Khulna ASI suspended & jailed over rape at quarantine centre

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UNB, Khulna :

An assistant sub-inspector of police, arrested on charges of raping a 22-year-old woman at an institutional quarantine centre in Khulna, has been suspended and sent to jail.

Khulna Metropolitan Magistrate Tariqul Islam has remanded ASI Mokleshur Rahman of Khulna Metropolitan Police in judicial custody in the case filed by cops on the woman’s complaint.

Authorities have also suspended the ASI, following a preliminary probe, officials told UNB.

ASI Mokleshur Rahman, 44, son of Sekendar Al of Jashore district was posted at the Khulna Primary Teachers Training Institute (PTI), designated an institutional quarantine centre, since May 1.

He was arrested on Monday for allegedly raping the young woman who was kept at the institutional quarantine centre after her recent return from India. A probe panel set up by the police has found his involvement in the case in a preliminary investigation.

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Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Helal Hossain said a probe body, headed by additional district magistrate Mohammad Yusuf Ali, was formed to look into the incident. “Prima facie, the probe panel has found the cop guilty.”

The woman is currently undergoing treatment at the one-stop crisis centre of Khulna Medical College and Hospital.

According to the First Information Report, the woman was lodged at the quarantine centre since her return from India on May 4. During her stay, she fell in love with the cop, but Mokleshur violated her on May 14.

Syeda Ferdousi Begum, supervisor of Khulna PTI, said a total of 14 women were lodged at the quarantine centre upon their return from India. Of them, 10 have left the centre after the completion of their 14-day mandatory quarantine.

According to the Civil Surgeon’s office, the local administration has made it mandatory for everyone returning to the district from India to undergo a mandatory 14-day quarantine with effect from May 1. Some 12 institutions have been designated institutional quarantine centres in Khulna, where 375 people are kept in isolation.

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