Staff Reporter :
Police have started the grilling of accused Shafat Ahmed and Shadman Sakif, arrested from Sylhet city, on charge of raping two private university students in a city’s hotel recently.
A Dhaka court on Friday placed Ahmed Shafat and Shadman Sakif on six and five-day remand respectively.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Raihan Ul Islam passed the order after they were produced before the court seeking 10-day remand for each yesterday afternoon, said Farida Yasmin, Deputy Commissioner of Victim Support Centre (VSC) which is now handling the case.
Defence lawyer Abdur Rahman Howlader sought bail for the two but his plea was turned down, she said.
Meanwhile, another Dhaka court granted police to conduct laboratory test on the dress of one of the victims wearing at the time of rape.
Metropolitan Magistrate Delwar Hossain gave the permission following a petition filed by Inspector (Investigation) of Banani Police Station Abdul Matin on Wednesday.
It is difficult to get evidence of rape from the body of a victim a month after the crime but extracting evidence from a dress is easier, said Kamoda Prosad Saha, head of forensic medicine at Comilla Medical College.
Even the two victims gave their judicial statements before a court in Dhaka in the case. Metropolitan Magistrate Nurun Nahar Yasmin recorded statements of the victims under section of 22 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
Ismat Ara Amy, Sub-Inspector of the Women Support and Investigation Division (WSID)
of the DMP and the Investigation Officer of the case, produced the two girls before the court. In their depositions, the victims narrated how they were raped in the hotel at Banani.
Earlier on Friday morning, law enforcers brought Shafat and Sakif, who are among the five accused of rape case, to Dhaka after arresting them in Sylhet on Thursday night.
Shafat and Sakif were arrested in Sylhet on Thursday night in a joint drive by a Police Headquarter’s special team, comprising DMP’s Detective Branch (DB), Victim Support Centre, Banani police and Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
Even a day into the arrest of Shafat and Sakif, police have claimed to have found primary evidence of the rape of two university students at fashionable The Raintree Hotel at Banani on March 28, police said.
“We have found evidence of rape based on the primary interrogation of Shafat and his friend Sakif, and other information,” Krishna Pada Roy, Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told reporters at a press briefing at DMP Media Centre on Friday.
“A four-member committee will assist the proper investigation while the other three-member body, led by Additional Commissioner (crime), will also scrutinize the allegations of negligence against Banani police over filing of the case,” the police official said.
The two victims on May 6 filed a case with Banani police against Shafat, his friends Nayeem Ashraf, Shadman Safik, Shafat’s driver Billal and his unnamed bodyguard, the police official said.
Of them, Shafat and Nayeem Ashraf raped the girls in the hotel while three others assisted them, he said.
Krishna Pada said that the police would continue the manhunt for the rest of the rape suspects. He said that no one is influencing our work. A joint team lead by police conducted a raid at a house “Rashid Manzil” in Pathantola area of Sylhet city around 9:00pm on Thursday to arrest the two accused, said Zedan Al Musa, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP).
DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman said that Shafat and Safik were being interrogated at the Detective Branch Headquarters in the capital.
Shafat is the son of Dilder Ahmed, one of the owners of top jewellery brand Apan Jewellers, while Shadman Sakif is the son of Regnum Group owner Mohammad Hossain Jony, he said.
The three other suspects-Nayeem Ashraf, 30, and Safat’s driver Billal, 26, and bodyguard, who were not named in the case-are still at large. The two girls filed the case on May 6, more than a month after the alleged sexual assault at Banani’s Raintree Hotel on March 28. They said they did not file the case earlier because the accused threatened them with dire consequences, including death.
Rapists had also repeatedly threatened them and pressured them to withdraw the case which was recorded by police after a 48-hour delay, according to plaintiffs.
The two raped girls at gunpoint while the three others abetted them and filmed the incident, the girls said in the case.
Narrating the incident, one of the university students told the Media that Shafat pestered her and her friend to join his birthday party and it was with reluctance that they went to the Banani hotel.
Faria Mahbub Piyasha, a former TV presenter, who was recently divorced by prime suspect of the case Ahmed Shafat, said she often heard from her friends that her husband and Nayeem, another accused of the case, were Yaba addicts and frequented a Banani hotel to do drugs. Piyasha filed a general diary with Bhatara Police Station on Sunday expressing concern over her safety. Shafat and Piyasha were married on January 1, 2015. She said Shafat’s father did not take their marriage well.
Meanwhile, Customs Intelligence on Friday formed a committee to investigate the sources of wealth of Dilder Ahmed Selim, owner of Apon Jewellers and father of accused Shafat, said Moinul Khan, Director General of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) under the National Board of Revenue,.
“We have already issued a letter to the Bangladesh Bank seeking information of the bank accounts of Dilder Ahmed and his son,” the DG said. “It was learnt that Dilder Ahmed earned huge amount of money through gold business, but in the last five years, no gold was imported into the country through proper channel. So, we want to know how he could make the money and property,” he added.
“A committee has been formed to check their transactions. We will try to find out how Dildar collected the gold he is selling, despite the fact that there has been no gold import for 10 years,” Moinul Khan added.
