News Desk :
Police have been unable to identify the man in a police uniform accused of harassing a Dhaka teacher for wearing a tip – a traditional adornment worn on the forehead.
Though quite a bit of video footage was collected from the area, nothing clear has been found so far, police said, reports bdnews24.com
Lata Samaddar, a lecturer of theatre and media studies at Tejgaon College, was harassed in Dhaka’s Farmgate area on Saturday morning.
She then filed a general diary with police, accusing someone dressed in a police uniform of ‘harassment’ and ‘attempted murder’.
Rubayat Zaman, additional deputy police commissioner of the Tejgaon Zone, said the force is pursuing the matter with the “utmost seriousness”.
“We are investigating the situation, but have been unable to finalise our report.”
He was also unable to confirm whether the person accused by the teacher is a member of the police.
Inspector Jahangir Alam of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station said that the incident was not clear from the video footage collected so far, but their initial investigation suggests the man is a member of the police.
“We are still investigating whether the man is part of the police or some other agency. We cannot say more until that aspect is cleared up.”
Police officials say they are trying to make a list of personnel on duty in the area at the time.
The motorcycle licence plate number given by Samaddar to police turned up two different registrations, one in the ‘L’ series and another in the ‘H’ series, the initial investigation said.
The ‘L’ series motorcycle was allegedly stolen from Gulshan in 2016 and the owner still has not recovered it, they said. Police have spoken to the owner about the situation.
The ‘H’ series motorcycle is registered to an individual named ‘Arshad’. Three years ago, Arshad lived at a house in Mirpur. When police went to the address, they found that Arshad had moved nearly three months ago. The landlord was unable to give police his new address or mobile number.
But the landlord told police that Arshad was not a member of the police force.
A digit of the motorcycle licence plate number provided by the victim may be wrong, police said.
Two officials said that police were trying to collect CCTV camera footage on all streets leading away from the place where the incident occurred.
According to Lata Samaddar, she was at Shezan Point around 8:20 am to 8:35 am on Saturday when a man dressed in a police uniform and on a motorcycle began harassing her for wearing a tip. He also cursed at her, she said.
“When I objected to his behaviour, he insulted me again, started his vehicle and made an attempt on my life by trying to run me over. I was caught under the wheels of the motorcycle and was seriously hurt.”
Though she could not name the man, she said he was fat, middle-aged and had a beard.
