the female passengers on the bus, who shared their accounts of the event.

"We are continuing our investigation and hope to clarify the situation soon," he said.

The incident first came to light when Omar Ali, a passenger on the bus, filed a case at the Mirzapur police station on Thursday night, naming several unidentified suspects in the complaint.

This isn‍‍`t the first time such an incident has occurred. On Monday night, another robbery took place on a bus operated by Unique Road Royals’ "Amari Travels" service, traveling from Dhaka to Rajshahi. 

The robbers kept the bus in their control for almost three hours before turning it around and exiting at 4 a.m. Passengers claimed that they were also subjected to sexual harassment during the robbery.

The police detained the bus supervisor, driver, and the assistant driver, who were later presented in court. 

They were granted bail after being charged under Section 54.