Police have started the grilling of accused Shafat Ahmed and Shadman Sakif, arrested from Sylhet city, on charge of raping two private university students in a city’s hotel recently.
A Dhaka court on Friday placed Ahmed Shafat and Shadman Sakif on six and five-day remand respectively.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Raihan Ul Islam passed the order after they were produced before the court seeking 10-day remand for each yesterday afternoon, said Farida Yasmin, Deputy Commissioner of Victim Support Centre (VSC) which is now handling the case.
Defence lawyer Abdur Rahman Howlader sought bail for the two but his plea was turned down, she said.
Meanwhile, another Dhaka court granted police to conduct laboratory test on the dress of one of the victims wearing at the time of rape.
Metropolitan Magistrate Delwar Hossain gave the permission following a petition filed by Inspector (Investigation) of Banani Police Station Abdul Matin on Wednesday.
It is difficult to get evidence of rape from the body of a victim a month after the crime but extracting evidence from a dress is easier, said Kamoda Prosad Saha, head of forensic medicine at Comilla Medical College.
Even the two victims gave their judicial statements before a court in Dhaka in the case. Metropolitan Magistrate Nurun Nahar Yasmin recorded statements of the victims under section of 22 of the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act.
Ismat Ara Amy, Sub-Inspector of the Women Support and Investigation Division (WSID)
of the DMP and the Investigation Officer of the case, produced the two girls before the court. In their depositions, the victims narrated how they were raped in the hotel at Banani.
Earlier on Friday morning, law enforcers brought Shafat and Sakif, who are among the five accused of rape case, to Dhaka after arresting them in Sylhet on Thursday night.
Shafat and Sakif were arrested in Sylhet on Thursday night in a joint drive by a Police Headquarter’s special team, comprising DMP’s Detective Branch (DB), Victim Support Centre, Banani police and Sylhet Metropolitan Police.
Even a day into the arrest of Shafat and Sakif, police have claimed to have found primary evidence of the rape of two university students at fashionable The Raintree Hotel at Banani on March 28, police said.
“We have found evidence of rape based on the primary interrogation of Shafat and his friend Sakif, and other information,” Krishna Pada Roy, Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told reporters at a press briefing at DMP Media Centre on Friday.
“A four-member committee will assist the proper investigation while the other three-member body, led by Additional Commissioner (crime), will also scrutinize the allegations of negligence against Banani police over filing of the case,” the police official said.
The two victims on May 6 filed a case with Banani police against Shafat, his friends Nayeem Ashraf, Shadman Safik, Shafat’s driver Billal and his unnamed bodyguard, the police official said.
Of them, Shafat and Nayeem Ashraf raped the girls in the hotel while three others assisted them, he said.
Krishna Pada said that the police would continue the manhunt for the rest of the rape suspects. He said that no one is influencing our work. A joint team lead by police conducted a raid at a house “Rashid Manzil” in Pathantola area of Sylhet city around 9:00pm on Thursday to arrest the two accused, said Zedan Al Musa, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of Sylhet Metropolitan Police (SMP).
DMP Deputy Commissioner (Media) Masudur Rahman said that Shafat and Safik were being interrogated at the Detective Branch Headquarters in the capital.
Shafat is the son of Dilder Ahmed, one of the owners of top jewellery brand Apan Jewellers, while Shadman Sakif is the son of Regnum Group owner Mohammad Hossain Jony, he said.
The three other suspects-Nayeem Ashraf, 30, and Safat’s driver Billal, 26, and bodyguard, who were not named in the case-are still at large. The two girls filed the case on May 6, more than a month after the alleged sexual assault at Banani’s Raintree Hotel on March 28. They said they did not file the case earlier because the accused threatened them with dire consequences, including death.
Rapists had also repeatedly threatened them and pressured them to withdraw the case which was recorded by police after a 48-hour delay, according to plaintiffs.
The two raped girls at gunpoint while the three others abetted them and filmed the incident, the girls said in the case.
Narrating the incident, one of the university students told the Media that Shafat pestered her and her friend to join his birthday party and it was with reluctance that they went to the Banani hotel.
Faria Mahbub Piyasha, a former TV presenter, who was recently divorced by prime suspect of the case Ahmed Shafat, said she often heard from her friends that her husband and Nayeem, another accused of the case, were Yaba addicts and frequented a Banani hotel to do drugs. Piyasha filed a general diary with Bhatara Police Station on Sunday expressing concern over her safety. Shafat and Piyasha were married on January 1, 2015. She said Shafat’s father did not take their marriage well.
Meanwhile, Customs Intelligence on Friday formed a committee to investigate the sources of wealth of Dilder Ahmed Selim, owner of Apon Jewellers and father of accused Shafat, said Moinul Khan, Director General of Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) under the National Board of Revenue,.
“We have already issued a letter to the Bangladesh Bank seeking information of the bank accounts of Dilder Ahmed and his son,” the DG said. “It was learnt that Dilder Ahmed earned huge amount of money through gold business, but in the last five years, no gold was imported into the country through proper channel. So, we want to know how he could make the money and property,” he added.
“A committee has been formed to check their transactions. We will try to find out how Dildar collected the gold he is selling, despite the fact that there has been no gold import for 10 years,” Moinul Khan added.
